ᐅ Improvement Suggestions for a Single-Family Home with 137 sqm of Living Area and a Secondary Apartment
Created on: 3 Jan 2020 18:08
M
Maartina
Hello, we are planning our house, which we want to share with my mother (separate apartment approximately 70 sqm (750 sq ft)). We want to maximize the floor area with 137 sqm (1,475 sq ft). Maybe someone has ideas, suggestions, or improvements. We are grateful for any input.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size 459 sqm (4,940 sq ft), 21.5 * 21.4 meters (71 * 70 ft)
Site coverage ratio 0.3
Building area 15.4 * 13.4 meters (50 * 44 ft)
Building line 3 meters (10 ft) and boundary line 5 meters (16 ft)
1.5 storeys
Roof type: steep roof, minimum 35 degrees
Street-facing gable
Maximum heights / limits 9 meters (30 ft)
Other requirements: max 1.15 meter (3.8 ft) knee wall
Owners’ Requirements
2 storeys + expandable attic
Upstairs: 5 people, including three small children. Ground floor: 1 person, mother
Space requirements ground floor
Mother’s apartment: 2 rooms + living room + open kitchen,
separate office with WC.
Space requirements upstairs: 3 children’s rooms, master bedroom, open living and kitchen area, two bathrooms
Office: home office, possibly for visitors
Conservative construction
36 cm (14 inch) masonry
Open kitchen, kitchen island upstairs
Number of dining seats upstairs 6-8
Possibly a balcony
Garage added later
Staircase to attic with roof window accessible from both households
House Design
Designed by:
- Do-it-yourself
What do you dislike? Why? Dark corridor
Personal budget for house including fittings: 400,000
Preferred heating system: heat pump
Why is the design like it is now?
What do you think is particularly good or bad about it? Maximum size utilized, difficult implementation due to sloping roofs
Thank you, maartina
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size 459 sqm (4,940 sq ft), 21.5 * 21.4 meters (71 * 70 ft)
Site coverage ratio 0.3
Building area 15.4 * 13.4 meters (50 * 44 ft)
Building line 3 meters (10 ft) and boundary line 5 meters (16 ft)
1.5 storeys
Roof type: steep roof, minimum 35 degrees
Street-facing gable
Maximum heights / limits 9 meters (30 ft)
Other requirements: max 1.15 meter (3.8 ft) knee wall
Owners’ Requirements
2 storeys + expandable attic
Upstairs: 5 people, including three small children. Ground floor: 1 person, mother
Space requirements ground floor
Mother’s apartment: 2 rooms + living room + open kitchen,
separate office with WC.
Space requirements upstairs: 3 children’s rooms, master bedroom, open living and kitchen area, two bathrooms
Office: home office, possibly for visitors
Conservative construction
36 cm (14 inch) masonry
Open kitchen, kitchen island upstairs
Number of dining seats upstairs 6-8
Possibly a balcony
Garage added later
Staircase to attic with roof window accessible from both households
House Design
Designed by:
- Do-it-yourself
What do you dislike? Why? Dark corridor
Personal budget for house including fittings: 400,000
Preferred heating system: heat pump
Why is the design like it is now?
What do you think is particularly good or bad about it? Maximum size utilized, difficult implementation due to sloping roofs
Thank you, maartina
wrobel schrieb:
Hello
Sorry, but this is only slightly better than what you sketched yourself.
In the granny flat, there is a kitchen that is huge compared to the living room, a dark and uninviting entrance–staircase area, an impractical bedroom on the upper floor, bathrooms with space for a corner bathtub in the smaller bathroom but only a 75 x 90 cm (30 x 35 inch) shower, ..........
I’ll stop the list here and suggest starting over.
Olli Oh dear, I can already tell this won’t work out...
The staircase runs all the way up to the roof and there will be a window here. It won’t be very bright, but at least some natural light will come in. The ratio of kitchen to living room in the granny flat is what my mother-in-law wants. When we occupy the whole house later, the walls will be removed anyway.
