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.
K
k-man20214 Aug 2022 22:12What I’m mainly missing are sightlines... When I enter the ground floor through the front door, I’m looking at a staircase, not out into the garden or onto a terrace. I can’t even hang a nice picture there 😳
When I go upstairs to the bedroom, there is also a section of wall directly opposite. This applies to other rooms as well. I think the bedroom is too large, especially since there is also a walk-in closet.
Exactly, that’s what I thought too. Also, placing the bathroom in the granny flat practically within the living room... Imagine someone in the bedroom has to use the toilet while guests are there 😳
I also find the kitchen corner strange... a door right next to an open entrance... yes, it’s convenient to get from the entrance to the kitchen quickly, but like this? And why is the dining table so offset? Is there some visual separation between the dining room and the living room? That small wall projecting out doesn’t seem suitable to me.
I can’t explain it precisely, but I feel the “spirit” is missing... I wouldn’t be happy with this design and would send the architect back to work on the sightlines again... The house and budget are big enough to make something really great out of it, the architect has to put some real effort into it...
Sorry if this sounds too harsh 😉
When I go upstairs to the bedroom, there is also a section of wall directly opposite. This applies to other rooms as well. I think the bedroom is too large, especially since there is also a walk-in closet.
Snowy36 schrieb:
What’s your plan for the granny flat? Is it just for visitors? It somehow feels like it’s getting the best part of the house and overlooks your terrace? With this budget, what’s the reason for putting up with that?
Exactly, that’s what I thought too. Also, placing the bathroom in the granny flat practically within the living room... Imagine someone in the bedroom has to use the toilet while guests are there 😳
I also find the kitchen corner strange... a door right next to an open entrance... yes, it’s convenient to get from the entrance to the kitchen quickly, but like this? And why is the dining table so offset? Is there some visual separation between the dining room and the living room? That small wall projecting out doesn’t seem suitable to me.
I can’t explain it precisely, but I feel the “spirit” is missing... I wouldn’t be happy with this design and would send the architect back to work on the sightlines again... The house and budget are big enough to make something really great out of it, the architect has to put some real effort into it...
Sorry if this sounds too harsh 😉
G
gregman224 Aug 2022 22:13driver55 schrieb:
Just quietly follow along…. then it becomes fun 🙂 …. You can also just overlook that. It is actually intended to be used in the coming years for the parents-in-law, later possibly for an au pair, and after that for the first child moving out. So it is 100% for family use, which is why it will also get a nice little spot.
G
gregman224 Aug 2022 22:31k-man2021 schrieb:
What I’m really missing are sightlines.... When I enter the main floor through the front door, I’m looking at a staircase, not at the garden or a terrace, I can’t even hang a nice picture 😳
When I go into the bedroom upstairs, there’s just a section of wall opposite me. That applies to other rooms, too. I think the bedroom is too large, especially since there’s a walk-in closet.
Exactly, that’s what I thought as well. Also placing the bathroom in the granny flat practically in the living room... Just imagine someone needs to use the toilet from the bedroom and there are guests around 😳
I also find that corner with the kitchen strange... a door right next to an open entrance.... yes, it’s practical to have a short path from the entrance to the kitchen, but like this? And why is the dining table offset? Is there some kind of visual separation between dining room and living room? That small wall projection seems unsuitable to me.
I can’t put it into words exactly, but I feel the “spirit” is missing... I wouldn’t be happy with the design and would have the architect reconsider the sightlines.... The house and budget are big enough to create something really great, the architect needs to put in more effort...
Sorry if that sounds harsh 😉No, definitely not! Please stay just as direct – this is a very important and expensive project. Tear it apart for me 🙂
You pay attention to great details that I wouldn’t even think of.
- Main floor staircase and wall: We had the idea to install a large window above the stairs so you could see through from the hallway. Would that fix this issue? Or do you think the staircase is completely out of place and the whole layout needs to be reconsidered (impacting all floors)?
- Upstairs – path to the bedroom: I wanted to change this anyway. I don’t like that you have to walk through the walk-in closet. Another option might be to close off the walk-in closet wall and instead open a corridor to the bedroom with a left view down to the main floor (a gallery). I understand the architect’s idea to give the bedroom the full front exposure. But wouldn’t the actual route be bedroom -> walk-in closet -> bathroom, right? How could we arrange that in the upper right corner? Should the bedroom be reduced in favor of the walk-in closet?
- Granny flat: That is indeed less than ideal. k-man, do you have any other layout ideas? Could you sketch something informally on paper in 30 seconds?
- Main floor living area:
- Strange door: This door is probably meant to allow easy access from the kitchen to the utility room. Should we consider closing it and instead adding a door from the utility room to the kitchen as an alternative?
- Offset dining table: No particular reason. Probably so that half the guests have a view of the gallery above?
- Visual separation: There is no visual separation planned between dining room and living room. Actually, we wanted the space to be large and open.
K
k-man20214 Aug 2022 23:22I would give the architect fewer specific details… just tell them that you expect a nice/welcoming view when entering. Whether they then move the stairs or solve it differently – just ask them to come up with a proposal. I would approach all other points the same way.
We are also currently in the design phase (okay, slightly larger) and have given the architect a lot of creative freedom. Very good ideas have come up, for example a small family cloakroom… the family comes in from the garage, guests enter through the main entrance. The utility room has access from the stairs and from the kitchen, the office can also be converted into a granny flat, etc.
We are also currently in the design phase (okay, slightly larger) and have given the architect a lot of creative freedom. Very good ideas have come up, for example a small family cloakroom… the family comes in from the garage, guests enter through the main entrance. The utility room has access from the stairs and from the kitchen, the office can also be converted into a granny flat, etc.
Sorry TE, I won’t be able to say much about this, but I’m really surprised by the price being asked here… wow…
The back looks great… something different. The front, the entrance, has more of a typical single-family house feel. So when you open the door, there’s somehow no WOW effect. You see a staircase… just dreaming a bit… you open the door and see a staircase you can go up from both sides, meeting at the top. Kind of that American style… and the front door more like a large double door… like a villa 🙂
The back looks great… something different. The front, the entrance, has more of a typical single-family house feel. So when you open the door, there’s somehow no WOW effect. You see a staircase… just dreaming a bit… you open the door and see a staircase you can go up from both sides, meeting at the top. Kind of that American style… and the front door more like a large double door… like a villa 🙂
The staircase appears to be a maximum of 370 cm (12 feet) long, which does not fit the house at all. Since it is already tightly fitted, much of the floor plan becomes impractical. Additional criticisms have been mentioned... bedroom, gallery, kitchen location, corner layout of the terrace with the separate apartment.
Also, the kitchen layout is missing once again... or if it is meant to be like this, I would say it lacks proper kitchen ergonomics.
Garage, site planning... what about bicycles for apparently at least 6 people? Parking spaces, waste disposal, etc. – there is no overall plan.
Overall, many rooms have large floor areas, but I completely miss a WOW factor.
Also, the kitchen layout is missing once again... or if it is meant to be like this, I would say it lacks proper kitchen ergonomics.
Garage, site planning... what about bicycles for apparently at least 6 people? Parking spaces, waste disposal, etc. – there is no overall plan.
Overall, many rooms have large floor areas, but I completely miss a WOW factor.
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