Since I received such quick and constructive feedback in the financing thread, I’m hoping to get some helpful suggestions for improvements here as well. First, the basic conditions:
Plot size: 800 sqm (32 meters long along the street side, 25 meters wide)
Slope: No
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Floor space index: 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: Building envelope is about 18x18 meters
Adjacent buildings: allowed according to the building code
Number of parking spaces: 4, 2 covered
Number of floors: 2 full stories, attic without knee walls
Roof shape: Gable roof, 38-45 degrees; our deviation here is that we want only 28 degrees. Several houses in the area already have different roof pitches and some also have hip roofs
Style: not specified
Orientation: ridge line fixed
Maximum height/limits: Eave height max 6.10 m (20 feet)
Additional requirements: roof overhangs 0.4 m (16 inches) at verge, 0.5 m (20 inches) at eaves
- Terrace covered max. 1/3
- No walls or fences on concrete bases, max. 1 meter (3 feet) high
- And some other minor, mostly standard details
Client requirements
- Style, roof shape, building type: classic detached single-family house
- Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full stories
- Number of occupants, ages: 4 persons, aged 31/30/3/1
- Space requirements on ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF):
GF: living-cooking-dining area, bathroom with shower, small office also as emergency bedroom, pantry, pure utility room without washer and dryer etc.
UF: 2 children’s bedrooms, master bedroom with dressing room, main bathroom, laundry room
Attic: planned undamped, initially only for storage of temperature-insensitive items
- Office: family use
- Overnight guests per year: hard to estimate, probably 5 times per year
- Open architecture, classic as required by zoning plan
- Open kitchen with peninsula
- Number of dining seats: for larger gatherings we sometimes have up to 16 people, though it can be a bit tight then
Fireplace: desired, planned without water heating. Is a fireplace allowed so close to a door?
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double carport
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: yes, but not initially
Additional wishes/notes/daily routine:
We have heard many different opinions about external blinds and roller shutters. Group 1 recommends roller shutters in bedrooms for better darkening, group 2 says modern external blinds can achieve almost complete darkening as well. Complete darkness is not necessary for us, as we currently have round skylights in the bedrooms that cannot be darkened.
House design
Who designed it:
The floor plan is a standard one, which I adapted somewhat myself and the company’s seller then implemented with some changes to make it technically feasible.
What do you particularly like? Why?
Room layout works ideally for us, especially the upper floor.
Location of utility rooms and bathrooms makes sense.
Living and children’s rooms face south.
Sufficient storage options.
What do you not like? Why?
- Entrance area, little space for shoes etc.
- TV wall in the living room is very narrow, the view from the hallway leads directly to the couch; when sitting in front of the TV you look straight at the door, and I’m not sure how cozy this will feel. This could only be solved by swapping kitchen and living room, but then the pantry would no longer be positioned sensibly.
- Cost estimate according to architect/planner:
- 383,000, exact offer available
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: 390,000, preferably less and with some buffer for outdoor work etc.
Preferred heating technology: A ground-source heat pump would be nice but is financially not feasible; currently an air-to-water heat pump is planned.
- Photovoltaics are at least prepared but not yet budgeted.
If you had to give up certain details/extra features:
- Could do without:
- Fireplace is rather a luxury, but a big wish of my wife
- A bay window might also be considered, possibly combined with a space-saving staircase to gain a bit more room in the living area
- Pantry would only make sense to remove if storage elsewhere is created while simultaneously gaining more living space
- Replacing the living room lift-and-slide door with a normal hinged door, but then the space to the dining area would be too tight
- Cannot do without:
- Room program
- Everything that is standard nowadays.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Do you see any potential to reduce “dead” square meters and improve the living area to solve the issues mentioned above?