I don’t quite understand the bathroom issue. A bathtub and two showers are enough for us...
ypg schrieb:
Thanks. But there’s still room for improvement, right? (Apart from the missing doors in the kids’ rooms)
I’m surprised a professional architect would forget doors and make such rough openings in the walls.
The layout on the ground floor with the utility room, work area, and separate apartment is fine.
However, almost every room, including those upstairs, could benefit from some adjustments to the walls to improve the space. Yes, unfortunately, the missing doors happen from time to time. Just like the storage room on the ground floor, which is actually intended as a guest bedroom.
The architect definitely needs to make changes here.
kaho674 schrieb:
Site plan? Site plan! Site plan?
Besides the problems already mentioned, you might want to reconsider the overall concept.
Because of the slopes, right now about five people upstairs have almost the same amount of space as one person downstairs. That seems disproportionate to me.
The office is quite large – how much space is really needed there? Could visitors be expected to use stairs, or do they have mobility issues?
Are there any regulations regarding dormer size? It was important to us that our apartment is all on one floor
11ant schrieb:
Uh-oh, ouch.
I can only agree with this advice but will still try to point out some additional issues, since the original poster apparently finds it hard to recognize these mistakes themselves (one usually doesn’t want to build something that is only self-punishing). But somehow someone managed to make nonsense even worse:
Living room in-law unit as a trapped space # room sizes kitchen – living room – and especially storage room are all completely out of proportion # the separate bedroom in the in-law unit is okay on its own, but the master bedroom is more like a walk-in alcove # the attic floor just doesn’t work, especially the balcony with knee wall at 115cm (45 inches) is a joke, overall the designer here shows zero spatial awareness # the wall layouts in the attic floor are priceless, both for masonry and tiling, and as my predecessor hinted, this is by far not the end of the story. To not only complain, I’ll admit I once planned quite similar nonsense myself – but I was only twelve then, so looking at this almost brings up old memories again.
I also suspect crystal clear that one root of the problem is roughly eighty-four wishes more than the build volume can actually accommodate. The storage room is intended as a guest room since we regularly have visitors, so this size is quite appropriate. Wall layouts in the upper floor are challenging due to many corners and edges, right? We don’t really like that either and have already made some adjustments; before, it looked even worse. A larger plot was unfortunately hard to find here. We know our requirements are difficult to realize on such a small lot.
The driveway will be reduced in size. A garage will be added later.
Where is north, by the way?
Honestly, your information is too sparse and comes only in small bits here.
You’d rather squeeze five people onto one floor than look for alternatives? And because grandma occasionally has a guest, she needs a huge guest room that will be empty 90% of the time?
With your 35-degree roof pitch you won’t get far. Since it says at least, I would go for at least 45° (45 degrees). Has there been a decision on that yet?
What about garden access—even if it’s a small one? Sitting on a terrace with three kids feels very different than cramming onto a balcony. And what do you mean by "if we later live in the entire house"? Is your mother-in-law planning to get married again and moving in with her boyfriend soon? Or are you already planning for her to die from COVID?
Honestly, your information is too sparse and comes only in small bits here.
You’d rather squeeze five people onto one floor than look for alternatives? And because grandma occasionally has a guest, she needs a huge guest room that will be empty 90% of the time?
With your 35-degree roof pitch you won’t get far. Since it says at least, I would go for at least 45° (45 degrees). Has there been a decision on that yet?
What about garden access—even if it’s a small one? Sitting on a terrace with three kids feels very different than cramming onto a balcony. And what do you mean by "if we later live in the entire house"? Is your mother-in-law planning to get married again and moving in with her boyfriend soon? Or are you already planning for her to die from COVID?
ypg schrieb:
Provide more information!
You will benefit from the corona situation, as many of “us” have a bit more time. Because of our three little ones, I have rather little time, but I will provide more information as soon as I manage to do so today.
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