House Planning
You have already had bank meetings and know your available budget! You have considered the topic of additional building costs!
You are aware that there are different energy concepts!
You have addressed your individual space requirements!
So you really want to build?!
Now start thinking about how your future house should look and what it should offer you. What costly extras do you want to include, and which investments can you do without?
My tip: don’t fixate too much, because it always depends on the plot of land how the house is best planned — sometimes compromises have to be made, and the budget clearly plays a role!
“A living room without a fireplace is social housing.”
“A bathroom must be at least 12 sqm (130 sq ft).”
“I had only 10 sqm (108 sq ft) as a child.”
“A plot of land must be at least 1000 sqm (0.25 acres).”
Keep in mind: Many of these statements are thoughtless clichés from earlier times and hardly have any relevance to today’s house building.
If your parents or grandparents consider a basement essential, a house without a basement does not have to be any less valuable for you.
A north-facing plot can also be a good choice for your home, even if you have always said on Sunday trips that a north-facing plot is out of the question.
The Building Plot
Have you found a building plot to choose from? Then take a close look at the infrastructure, location, noise levels, size, slope, vegetation, and the orientation of the property. It won’t help to reject a plot because of its orientation if it’s not clear when the next affordable plot will be available on the market. Every orientation has its benefits. Often, on a second look, a plot offers more or even better possibilities than initially expected when you start to explore it.
Read the development plan / building regulations: This document contains the official rules and restrictions on how the land can be developed. You will need to familiarize yourself with number of floors, floor area ratio, eaves heights, roof pitch, facade colors, building boundaries, and window placement.
Additionally, the state or regional building code applies, which also regulates, for example, the boundary setbacks for outbuildings.
Often, dreams like the so-called townhouse or bungalow are already ruled out by these regulations. At least, that’s what many think. Still, a qualified architect has the expertise and task of cleverly combining elements such as stepped floors, dormers, roof shapes, and living spaces so that your needs and wishes fit these restrictions.
For this reason, and especially for sloped plots, I recommend engaging an architect for the technical, functional, design, and economic planning of your individual house.
Production House
If it is your wish—and if your plot allows (keywords: soil report, development plan)—to build a house without complex structural requirements or custom design, which is offered as a production or standard house by a home building company, then by now you should study your plot thoroughly.
The Plot Determines the Floor Plan
Draw the plot to scale 1:100 including the north arrow, building lines, existing neighboring buildings, and any landscaping (forest at the property line, mature trees) on a sheet of paper. Use pencil and graph paper (millimeter paper). Use arrows to mark existing noise sources (e.g., from a nearby playground or highway). Also, sketch the prevailing wind direction coming from the west. Mark the sun path in summer: this should be roughly a 3/4 pie from northeast to northwest. For the winter sun path, mark the area from southeast to southwest twice.
Shade possible shadow areas. Mark areas that might be visible to neighbors or passersby. An arrow indicating access to the plot can also be important. Draw the boundaries of the building envelope. You can also mark nice views with arrows.
Consider how many cars pass by your house daily, and distinguish whether it is only neighbors near the plot or strangers passing through (e.g., a cul-de-sac in a residential street vs. a main road in a municipality). All of this can influence the internal layout of the house.
Strong winds, unsightly neighboring structures, and visibility by third parties can be mitigated by planting a dense hedge (or staggered shrubs if you have enough space in depth). For a hedge, always allow a depth of one to two meters (3-6 feet). One or two attractive trees that highlight the garden and provide natural shade and shelter in summer can be placed anywhere between north and south, but not in the west because a tree there will block the evening sun. If you dislike the evening sun, then a tree in the west is, of course, an option.
Now draw a rectangle or square approximately the size of your house within the building envelope. Roughly divide this shape into six equal sections for kitchen, living and dining rooms, utility rooms, staircase, and entrance area—basically your space requirements. Use the sun path and arrows as guidance. Consider utility connections at the street and the shortest route to the technical or utility room. Then determine approximate positions for terraces. By the way, a terrace in a south-facing garden can be in the shade at 7 p.m. in midsummer if the sun sets behind the roof of a single-story neighbor. However, in midsummer, sunlight can reach the northwest garden again. This is worth mentioning when thinking about plot orientation.
You can also take your preferred production house, which you may already have chosen before selecting the plot, and draw it to the same scale on a transparent overlay with a permanent marker, then place it on your plan. You have the option to rotate or mirror the overlay as needed.