Plot size: 800 sqm (32 meters long along the street side, 25 meters wide)
Slope: No
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Floor space index: 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: Building envelope is about 18x18 meters
Adjacent buildings: allowed according to the building code
Number of parking spaces: 4, 2 covered
Number of floors: 2 full stories, attic without knee walls
Roof shape: Gable roof, 38-45 degrees; our deviation here is that we want only 28 degrees. Several houses in the area already have different roof pitches and some also have hip roofs
Style: not specified
Orientation: ridge line fixed
Maximum height/limits: Eave height max 6.10 m (20 feet)
Additional requirements: roof overhangs 0.4 m (16 inches) at verge, 0.5 m (20 inches) at eaves
- Terrace covered max. 1/3
- No walls or fences on concrete bases, max. 1 meter (3 feet) high
- And some other minor, mostly standard details
Client requirements
- Style, roof shape, building type: classic detached single-family house
- Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full stories
- Number of occupants, ages: 4 persons, aged 31/30/3/1
- Space requirements on ground floor (GF), upper floor (UF):
GF: living-cooking-dining area, bathroom with shower, small office also as emergency bedroom, pantry, pure utility room without washer and dryer etc.
UF: 2 children’s bedrooms, master bedroom with dressing room, main bathroom, laundry room
Attic: planned undamped, initially only for storage of temperature-insensitive items
- Office: family use
- Overnight guests per year: hard to estimate, probably 5 times per year
- Open architecture, classic as required by zoning plan
- Open kitchen with peninsula
- Number of dining seats: for larger gatherings we sometimes have up to 16 people, though it can be a bit tight then
Fireplace: desired, planned without water heating. Is a fireplace allowed so close to a door?
Music/sound wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double carport
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: yes, but not initially
Additional wishes/notes/daily routine:
We have heard many different opinions about external blinds and roller shutters. Group 1 recommends roller shutters in bedrooms for better darkening, group 2 says modern external blinds can achieve almost complete darkening as well. Complete darkness is not necessary for us, as we currently have round skylights in the bedrooms that cannot be darkened.
House design
Who designed it:
The floor plan is a standard one, which I adapted somewhat myself and the company’s seller then implemented with some changes to make it technically feasible.
What do you particularly like? Why?
Room layout works ideally for us, especially the upper floor.
Location of utility rooms and bathrooms makes sense.
Living and children’s rooms face south.
Sufficient storage options.
What do you not like? Why?
- Entrance area, little space for shoes etc.
- TV wall in the living room is very narrow, the view from the hallway leads directly to the couch; when sitting in front of the TV you look straight at the door, and I’m not sure how cozy this will feel. This could only be solved by swapping kitchen and living room, but then the pantry would no longer be positioned sensibly.
- Cost estimate according to architect/planner:
- 383,000, exact offer available
Personal price limit for the house including equipment: 390,000, preferably less and with some buffer for outdoor work etc.
Preferred heating technology: A ground-source heat pump would be nice but is financially not feasible; currently an air-to-water heat pump is planned.
- Photovoltaics are at least prepared but not yet budgeted.
If you had to give up certain details/extra features:
- Could do without:
- Fireplace is rather a luxury, but a big wish of my wife
- A bay window might also be considered, possibly combined with a space-saving staircase to gain a bit more room in the living area
- Pantry would only make sense to remove if storage elsewhere is created while simultaneously gaining more living space
- Replacing the living room lift-and-slide door with a normal hinged door, but then the space to the dining area would be too tight
- Cannot do without:
- Room program
- Everything that is standard nowadays.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Do you see any potential to reduce “dead” square meters and improve the living area to solve the issues mentioned above?
A
Allthewayup16 Apr 2023 13:21I would definitely remove the second door in the pantry, as it takes up a lot of storage space in the current room layout. Then reduce the size of the pantry a bit and add the gained 1.5 square meters (16 square feet) to the hallway, which would largely solve the hallway space issue. Is having a walk-in closet very important to you? Our bedroom is just over 12 square meters (130 square feet), which is enough for sleeping and dressing—for us, at least! Personally, I also find the bathroom on the ground floor too small. I would enlarge it by taking part of the utility room and adding it to the bathroom, switch the utility room to the office on the ground floor, and move the office upstairs into the walk-in closet. That way, you could also optimize the entrance area a bit. Is it possible to relocate the utility room outside with a small extension or into the garage? That would help a lot. Our neighbors managed to do that very well, for example. Whether the current utility room of just over 5 square meters (54 square feet) is sufficient to accommodate all the equipment (keep the future photovoltaic system in mind!) is questionable.
