Hello dear forum members,
as mentioned in the introduction thread, here is the current status of our house planning.
The plot is located in the second row and is accessible via the courtyard of the front house (shared driveway).
Currently, there are existing buildings on the plot that need to be demolished.
We have already had a few planning discussions with construction companies, and honestly, I have to say I am shocked by their “professionalism.” We have now specifically selected companies where consultation takes place with architects and not, for example, a trained cook (no joke, that actually happened!). In addition, we are already annoyed by the question: “What do you want to build? A shell bungalow or a single-family house?” When we say: “Let’s work out the floor plan step by step and see which shape and roof pitch result, then we can still decide the official house type,” we only get strange looks. There were no independent ideas tailored to the plot... When asking what they would recommend, we just get a questioning look. I have to say, I expected more, but maybe it is normal that you have to bring the initial idea for the floor plan yourself...
Due to the current situation, further appointments with the construction companies are difficult to arrange. So we are using the time to plan ourselves. After tapping into your collective intelligence in the first step, we will then send our draft to the companies including the issues we still see. They will then have the chance to optimize and price our draft for the next consultation.
For us, the heart of the house is the ground floor; the upper floor follows from the ground floor plan (room layout, bathroom above utility room, windows, etc.). The upper floor is located on the exterior walls of the ground floor to the right (north) and bottom (east) of the plan, while to the left (south) and top (west) it is limited to the “main rectangle” or recessed by 1.5m (roughly 5 feet).
Attached you will find the completed questionnaire. Unanswered questions I have not included anymore.
We are very curious about your opinion!
Many thanks in advance.
Ypsi aus NI
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size approx. 700 sqm
Floor area ratio (FAR) 0.3
Site coverage ratio 0.3
Building window, building line and boundary 3m (10 feet) from the neighbor’s boundary
Number of floors 1 full story
open development
Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type (Mediterranean) urban villa
Basement, floors 1.5 floors
Number of occupants, age 2 people + planned children
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor GF = 130-140 sqm (1400-1500 sq ft), UF = 50-60 sqm (540-650 sq ft)
Open or closed architecture open
Conservative or modern construction modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island kitchen island
Number of dining seats 6-8
Fireplace wood stove
Balcony, roof terrace possibly roof terrace (flat roof on both volumes)
Garage, carport double garage
House Design
Planned by: Do-it-Yourself
What do you like in particular? Why? Shape fits well into the plot, living area is somewhat separated, kitchen and dining table as central element
What do you dislike? Why? Is the staircase suitable? Is the entrance spacious enough? Can the private rooms on the ground floor be arranged this way?
Preferred heating technology: heat pump
Why did the design develop this way?
We consider the plot relatively narrow. Normally, a rectangular house shape would make sense, using the full width of the plot. But then you lose the best side (south). The floor plan was developed according to “form follows function” and we really like it now (I mean the L-shape, not necessarily the individual room layout).
An interesting idea is not to realize the two wings on the upper floor with a hip roof, but instead to have a flat roof to possibly create one or two roof terraces.
The original wish was for a bungalow, but we realized that it consumes too much floor space. A good compromise for us is to have the master bedroom and master bathroom on the ground floor, and the children’s rooms plus office upstairs.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Are there fundamental planning mistakes we have overlooked so far?


as mentioned in the introduction thread, here is the current status of our house planning.
The plot is located in the second row and is accessible via the courtyard of the front house (shared driveway).
Currently, there are existing buildings on the plot that need to be demolished.
We have already had a few planning discussions with construction companies, and honestly, I have to say I am shocked by their “professionalism.” We have now specifically selected companies where consultation takes place with architects and not, for example, a trained cook (no joke, that actually happened!). In addition, we are already annoyed by the question: “What do you want to build? A shell bungalow or a single-family house?” When we say: “Let’s work out the floor plan step by step and see which shape and roof pitch result, then we can still decide the official house type,” we only get strange looks. There were no independent ideas tailored to the plot... When asking what they would recommend, we just get a questioning look. I have to say, I expected more, but maybe it is normal that you have to bring the initial idea for the floor plan yourself...
Due to the current situation, further appointments with the construction companies are difficult to arrange. So we are using the time to plan ourselves. After tapping into your collective intelligence in the first step, we will then send our draft to the companies including the issues we still see. They will then have the chance to optimize and price our draft for the next consultation.