Draw arrows from the house toward the garden to visualize potential views if there were windows there. A mix of trees and shrub heights can create a scenic backdrop from your outlook.
Make sure that parking spaces as well as garage or carport have the standard size of 3 x 6 meters (10 x 20 feet) or 6 x 6 meters (20 x 20 feet). These areas can also be cleverly used as sight and wind protection, e.g., for a seating area. If your property includes a forecourt, you may position parking spaces perpendicular rather than directly beside the house. A garden feels more spacious later when the garage and house are separate and connected through planting, pathways, privacy screens, and paving.
Be patient with yourselves—good placement cannot be done in a single day. Cut out templates and experiment. Many people need several days to dare to place the house at an angle. Yes! The house usually does not have to be built parallel to the street. But always respect the rules of the development plan and stay within the building envelope. Garages can usually be built on the property boundary. However, typically, a 5-meter (16-foot) deep parking space in front of the garage must be maintained.
Have fun—this is how your floor plan might begin!
The House Does Not Fit the Plot
What happens if your preferred house needs to be modified or ideas just aren’t coming? ... or if the house simply does not fit?
Talk to your home builder about architectural services. Most houses can be mirrored and rotated (also combined) on request. Since this generally does not affect the structural engineering, it should be offered free of charge or at low cost. It becomes more complicated if walls need to be moved or whole sections swapped or changed. Many home builders can vary the house length in a fixed grid, while others only offer the sizes of their standard houses. The price of the house affects this: tight budgets reduce flexibility. No matter how patient the paper is, the structural engineering must be feasible and affordable. Also, expect that the in-house architect employed by the home builder might not be the most creative or inventive. They will be grateful if they only need to make small adjustments as requested. Do not make the mistake of handing over a DIY design with errors that the architect irresponsibly signs off on.
The Architect
Give the architect your wish list and a requirements plan, e.g., a room program, defining which rooms you must have. Clearly define your ideas. If you want a spacious living room for interactive games, don’t write: Living room at least 25 sqm (270 sq ft), but rather write “spacious” with an explanation. If you want to enter the house dry from the garage, spell it out exactly and not: door from garage to utility room a must. Be open to suggestions from the architect that may differ from standard ideas.
If other proposals differ from your expectations, always listen to the reasoning, consider it carefully, and decide later. Nobody wants to dismiss your wishes, but sometimes client wishes aren’t well thought out, e.g., a straight staircase with the planned 120 sqm (1,300 sq ft) doesn’t fit, or the desired laundry basement is impossible on a building budget of 20,000€. A good architect thinks along with you. They are a professional who has studied architecture and spatial planning.
If you feel you are not well served by the architect, consider changing. If it is an architect employed by the home building company, you might want to look for another company or at least commission an external architect in addition.
If this is not possible due to cost or other reasons, make the best of your situation. A good option is to seek advice from like-minded people, for example here in the HouseBuildingForum. Avoid asking friends or relatives who have never seriously dealt with modern house building. Keep in mind that, for example, in the HouseBuildingForum, you get advice from ambitious users—happy to share their (life) experience but generally not structural engineers or architects, just home builders like yourself. They enjoy freedom of opinion, cannot offend you, and see many things from a similar perspective. A grandparent who has built with bricks for decades will obviously see a house differently than you as a young family.
Many now use a PC program to create floor plans. Don’t forget that it is only a tool to present a draft more quickly and clearly. The house design remains a mental and creative achievement, whose artistic process is shaped by rationality, complexity, and creativity.
So don’t expect a PC program to replace an architect. A program is operated by you as laypersons. You cannot draw on ideas and expertise like someone working daily with spatial planning.
I personally also work with software, but for implementing initial ideas, pencil on paper (notebook) is often faster and more flexible—this is often seen here as well.
Don’t make the mistake of getting lost in details while the spatial arrangement is still in a workflow. It is always hard to undo time-consuming work if the concept was not thought through. Straight lines and structure should always be recognizable in a floor plan.
The biggest mistake is to glorify your own unfamiliar working process and see every wall that grows on paper as beautiful, justifying mistakes. This is unfortunately a risk with 3D programs and often makes one resistant to criticism. Usually, what a layperson ends up with is not a plan but merely a practice platform for the space planning software.
