ᐅ New Single-Family Home Construction – Join Us on Our Journey!
Created on: 4 Aug 2022 16:13
G
gregman22
Dear community,
We are finally getting a step closer to realizing our dream of building a single-family home.
The plot has been purchased, building plans have been reviewed, construction method decided, and so on. We have now commissioned the architect of the general contractor (GC) of our choice with the planning task and are currently fine-tuning the house design. I would love to take you along on this journey and incorporate your valuable feedback.
At this stage, the focus is on the house design.
Basic data:
Plot: 1062m2 (11,433 sq ft); approx. 25.5m x 41.64m (84 ft x 137 ft)
Orientation: Northwest -> The arrow in the screenshot of the 3D view points south
Desired room layout:
Ground floor:
First floor:
Attic:
Note: I am still discussing this with the architect. Due to the hipped roof shape, the actual living area has shrunk too much. Therefore, further discussion is needed to accommodate the other rooms. I had underestimated the ratio of gross floor area to usable living space.
Basement:
Additional plans:
Now to my first questions for you:
My biggest construction challenge at the moment is the layout of the attic. There are two alternatives:
- Change the roof type, which would increase costs but provide more usable living space in the attic
- Give up the playroom on the first floor, convert it into a guest room, and build only the two offices in the attic (no guest room or bathroom)
Thank you in advance for your comments.
We are finally getting a step closer to realizing our dream of building a single-family home.
The plot has been purchased, building plans have been reviewed, construction method decided, and so on. We have now commissioned the architect of the general contractor (GC) of our choice with the planning task and are currently fine-tuning the house design. I would love to take you along on this journey and incorporate your valuable feedback.
At this stage, the focus is on the house design.
Basic data:
Plot: 1062m2 (11,433 sq ft); approx. 25.5m x 41.64m (84 ft x 137 ft)
Orientation: Northwest -> The arrow in the screenshot of the 3D view points south
Desired room layout:
Ground floor:
- Large living/dining area with adjacent (but separable) kitchen at the bottom left, plus a gallery overlooking the first floor
- Utility room
- Guest toilet
- Garage
- Separate apartment at the top right with its own entrance for parents-in-law
First floor:
- Gallery overlooking the ground floor
- 2 children’s bedrooms with a shared bathroom
- 1 playroom (initially a home cinema room, later to be repurposed) above the garage
- Master wing with main bedroom, dressing room, and bathroom
Attic:
Note: I am still discussing this with the architect. Due to the hipped roof shape, the actual living area has shrunk too much. Therefore, further discussion is needed to accommodate the other rooms. I had underestimated the ratio of gross floor area to usable living space.
- 2 separate offices
- 1 guest bedroom
- 1 small guest bathroom
Basement:
- 1 technical room
- 1 laundry room
- 1 storage room
- Large fitness room
- Wellness room with sauna
Additional plans:
- Air-to-air heat pump or air-to-water heat pump
- Photovoltaic system with/without battery storage
- Possible pool (3.5/4m x 8m or 3.5/4m x 12m) with heat pump (and countercurrent system)
- Sauna in the basement room
- Air conditioning for various rooms
- Smart home system – most likely via KNX
- Garden: Currently planning 2 terraces – one to the left, slightly more to the south, and one facing the main part of the plot further north
Now to my first questions for you:
- How do the floor plans strike you? Do they make sense in terms of the dynamics of family life?
- The location of the separate apartment was chosen based on our wish. We wanted a strict, clearly defined spatial separation with a separate entrance. Do you have any comments on this?
- Do you consider the utility rooms in the basement to be adequately sized (considering KNX, heat pump, etc.)?
My biggest construction challenge at the moment is the layout of the attic. There are two alternatives:
- Change the roof type, which would increase costs but provide more usable living space in the attic
- Give up the playroom on the first floor, convert it into a guest room, and build only the two offices in the attic (no guest room or bathroom)
Thank you in advance for your comments.
G
gregman227 Aug 2022 19:58ypg schrieb:
Your personal preferences. A few personal details about us:
- We both work in the tech sector, so we spend a lot of time working from home.
- We are very athletic, both exercising five times a week. Therefore, we want a gym and a sauna.
- We love to spend about an hour sitting at the breakfast table every morning.
- We want a kitchen island facing the living area; however, we are not very passionate cooks.
