Hello everyone,
we have purchased a quite challenging sloped plot and have now received the first draft from our architect. I have personally revised it to address some weaknesses that arose due to my requested changes. The exterior dimensions are relatively fixed. I am fairly satisfied but would appreciate some additional feedback before sending it back to the architect.
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 731 sqm (7870 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, steep slope; the street runs north down into the valley and the garden is elevated on the mountain to the east
Building envelope, building line and boundaries: 3 m (10 feet) to neighbors/street
Orientation: Garden east, street west
Maximum heights/limits: still uncertain. According to the preliminary building inquiry, about 9.50 m (31 feet) from basement slab
Other requirements: according to § 34
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Modern, flat roof
Basement, floors: Basement plus 2 full floors
Number of occupants, ages: 4 persons (41 years, 29 years, 3 years, 1 year), possible third child later
Space needs on ground floor: Living-dining-cooking area, storage/pantry, guest WC, office
Space needs on upper floor: Bedroom, dressing room, master bathroom, utility room, 2 children’s bedrooms, children’s bathroom
Space needs in basement: Secondary apartment as office and fitness area, technical room, entrance/wardrobe, storage, technical room, garage
Office: Family use or home office? 2 home office rooms
Overnight guests per year: 2 weeks per year
Open or closed layout: Very open living-dining-kitchen area; rest more closed
Conservative or modern construction: ?
Open kitchen, kitchen island: both desired
Number of dining seats: 8-10
Fireplace: rather no
Music/sound wall: if possible
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: Large garage with double door
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why something should or should not be included: very different daily rhythms, husband goes to bed late and sleeps accordingly long. Basement office for undisturbed work.
We would like the garden level to be as high as possible above street level since the plot borders a nice meadow that is currently about 1-2 m (3-6 feet) above garden level. However, the house cannot be set too high because otherwise the garage entrance would become too steep.
House Design
Planner: Architect, with interior adjustments by myself
What do you particularly like? Why? Open, spacious living area, bay window
What do you dislike? Why? Unfavorable cloakroom situation when arriving from the garage. Long dirt zone through which you have to pass to reach the office.
Price estimate by architect: over 1 million
Personal price limit for house, including features: basically already stretched at 1 million, possibly up to 1.1-1.2 million
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump, underfloor heating
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
- Can you give up: Installation of the basement office as a separate apartment, but desired for tax reasons
- Cannot give up: Basically everything is in some way desired/important
Why does the design look the way it does? For example:
Due to the challenging slope of the plot, many factors are more or less predetermined. There was already an approved building application from another architect, which independently resembles this design closely.
I fell in love with the kitchen bay window in a show home, which unfortunately means the pantry cannot be used as the direct extension of the kitchen as originally planned... Since the kitchen is very large, the room will probably function more as a storage pantry.
On the upper floor, the second children’s bedroom is located in the northwest rather than the southwest because the higher neighbor's house stands directly to the south, and to the north there is a great view of the green valley.
we have purchased a quite challenging sloped plot and have now received the first draft from our architect. I have personally revised it to address some weaknesses that arose due to my requested changes. The exterior dimensions are relatively fixed. I am fairly satisfied but would appreciate some additional feedback before sending it back to the architect.
Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size: 731 sqm (7870 sq ft)
Slope: Yes, steep slope; the street runs north down into the valley and the garden is elevated on the mountain to the east
Building envelope, building line and boundaries: 3 m (10 feet) to neighbors/street
Orientation: Garden east, street west
Maximum heights/limits: still uncertain. According to the preliminary building inquiry, about 9.50 m (31 feet) from basement slab
Other requirements: according to § 34
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: Modern, flat roof
Basement, floors: Basement plus 2 full floors
Number of occupants, ages: 4 persons (41 years, 29 years, 3 years, 1 year), possible third child later
Space needs on ground floor: Living-dining-cooking area, storage/pantry, guest WC, office
Space needs on upper floor: Bedroom, dressing room, master bathroom, utility room, 2 children’s bedrooms, children’s bathroom
Space needs in basement: Secondary apartment as office and fitness area, technical room, entrance/wardrobe, storage, technical room, garage
Office: Family use or home office? 2 home office rooms
Overnight guests per year: 2 weeks per year
Open or closed layout: Very open living-dining-kitchen area; rest more closed
Conservative or modern construction: ?
Open kitchen, kitchen island: both desired
Number of dining seats: 8-10
Fireplace: rather no
Music/sound wall: if possible
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: Large garage with double door
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why something should or should not be included: very different daily rhythms, husband goes to bed late and sleeps accordingly long. Basement office for undisturbed work.
We would like the garden level to be as high as possible above street level since the plot borders a nice meadow that is currently about 1-2 m (3-6 feet) above garden level. However, the house cannot be set too high because otherwise the garage entrance would become too steep.
House Design
Planner: Architect, with interior adjustments by myself
What do you particularly like? Why? Open, spacious living area, bay window
What do you dislike? Why? Unfavorable cloakroom situation when arriving from the garage. Long dirt zone through which you have to pass to reach the office.
Price estimate by architect: over 1 million
Personal price limit for house, including features: basically already stretched at 1 million, possibly up to 1.1-1.2 million
Preferred heating technology: Heat pump, underfloor heating
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
- Can you give up: Installation of the basement office as a separate apartment, but desired for tax reasons
- Cannot give up: Basically everything is in some way desired/important
Why does the design look the way it does? For example:
Due to the challenging slope of the plot, many factors are more or less predetermined. There was already an approved building application from another architect, which independently resembles this design closely.
I fell in love with the kitchen bay window in a show home, which unfortunately means the pantry cannot be used as the direct extension of the kitchen as originally planned... Since the kitchen is very large, the room will probably function more as a storage pantry.