You have already had bank meetings and know your available budget! You have considered the topic of additional building costs!
You are aware that there are different energy concepts!
You have addressed your individual space requirements!
So you really want to build?!
Now start thinking about how your future house should look and what it should offer you. What costly extras do you want to include, and which investments can you do without?
My tip: don’t fixate too much, because it always depends on the plot of land how the house is best planned — sometimes compromises have to be made, and the budget clearly plays a role!
“A living room without a fireplace is social housing.”
“A bathroom must be at least 12 sqm (130 sq ft).”
“I had only 10 sqm (108 sq ft) as a child.”
“A plot of land must be at least 1000 sqm (0.25 acres).”
Keep in mind: Many of these statements are thoughtless clichés from earlier times and hardly have any relevance to today’s house building.
If your parents or grandparents consider a basement essential, a house without a basement does not have to be any less valuable for you.
A north-facing plot can also be a good choice for your home, even if you have always said on Sunday trips that a north-facing plot is out of the question.
The Building Plot
Have you found a building plot to choose from? Then take a close look at the infrastructure, location, noise levels, size, slope, vegetation, and the orientation of the property. It won’t help to reject a plot because of its orientation if it’s not clear when the next affordable plot will be available on the market. Every orientation has its benefits. Often, on a second look, a plot offers more or even better possibilities than initially expected when you start to explore it.
Read the development plan / building regulations: This document contains the official rules and restrictions on how the land can be developed. You will need to familiarize yourself with number of floors, floor area ratio, eaves heights, roof pitch, facade colors, building boundaries, and window placement.
Additionally, the state or regional building code applies, which also regulates, for example, the boundary setbacks for outbuildings.
Often, dreams like the so-called townhouse or bungalow are already ruled out by these regulations. At least, that’s what many think. Still, a qualified architect has the expertise and task of cleverly combining elements such as stepped floors, dormers, roof shapes, and living spaces so that your needs and wishes fit these restrictions.
For this reason, and especially for sloped plots, I recommend engaging an architect for the technical, functional, design, and economic planning of your individual house.
Production House
If it is your wish—and if your plot allows (keywords: soil report, development plan)—to build a house without complex structural requirements or custom design, which is offered as a production or standard house by a home building company, then by now you should study your plot thoroughly.
The Plot Determines the Floor Plan
Draw the plot to scale 1:100 including the north arrow, building lines, existing neighboring buildings, and any landscaping (forest at the property line, mature trees) on a sheet of paper. Use pencil and graph paper (millimeter paper). Use arrows to mark existing noise sources (e.g., from a nearby playground or highway). Also, sketch the prevailing wind direction coming from the west. Mark the sun path in summer: this should be roughly a 3/4 pie from northeast to northwest. For the winter sun path, mark the area from southeast to southwest twice.
Shade possible shadow areas. Mark areas that might be visible to neighbors or passersby. An arrow indicating access to the plot can also be important. Draw the boundaries of the building envelope. You can also mark nice views with arrows.
Consider how many cars pass by your house daily, and distinguish whether it is only neighbors near the plot or strangers passing through (e.g., a cul-de-sac in a residential street vs. a main road in a municipality). All of this can influence the internal layout of the house.
Strong winds, unsightly neighboring structures, and visibility by third parties can be mitigated by planting a dense hedge (or staggered shrubs if you have enough space in depth). For a hedge, always allow a depth of one to two meters (3-6 feet). One or two attractive trees that highlight the garden and provide natural shade and shelter in summer can be placed anywhere between north and south, but not in the west because a tree there will block the evening sun. If you dislike the evening sun, then a tree in the west is, of course, an option.
Now draw a rectangle or square approximately the size of your house within the building envelope. Roughly divide this shape into six equal sections for kitchen, living and dining rooms, utility rooms, staircase, and entrance area—basically your space requirements. Use the sun path and arrows as guidance. Consider utility connections at the street and the shortest route to the technical or utility room. Then determine approximate positions for terraces. By the way, a terrace in a south-facing garden can be in the shade at 7 p.m. in midsummer if the sun sets behind the roof of a single-story neighbor. However, in midsummer, sunlight can reach the northwest garden again. This is worth mentioning when thinking about plot orientation.
You can also take your preferred production house, which you may already have chosen before selecting the plot, and draw it to the same scale on a transparent overlay with a permanent marker, then place it on your plan. You have the option to rotate or mirror the overlay as needed.
