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
gregman2222 Sep 2022 22:29Thank you, and that’s why I’m asking—there shouldn’t be any morning sun in the kitchen. And as I mentioned, I would assign the shower area on the ground floor to the granny flat, placing it in the granny flat’s bathroom. Then, move the door further away from the wall so you can fit a sink and toilet there, which would give you a nice bathroom in the granny flat.
Then, only the kitchen area in the entrance space needs to be adjusted 😉 and a terrace should be planned. After that, the granny flat would be fine.
Then, only the kitchen area in the entrance space needs to be adjusted 😉 and a terrace should be planned. After that, the granny flat would be fine.
gregman22 schrieb:
The granny flat is currently located on the east side of the property. For privacy reasons, it intentionally has no window or door facing the north side of the property. However, this also means it doesn’t have a terrace. Who is it supposed to be for again? Where is the tenant allowed to do their laundry and store their broom?
gregman22 schrieb:
Advantage of the kitchen: it currently gets wonderful morning sun. Where exactly? On the south side? In the morning?
At first glance, it really looks nice. You have to admit that. In detail, though, it is unnecessarily large, especially because of the granny flat. The double-height space above the dining room also shows that some space needs to be filled, although it is certainly a highlight. Just be prepared to spend several thousand euros on the dining table lighting.
In general, you have to be a fan of open voids if there is no separation with a soundproof glass panel on the upper floor. Going to bed early and continuing to live downstairs is only possible for very good sleepers.
What I really don’t like is the positioning of the kitchen. In my view, it combines the disadvantages of all concepts. It is open, but there is no opportunity for communication with guests or family in the dining room. It faces south, so no relaxing in the morning sun. Also, at this stage of planning, it is quite small. As it is planned now, it is purely a show kitchen (which guests won’t even see once they are in the living area).
For me, a single-story layout with roof windows would be an absolute no-go. Roof windows in the east-west orientation bring a lot of heat into the house. Shading or a very large-scale air conditioning system would then be mandatory. Is solar installation mandatory? This roof is really not suitable for solar panels.
One last note that comes to mind: all the sliding doors are nonsense—especially in the granny flat. Get rid of them.
In general, you have to be a fan of open voids if there is no separation with a soundproof glass panel on the upper floor. Going to bed early and continuing to live downstairs is only possible for very good sleepers.
What I really don’t like is the positioning of the kitchen. In my view, it combines the disadvantages of all concepts. It is open, but there is no opportunity for communication with guests or family in the dining room. It faces south, so no relaxing in the morning sun. Also, at this stage of planning, it is quite small. As it is planned now, it is purely a show kitchen (which guests won’t even see once they are in the living area).
For me, a single-story layout with roof windows would be an absolute no-go. Roof windows in the east-west orientation bring a lot of heat into the house. Shading or a very large-scale air conditioning system would then be mandatory. Is solar installation mandatory? This roof is really not suitable for solar panels.
One last note that comes to mind: all the sliding doors are nonsense—especially in the granny flat. Get rid of them.
G
gregman2223 Sep 2022 07:26ypg schrieb:
Who is it intended for again? Where is the tenant supposed to do their laundry and store their broom? For the foreseeable future, it will be for our two parents, although with different frequencies. The granny flat will probably be occupied about 50-60% of the year, plus occasional (longer) guest visits.
OWLer schrieb:
At first glance, it really looks nice. You have to admit that. In detail, especially because of the granny flat, it’s unnecessarily large. Also, the open space above the dining area shows that some area just needs to be filled, even though it’s probably a highlight. Just remember to budget several thousand euros for the dining table lighting. Thanks, and yes! We definitely wanted an open space, which turned out larger than originally planned. The light fixture already pains me 🙂
OWLer schrieb:
In general, you have to be a fan of open spaces if there’s no partition with a soundproof glass panel upstairs. Going to bed early and carrying on downstairs only works for very good sleepers. You’re making me nervous here. We mentioned this point to the architect, but he says you can integrate stronger sound insulation within the upstairs walls quite well. Do you have any other ideas? Reducing the open space won’t help much more; it’s more of a fundamental decision.
OWLer schrieb:
What I don’t like at all is the kitchen’s turned-away position. Hmm... From the start, my wife rightly insisted that the kitchen should not always be visible from the dining and living areas. She doesn’t like being watched when cooking messily or constantly looking at a “dirty” kitchen. That’s why we wanted at least some kind of visual separation. This has resulted in a solid room division (block) between the kitchen and dining area. I can’t think of a better solution right now.
G
gregman2223 Sep 2022 07:43OWLer schrieb:
Is there a solar panel requirement? Because this roof is really difficult to cover. @OWLer Could you explain this point?
OWLer schrieb:
One last tip that comes to mind: all the sliding doors are pointless – especially in the granny flat. Remove them. @OWLer -> I see. So we would only lose the open feeling in the granny flat, correct? Alternatively – just keep the sliding door to the living area and not to the bedroom.
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