For us, the heart of the house is the ground floor; the upper floor follows from the ground floor plan (room layout, bathroom above utility room, windows, etc.). The upper floor is located on the exterior walls of the ground floor to the right (north) and bottom (east) of the plan, while to the left (south) and top (west) it is limited to the “main rectangle” or recessed by 1.5m (roughly 5 feet).
Attached you will find the completed questionnaire. Unanswered questions I have not included anymore.
We are very curious about your opinion!
Many thanks in advance.
Ypsi aus NI
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size approx. 700 sqm
Floor area ratio (FAR) 0.3
Site coverage ratio 0.3
Building window, building line and boundary 3m (10 feet) from the neighbor’s boundary
Number of floors 1 full story
open development
Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type (Mediterranean) urban villa
Basement, floors 1.5 floors
Number of occupants, age 2 people + planned children
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor GF = 130-140 sqm (1400-1500 sq ft), UF = 50-60 sqm (540-650 sq ft)
Open or closed architecture open
Conservative or modern construction modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island kitchen island
Number of dining seats 6-8
Fireplace wood stove
Balcony, roof terrace possibly roof terrace (flat roof on both volumes)
Garage, carport double garage
House Design
Planned by: Do-it-Yourself
What do you like in particular? Why? Shape fits well into the plot, living area is somewhat separated, kitchen and dining table as central element
What do you dislike? Why? Is the staircase suitable? Is the entrance spacious enough? Can the private rooms on the ground floor be arranged this way?
Preferred heating technology: heat pump
Why did the design develop this way?
We consider the plot relatively narrow. Normally, a rectangular house shape would make sense, using the full width of the plot. But then you lose the best side (south). The floor plan was developed according to “form follows function” and we really like it now (I mean the L-shape, not necessarily the individual room layout).
An interesting idea is not to realize the two wings on the upper floor with a hip roof, but instead to have a flat roof to possibly create one or two roof terraces.
The original wish was for a bungalow, but we realized that it consumes too much floor space. A good compromise for us is to have the master bedroom and master bathroom on the ground floor, and the children’s rooms plus office upstairs.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Are there fundamental planning mistakes we have overlooked so far?
Y
Ypsi aus NI23 Mar 2020 12:17It would be the same for us. The west side also gets sunlight from noon onwards.
9 meters (30 feet) is far too narrow. You would probably want to make use of the 14 meters (46 feet) instead (20 meters (66 feet) width minus 2 times 3 meters (10 feet) for the boundary) and then about 10 meters (33 feet) for the other dimension. That would fit better with the already narrow plot.
It would just be a 'standard solution' that we have definitely considered, but so far we found the L-shape more appealing...
Do you have a specific rectangular floor plan idea?
9 meters (30 feet) is far too narrow. You would probably want to make use of the 14 meters (46 feet) instead (20 meters (66 feet) width minus 2 times 3 meters (10 feet) for the boundary) and then about 10 meters (33 feet) for the other dimension. That would fit better with the already narrow plot.
It would just be a 'standard solution' that we have definitely considered, but so far we found the L-shape more appealing...
Do you have a specific rectangular floor plan idea?
Y
Ypsi aus NI23 Mar 2020 12:19haydee schrieb:
No, you’re overcomplicating it. Untie your knot. Your plot of land is not difficult.If you have the perfect floor plan, please share it. At the moment, you still haven’t even answered my question about where you would place the wardrobe instead...
That doesn’t help...
Ypsi aus NI schrieb:
9m (30 feet) is way too narrow Why? That was just an example anyway. About 10m (33 feet) or so would still work. Especially since it seems the neighboring property to the south doesn’t have any immediate construction right up against the boundary.
M
Matthew0323 Mar 2020 12:27Ypsi aus NI schrieb:
At the moment, you haven’t even answered my question about where you would place the wardrobe instead...
That’s not helpful... Wow, that’s quite bold. You don’t answer the questions and at the same time complain that others don’t answer yours. On top of that, you keep asking others for complete floor plans, but yourself provide information—if at all—only in small bits, like easement rights, for example.
One last time: Your floor plan in #1 is about 185m2 (2000 sq ft) = approximately 400,000. Assuming it’s a rectangle. Plus double garage = 25,000, plus additional construction costs = about 40,000–50,000, plus two roof terraces = about 20,000, plus all the corners, edges, projections, recesses, etc... without any further special requests.
Do you already own the land? Are you doing any work yourselves (self-construction)?
Therefore, I would roughly estimate a minimum of 500,000 Euros (without land, without extras).
Do you have that comfortably? Plus a 10% buffer? So 550,000?
If that’s no problem, then great. Keep going. But please just say so already!
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