Draw arrows from the house toward the garden to visualize potential views if there were windows there. A mix of trees and shrub heights can create a scenic backdrop from your outlook.
Make sure that parking spaces as well as garage or carport have the standard size of 3 x 6 meters (10 x 20 feet) or 6 x 6 meters (20 x 20 feet). These areas can also be cleverly used as sight and wind protection, e.g., for a seating area. If your property includes a forecourt, you may position parking spaces perpendicular rather than directly beside the house. A garden feels more spacious later when the garage and house are separate and connected through planting, pathways, privacy screens, and paving.
Be patient with yourselves—good placement cannot be done in a single day. Cut out templates and experiment. Many people need several days to dare to place the house at an angle. Yes! The house usually does not have to be built parallel to the street. But always respect the rules of the development plan and stay within the building envelope. Garages can usually be built on the property boundary. However, typically, a 5-meter (16-foot) deep parking space in front of the garage must be maintained.
Have fun—this is how your floor plan might begin!
The House Does Not Fit the Plot
What happens if your preferred house needs to be modified or ideas just aren’t coming? ... or if the house simply does not fit?
Talk to your home builder about architectural services. Most houses can be mirrored and rotated (also combined) on request. Since this generally does not affect the structural engineering, it should be offered free of charge or at low cost. It becomes more complicated if walls need to be moved or whole sections swapped or changed. Many home builders can vary the house length in a fixed grid, while others only offer the sizes of their standard houses. The price of the house affects this: tight budgets reduce flexibility. No matter how patient the paper is, the structural engineering must be feasible and affordable. Also, expect that the in-house architect employed by the home builder might not be the most creative or inventive. They will be grateful if they only need to make small adjustments as requested. Do not make the mistake of handing over a DIY design with errors that the architect irresponsibly signs off on.
The Architect
Give the architect your wish list and a requirements plan, e.g., a room program, defining which rooms you must have. Clearly define your ideas. If you want a spacious living room for interactive games, don’t write: Living room at least 25 sqm (270 sq ft), but rather write “spacious” with an explanation. If you want to enter the house dry from the garage, spell it out exactly and not: door from garage to utility room a must. Be open to suggestions from the architect that may differ from standard ideas.
If other proposals differ from your expectations, always listen to the reasoning, consider it carefully, and decide later. Nobody wants to dismiss your wishes, but sometimes client wishes aren’t well thought out, e.g., a straight staircase with the planned 120 sqm (1,300 sq ft) doesn’t fit, or the desired laundry basement is impossible on a building budget of 20,000€. A good architect thinks along with you. They are a professional who has studied architecture and spatial planning.
If you feel you are not well served by the architect, consider changing. If it is an architect employed by the home building company, you might want to look for another company or at least commission an external architect in addition.
If this is not possible due to cost or other reasons, make the best of your situation. A good option is to seek advice from like-minded people, for example here in the HouseBuildingForum. Avoid asking friends or relatives who have never seriously dealt with modern house building. Keep in mind that, for example, in the HouseBuildingForum, you get advice from ambitious users—happy to share their (life) experience but generally not structural engineers or architects, just home builders like yourself. They enjoy freedom of opinion, cannot offend you, and see many things from a similar perspective. A grandparent who has built with bricks for decades will obviously see a house differently than you as a young family.
Many now use a PC program to create floor plans. Don’t forget that it is only a tool to present a draft more quickly and clearly. The house design remains a mental and creative achievement, whose artistic process is shaped by rationality, complexity, and creativity.
So don’t expect a PC program to replace an architect. A program is operated by you as laypersons. You cannot draw on ideas and expertise like someone working daily with spatial planning.
I personally also work with software, but for implementing initial ideas, pencil on paper (notebook) is often faster and more flexible—this is often seen here as well.
Don’t make the mistake of getting lost in details while the spatial arrangement is still in a workflow. It is always hard to undo time-consuming work if the concept was not thought through. Straight lines and structure should always be recognizable in a floor plan.
The biggest mistake is to glorify your own unfamiliar working process and see every wall that grows on paper as beautiful, justifying mistakes. This is unfortunately a risk with 3D programs and often makes one resistant to criticism. Usually, what a layperson ends up with is not a plan but merely a practice platform for the space planning software.
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