On the upper floor, the second children’s bedroom is located in the northwest rather than the southwest because the higher neighbor's house stands directly to the south, and to the north there is a great view of the green valley.
Skya2020 schrieb:
-you can skip: setting up the basement office as a granny flat, but it is desired for tax reasons. Ah, here it is. I got a bit stuck on the viewpoints (granny flat entrance) and the non-compliant basement layout.
So, I have to say: I don’t like the floor plan at all.
You say this is an architect’s design.
Then I assume the unnecessary small corners or niches are due to tracing and won’t comment on them further.
Skya2020 schrieb:
Who designed the plan: Architect – then I adjusted it internally myself (I hope your requirements or your adjustments aren’t the reason for the minor mistakes)
(Note: written already at 2:00 pm)
To be honest, I’m not comfortable with the room orientations and/or the floor plans.
A house is a matter of taste, of course, but those overhangs above the windows usually appear in places like South Africa to keep the sun out of the rooms.
But I’ll focus more on the floor plan:
Skya2020 schrieb:
and to the north, there is a wonderful view of the green valley. So why is there nothing like that on the upper floor? Except the bathroom and the children’s room?
If the view is so great, then I miss it when going upstairs. Also, since understandably the basement is raised, the staircase should rather be rotated to catch the view.
Skya2020 schrieb:
I fell in love with the kitchen bay window in a show home, But what does the kitchen really gain by the bay window compared to having it fully integrated in the floor space? If you place the kitchen inside the house, it would be enclosed by walls and maybe you could even avoid the support column in the middle of the room. The effect would be the same.
The tight 75sqm (807 sq ft) open living area is furnished with large furniture, but it hardly creates a cozy atmosphere for watching TV with the family. In my opinion, the dining area is pushed too much into a corner. You need to decide if a 120cm (47 inch) deep island works for you, just as you need to consider that the child’s panoramic window faces the street, so anyone passing by can look in. There seems to be too little thought put into that.
Same with placing bathrooms, utility room, and walk-in closet on the southwest side. It’s like casting pearls before swine...
Also, there are doors that are just 80cm (31 inch) wide, even though the rooms are quite large and tall. That somehow doesn’t fit.
I find the basement layout also ill-considered. To reach the office you have to go through the fitness room. It’s doable, but for a house of this size, you’d expect more logical planning.
I would place the staircase more towards the center, but rotated. That way the upper floor would get daylight and a view for the staircase as well. Currently, it’s just a hallway void. Then balance the open living area between the terrace side and the sunny side.
To better distribute the space on the floors, maybe put the bedroom on the living floor. What the upper floor lacks, the ground floor has too much of.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
I had the same impression. Is your parents’ house also located on a slope next to relatively small houses? The house of the neighbor below is huge and occupies almost the entire lot. Our lot used to be their garden. That’s why the house below doesn’t really have a garden now. From the street, ours looks quite massive, but there are also two apartment buildings on the street. So the surroundings are fairly mixed.
So... the staircase keeps catching my attention – it doesn’t make any sense at all. On the ground floor and basement it seems to have a spiral shape, but on the upper floor it doesn’t, and in each floor plan it’s shown in a slightly different position. And when I look at the clear ceiling heights... hmm.
Yes, built-in closets like you often see in the US can be nice and practical. But only if, like in Child 2’s room, they are basically recessed into the wall. Although I think the size of Child 2’s closet really isn’t very generous. It’s basically a 125 cm (49 inches) wide closet. And the one in Child 1’s room is even less practical in shape.
The vanity in the master bathroom is poorly positioned in relation to the windows. Side lighting is ideal.
On the ground floor, I also don’t find the dining table placement particularly cozy. It’s almost like sitting in the stairwell.
In the basement, the office has a strange stub wall and a window that can’t really be a window. Your husband should try it out. An office without natural windows is really a mood killer.
So unfortunately there is a lot of ambition here, but it’s not very coherent.
Yes, built-in closets like you often see in the US can be nice and practical. But only if, like in Child 2’s room, they are basically recessed into the wall. Although I think the size of Child 2’s closet really isn’t very generous. It’s basically a 125 cm (49 inches) wide closet. And the one in Child 1’s room is even less practical in shape.
The vanity in the master bathroom is poorly positioned in relation to the windows. Side lighting is ideal.
On the ground floor, I also don’t find the dining table placement particularly cozy. It’s almost like sitting in the stairwell.
In the basement, the office has a strange stub wall and a window that can’t really be a window. Your husband should try it out. An office without natural windows is really a mood killer.
So unfortunately there is a lot of ambition here, but it’s not very coherent.
Sorry, I forgot my closing sentence…
Par 34 applies, as far as I understood Escroda back then, only to the portions of the house related to the plot. Appearance or roof types can be chosen freely.
For a million, the house should be planned much more thoroughly. It feels like this is just an initial idea here.
Par 34 applies, as far as I understood Escroda back then, only to the portions of the house related to the plot. Appearance or roof types can be chosen freely.
For a million, the house should be planned much more thoroughly. It feels like this is just an initial idea here.
Skya2020 schrieb:
possible future 3rd childWhere would the possible 3rd child live then? I’m currently stuck on the 38sqm (409 sq ft) parents’ area, where three children’s bedrooms would comfortably fit.
ypg schrieb:
It feels to me like this is just an initial idea.On the contrary, it seems as if the "spirit" of an already approved previous owner’s plan is being "saved" here at all costs or at least is constantly on the current builder’s mind. The result is the maximum entanglement of this "base"—a patchwork approach (the opposite of clean code). The consequences for the mean time between failures (MTBF) are often underestimated. Genetic pathology.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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