Hello dear forum,
our planning is gradually becoming more concrete. A friend who is an architect took a look at our plot and came up with some new, useful ideas.
In advance: A residential house of 160-170 sqm (1720-1830 sq ft) plus a basement is planned.
Layout concept: Open living area with pantry, master bedroom with dressing room and en-suite shower bathroom, 3 children’s rooms, family bathroom, 2 offices. The technical room will be moved to the basement.
So far, we only have one child, so we don’t need to have our offices in the basement yet. If more children come, these might possibly move to the basement.
Until now, we also wanted to keep the option open to convert a part of the basement into a separate apartment, as long as a) the children’s rooms upstairs are not needed yet and b) the children eventually move out.
Now we are asking ourselves:
How do we plan the basement?
The architect suggested shifting the entrance to the basement level and then placing the master bedroom in the basement. Possibly keeping the option of having a separate apartment down there as well. The difficulty: When the kids are small, there will be a lot of walking, especially at night.
The open living area should definitely be on the ground floor, as our terrace will be accessible from there (I have attached a site plan).
What ideas do you have? How are your houses designed (basement, ground floor, upper floor)? Feel free to attach pictures – I am curious and have difficulty imagining the basement layout.
Thank you very much
our planning is gradually becoming more concrete. A friend who is an architect took a look at our plot and came up with some new, useful ideas.
In advance: A residential house of 160-170 sqm (1720-1830 sq ft) plus a basement is planned.
Layout concept: Open living area with pantry, master bedroom with dressing room and en-suite shower bathroom, 3 children’s rooms, family bathroom, 2 offices. The technical room will be moved to the basement.
So far, we only have one child, so we don’t need to have our offices in the basement yet. If more children come, these might possibly move to the basement.
Until now, we also wanted to keep the option open to convert a part of the basement into a separate apartment, as long as a) the children’s rooms upstairs are not needed yet and b) the children eventually move out.
Now we are asking ourselves:
How do we plan the basement?
The architect suggested shifting the entrance to the basement level and then placing the master bedroom in the basement. Possibly keeping the option of having a separate apartment down there as well. The difficulty: When the kids are small, there will be a lot of walking, especially at night.
The open living area should definitely be on the ground floor, as our terrace will be accessible from there (I have attached a site plan).
What ideas do you have? How are your houses designed (basement, ground floor, upper floor)? Feel free to attach pictures – I am curious and have difficulty imagining the basement layout.
Thank you very much
Yes, ultimately
If two sides are free, it could work.
I went through the whole plan for our situation. It would work for us with two children's bedrooms and a master bedroom on the ground floor. Upstairs, however, there would be space for two rooms plus a storage room and a common room.
So it could also work with a smaller floor area spread over three floors.
If two sides are free, it could work.
I went through the whole plan for our situation. It would work for us with two children's bedrooms and a master bedroom on the ground floor. Upstairs, however, there would be space for two rooms plus a storage room and a common room.
So it could also work with a smaller floor area spread over three floors.
P
pagoni202019 Jun 2020 00:39Here is how we solved it at the time: When the children were very young, they slept on the same floor. Shortly afterwards, we gave up our bedroom on the ground floor, which freed up a larger room for the children; they were happy but still within earshot. We moved to the basement and set up a large bedroom with a walk-in closet there, all built with lightweight timber construction (a shower/bathroom was also available in the basement). When the children got older, things changed again, and after they moved out, the basement became a guest room/office.
We never hesitated to adapt the rooms to changing circumstances. We should have insisted during construction on keeping the option open to create two separate “apartments” in the basement with, for example, a shared shower/toilet in between. Children, grandparents; illness, separation… who knows…
In the end, you won’t be able to cover everything at once. I would recommend keeping as many options for future remodeling open as possible, since you can anticipate many scenarios now but ultimately won’t know which ones will actually occur — usually those you did not expect. Also, children’s development can be very different; for us, flexibility was key, and I would do the same again. You just have to be prepared to occasionally replace a wooden wall or add a door into a wall later on. For us, it was always worth it.
We never hesitated to adapt the rooms to changing circumstances. We should have insisted during construction on keeping the option open to create two separate “apartments” in the basement with, for example, a shared shower/toilet in between. Children, grandparents; illness, separation… who knows…
In the end, you won’t be able to cover everything at once. I would recommend keeping as many options for future remodeling open as possible, since you can anticipate many scenarios now but ultimately won’t know which ones will actually occur — usually those you did not expect. Also, children’s development can be very different; for us, flexibility was key, and I would do the same again. You just have to be prepared to occasionally replace a wooden wall or add a door into a wall later on. For us, it was always worth it.
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