ᐅ New Single-Family Home Construction – Join Us on Our Journey!

Created on: 4 Aug 2022 16:13

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:

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.

Modern two-story single-family house with gable roof, garage, terrace, and garden.

Attic floor plan: workspaces, guest room, corridor, guest bathroom, attic storage.

Floor plan of a residential house with bedrooms, balcony, bathroom, gallery, and stairs.

Floor plan: open living/kitchen area, bedroom, bathroom, utility room, terrace, garage.

Basement floor plan: two basement rooms, storage, technical room, laundry room, corridor, and stairs.

kbt0923 Sep 2022 07:57

#187

When it comes to open space, I think if you’re going for open space at all, it should be large. The size you’re considering will definitely have an impact, but also comes with the downsides of wasted space 😉, the lighting fixtures, and it’s something worth reviewing. Above the dining table, it would feel too echoey and not cozy enough.

Photovoltaic panels will be challenging because your roof is quite fragmented due to many skylights, which limits efficient panel installation. You would need to calculate how to best fit the modules.

gregman2223 Sep 2022 08:05

#188

Unfortunately, we don’t have a good alternative to the single full-story option. As it is now, we can comfortably extend the ground floor area (including the basement apartment) to 217m2 (2337 sq ft). If we go for the two full-story variant, we only have 155m2 (1668 sq ft) per floor. That breaks up the ground floor concept.

OWLer23 Sep 2022 08:08

#189

kbt09 schrieb:

Photovoltaics are quite challenging because your roof is rather fragmented due to the many roof windows, which limits efficient surface use. You’d need to calculate how to fit the modules in.

Do you have to build with solar panels? As already mentioned here, it gets very fragmented and not very attractive if you have to or want to install photovoltaics. For me, there is no doubt nowadays that photovoltaics are desirable. The roof should be fully covered! It’s a big obstacle if the roof mainly consists of windows.

Of course, the high solar heat gain through the roof windows in summer is also a concern. Cleaning should not be overlooked either. If you need to hire a roofer to perform cleaning in that void space, is it possible to install external shading for maintenance work?

gregman22 schrieb:

You’re scaring me here. We also raised this point with our architect, but he says that you can incorporate enhanced sound insulation well into the upper floor walls. Do you have any other ideas? Reducing the cavity won’t help much either; it’s more a fundamental decision.

Our neighbors also have a very nice architect-designed house with a large cavity space. Their kids always wake up when the TV is on in the living room. Sure, you can build the walls from thick sand-lime bricks for soundproofing, but then there’s the door issue. The doors also need to be very heavy for sound insulation. If a finger ever gets caught in between, drywall damage is guaranteed. It can certainly be done, though. I had to carry drywall twice because of heavy doors and managed to get through it—just something to keep in mind.

gregman22 schrieb:

If we go with the two full-floor option, we “only” have 155m2 (1,670 sq ft) per level left.

You don’t see such comments very often. 😉

An accessory apartment as a duplex over two floors with a separate staircase? That way, you could ease the space on each floor a bit and optimize the stairs for a stairlift right away, especially useful for elderly parents?

Costruttrice23 Sep 2022 08:17

#190

kbt09 schrieb:

Photovoltaics are a bit challenging because your roof is quite fragmented due to the many skylights, which limits efficient surface use. You’d need to calculate how to arrange the modules.

To implement photovoltaics, you can use solar roof tiles to cover the entire roof. This way, the skylights won’t be an issue, and personally, I find this solution more aesthetically pleasing for a house like this.

kbt0923 Sep 2022 08:27

#191

That’s possible… but first, an up-to-date cost estimate should be attached. I would say a minimum of 1.2 to 1.4 million, excluding landscaping, but for example including photovoltaic roof tiles. Roughly, you get about 300 sqm (3200 sq ft) of usable living area (considering sloped ceilings) excluding the gallery void, plus a basement with exterior dimensions of 15.60 x 11.70 m (51 x 38 ft) = 182 sqm (1958 sq ft), as well as one or two light wells to achieve the desired basement room effect.
Two staircases, which will certainly need to be well designed visually, with a third staircase to the basement that can be simpler. Currently 5 bathrooms, sauna.

Where exactly is the laundry going to be done? I would definitely plan for it to be on the upper floor.

Costruttrice23 Sep 2022 08:37

#192

kbt09 schrieb:

An up-to-date cost estimate should be attached here first. I claim a minimum of 1.2 to 1.4 million, excluding landscaping, but including, for example, photovoltaic roof tiles.

Yes, I also think it’s in that range, probably more rather than less…

ᐅ New Single-Family Home Construction – Join Us on Our Journey!

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