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
gregman2211 Aug 2022 18:18A design question for you: If you want to use the basement more actively for living purposes (e.g., as an office or guest room), it naturally lacks atmosphere and natural light. What do you generally think about improving the living quality in important basement rooms by creating a "slope excavation" in front of the windows? I’m not sure what the exact term for this is.
At first glance, I like the idea because I’m not fundamentally against having a basement, just against the lack of daylight and the awful basement windows.
At first glance, I like the idea because I’m not fundamentally against having a basement, just against the lack of daylight and the awful basement windows.
gregman22 schrieb:
Honestly? I don’t know. We should first put the general contractor chaos behind us.But the new guy also needs the site plan. It’s about time you applied for it! gregman22 schrieb:
whether I should maybe give him a little nudge in the next meeting in a similar direction.Better not. You only nudge when he’s completely off track. Let him reach into his bag of tricks. We’re curious 🙂 gregman22 schrieb:
First of all, I find one thing really cool:You should see the one with the walls, that one is even cooler 😉 Let’s see if I can fix it. I must have messed up somewhere because all the walls are invisible or deleted. gregman22 schrieb:
2) It can definitely happen that I organize a guys’ gathering and we want to use the sauna in summer. Then everything takes place in our master bathroom...Ahem: something like that should of course be on the list of needs and habits. It’s personal and should work well in everyday life. gregman22 schrieb:
So the two separate (preferably small) offices are essential. We also want to include the first guest room somewhere, which could later be converted into a child’s room, plus one fixed child’s room. This way we save one room.It wasn’t really clear that you’re flexible with one or two rooms. To me, it sounds rigid and fixed regarding the room requirements—and apparently I’m not the only one who feels that way.The challenge is to achieve a harmonious roof design. My software can’t do that at all, so we’re lacking the eye to judge if it fits well.
Here’s the explanation: Two offices on the ground floor with a shower toilet ensure that during illness or when hosting guests, there is convenient accommodation on the ground floor. The staircase is rotated so you can get your bicycles out through the front door.
Kitchen: I don’t think you are the open island kitchen type, so this is just a rough idea.
Air space with a balcony to protect the southwest side. Garden to the north, but also southwest.
Children’s rooms on the upper floor have a separating hallway to reduce noise from the air space.
The master bedroom side could be more flexible and creative.
By the way, the upper floor has an overhang on the front southwest side to shield the entrance from rain (and to give the children’s rooms a decent size... but it could be adjusted more flexibly).
Unfortunately, due to this, the house is oversized. Overhangs of 50cm (20 inches) or more are counted towards the floor area 😕
Here’s the explanation: Two offices on the ground floor with a shower toilet ensure that during illness or when hosting guests, there is convenient accommodation on the ground floor. The staircase is rotated so you can get your bicycles out through the front door.
Kitchen: I don’t think you are the open island kitchen type, so this is just a rough idea.
Air space with a balcony to protect the southwest side. Garden to the north, but also southwest.
Children’s rooms on the upper floor have a separating hallway to reduce noise from the air space.
The master bedroom side could be more flexible and creative.
By the way, the upper floor has an overhang on the front southwest side to shield the entrance from rain (and to give the children’s rooms a decent size... but it could be adjusted more flexibly).
Unfortunately, due to this, the house is oversized. Overhangs of 50cm (20 inches) or more are counted towards the floor area 😕
gregman22 schrieb:
Is it possible to create better living quality in important basement rooms by using a “cutting into the slope” excavation in front of the windows? The light well here would be, for example, the small lawn to the east above the separate apartment terrace. You can also create a slope for a light well in the south under the office area.
Andre77 schrieb:
@ypg
Could the balcony be extended all the way to the end of the house, so that you can access the still separated and therefore private balcony through a balcony door? Basically adding another L-shape to the existing one? Yes, that would probably be possible. You mean the west corner, which would actually need a small roof 😉
I find a balcony next to another balcony plus an L-shape, when you already have a garden, rather pointless. I wouldn’t design it that way. A balcony is the original poster’s wish. It’s affordable, so they get it.
Its practical use would be to step out briefly in the morning or for the last cigarette in the evening, but otherwise? Laundry could be dried there well too.
But some things you just have to have, want to have, and then you gain experience yourself.
Here it is centrally located in the southwest, as an extension of the rather narrow corridor between the parents’ and children’s rooms, and is intended for everyone and easily accessible.
In another design, I actually placed it by the bedroom.
I’m not entirely happy with this design because its footprint is too large. Also, the upper floor feels a bit cramped to me, partly because of the open space.
But I wanted to show that a house always looks better when you work with projections and recesses. A house is more than just a block; the architect is partly responsible for the design.
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