All in all, it’s not a bad floor plan and quite efficiently designed. But keep in mind that if you want to spend your later years in this house, climbing stairs will become increasingly difficult, so the main living area will shift to the ground floor. Could you create a sleeping space using a drywall partition? Would the bathroom/toilet then be suitable for permanent use? This is thinking far ahead, but that time will come, and it pays off to consider these things in advance. There’s always the option of a stairlift, of course ;-)
My chimney sweep gave me a guide that lists all the required clearances. I’m not sure if each state or region regulates this differently. I’m attaching a few photos that might help. If in doubt, I would contact the local chimney inspector.
All in all, it’s not a bad floor plan and quite efficiently designed. But keep in mind that if you want to spend your later years in this house, climbing stairs will become increasingly difficult, so the main living area will shift to the ground floor. Could you create a sleeping space using a drywall partition? Would the bathroom/toilet then be suitable for permanent use? This is thinking far ahead, but that time will come, and it pays off to consider these things in advance. There’s always the option of a stairlift, of course ;-)
My chimney sweep gave me a guide that lists all the required clearances. I’m not sure if each state or region regulates this differently. I’m attaching a few photos that might help. If in doubt, I would contact the local chimney inspector.
A
Allthewayup16 Apr 2023 13:28Edit:
Make the topic of external venetian blinds dependent on the (final) costs; this discussion may become unnecessary after a few selection appointments. Special external venetian blinds can darken nearly just as well, but I would argue that roller shutters are less prone to faults due to their design and therefore also have a longer lifespan with lower maintenance/care requirements.
Make the topic of external venetian blinds dependent on the (final) costs; this discussion may become unnecessary after a few selection appointments. Special external venetian blinds can darken nearly just as well, but I would argue that roller shutters are less prone to faults due to their design and therefore also have a longer lifespan with lower maintenance/care requirements.
B
Bau-beendet16 Apr 2023 14:15The utility room, at 5 sqm (54 sq ft), seems a bit small to me. I have about 10 sqm (108 sq ft) in my utility room, and it shouldn’t have been any smaller. Instead, slightly enlarge the guest toilet, move the utility room into the home office as already mentioned, and use the space gained at the entrance as a spacious coat area. Also, omit the pantry door from the hallway. This way, you can nicely extend a shelf around the corner at the back.
Thanks first of all for the input.
I’ve roughly changed it as you suggested and now find the entrance area and the living room much nicer. Regarding the fireplace, we would need to see if it can be placed somewhere else.
However, I don’t see a way to fit the small guest room/office upstairs like this.
We are planning a separate storage room upstairs for the washing machine, dryer, iron, and some additional storage, so I was hoping to fit everything into the 5 sqm (54 sq ft). A friend of mine has a similarly small technical room including photovoltaic system, battery storage, and heat pump; it’s not roomy but everything has its place.
I’ve also been made aware of the price, but presumably in the eastern part of the country it’s still somewhat possible to get under 3000 €/sqm (280 sq ft). I already have a written offer.
I’ve roughly changed it as you suggested and now find the entrance area and the living room much nicer. Regarding the fireplace, we would need to see if it can be placed somewhere else.
However, I don’t see a way to fit the small guest room/office upstairs like this.
We are planning a separate storage room upstairs for the washing machine, dryer, iron, and some additional storage, so I was hoping to fit everything into the 5 sqm (54 sq ft). A friend of mine has a similarly small technical room including photovoltaic system, battery storage, and heat pump; it’s not roomy but everything has its place.
I’ve also been made aware of the price, but presumably in the eastern part of the country it’s still somewhat possible to get under 3000 €/sqm (280 sq ft). I already have a written offer.
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