- Regarding the granny flat: for the foreseeable future, our parents will mainly live there. Since these stays are longer-term and not just a few days, the granny flat should be independent, including a kitchenette, bedroom, bathroom, and living room.
- We prefer larger rooms – a gallery / open space and a spacious ground floor.
- My wife reads around 100 books per year, so she likes to create different reading nooks.
- We are planning for 1–2 children.
- We enjoy a wide, unobstructed view of the garden.
Without any restrictions, we would definitely have built a very modern, cube-shaped house with a flat roof. I like your idea of the separate outbuilding.
H
Heidi19657 Aug 2022 20:42A huge house, but in my opinion, far too few rooms.
1. There is no additional room on the ground floor. What if someone breaks a leg? Then that person would have to spend six weeks in a care bed in the middle of the living room, washing with just a washcloth. Or is there a shower in the guest toilet?
2. I would definitely want a pantry or storage room near the kitchen.
3. The granny flat has no storage room at all?
4. Are there no hallways? You open the front door and are immediately in the large living area? Young people might like that. For the parents-in-law, it’s probably not comfortable when someone is sitting on the sofa and the front door opens while it’s freezing outside. I would always plan for a hallway.
1. There is no additional room on the ground floor. What if someone breaks a leg? Then that person would have to spend six weeks in a care bed in the middle of the living room, washing with just a washcloth. Or is there a shower in the guest toilet?
2. I would definitely want a pantry or storage room near the kitchen.
3. The granny flat has no storage room at all?
4. Are there no hallways? You open the front door and are immediately in the large living area? Young people might like that. For the parents-in-law, it’s probably not comfortable when someone is sitting on the sofa and the front door opens while it’s freezing outside. I would always plan for a hallway.
M
Myrna_Loy7 Aug 2022 20:45If the basement apartment is for your in-laws, your wife can surely provide valuable input regarding the floor plan. American preferences tend to be somewhat different. Even after nearly 20 years, I still haven't gotten used to some things 🙂
ypg schrieb:
Both inside and outside. What use is the most beautiful house interior if the exterior looks completely awful? You’re not going to live in a golden cage!Excuse me? The priority is clearly the interior. Why should I care about the most beautiful facade if every morning I have to deal with, for example, the corner in the living/dining area that annoys me?K
k-man20217 Aug 2022 22:43gregman22 schrieb:
Now I’m starting a brief new discussion but don’t want to drag it on endlessly: Choosing an architect. This is weighing heavily on my mind.
I know the goal should be that the architect meets minimum criteria: We like the style, good references, a good feeling during discussions, also does construction management, and more.
I have to add a special criterion: My wife is American and does not speak German well enough to actively participate in discussions with the architect.
Back then, my wife and I spoke with over five renowned architects. Result: Only one architect passed — mainly on the matter of English.
BUT: Despite numerous references and good ratings, it is purely a design firm and charges fixed prices instead of billing according to HOAI (official fee structure for architects). When I asked about construction management, I was told that they stay “on board” for a project and that we, as clients, can choose from several construction managers they recommend, if desired.
Prices can be compared to HOAI in advance, which makes it easier for me.
Of course, I would prefer the all-in-one “jack of all trades” including construction management, but the architect (designer) simply left a very good impression (including the staff).
What do you think? Stick with the good feeling or reopen the difficult architect topic completely? What do you mean by “purely a design firm”? Which service phases does he take on?
We are currently planning/building for the second time and it was especially important to us that the architect handles the detailed planning and has a structural engineer on the team for this. During our first build, there were many problems because the tradespeople argued over execution details since there were often no drawings for these and the scope at the interfaces was unclear. It was also important to us that interior design and especially lighting planning were integrated into the detailed plans.
Our architect outsources the construction management to independent contractors because he builds nationwide in Germany and a construction manager must be present on site.
G
gregman227 Aug 2022 22:53k-man2021 schrieb:
What do you mean by “pure planning office”? Which service phases does he cover?
We are currently planning/building for the second time and it was especially important to us that the architect handles the detailed design and has a structural engineer on the team. During our first build, there were many issues because the contractors argued over execution details, as there were often no drawings for these and the scope of services at interfaces was unclear. Additionally, it was important to us that the detailed design integrates the interior design and especially the lighting plan.
Our architect outsources construction management to freelancers since he builds nationwide in Germany and a site manager must be present locally. According to his statement, he covers service phases 1-5. He also said that he recommends several site managers and remains involved in a supporting role during the following phases.
Similar topics