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
gregman221 Jan 2023 11:46i_b_n_a_n schrieb:
Often child number 1 and 2 do not come at the same time, so depending on their ages, rooms can be swapped.Absolutely correct. We do not have children yet but plan to have two in the future.
Therefore, child 1 (the smaller room) will be the second office in the medium term. For now, two children can comfortably share one room (child 2). Once both children reach an appropriate age, we will rearrange the rooms— the office will become a child’s bedroom and the office might be moved to the basement (guest room) – we will see.
We are happy with this approach so far, and I agree with you— we will still discuss a slight adjustment in room sizes.
G
gregman221 Jan 2023 11:48gregman22 schrieb:
These topics are currently on our minds – maybe you have some good ideas and suggestions:
- Due to flood protection requirements, we are naturally building a basement with a waterproof slurry coat (“white tank”) and windows resistant to groundwater pressure. That settled the matter for me initially. However, this week a general contractor surprised me by saying we might have to place all technical equipment (i.e., the utility room) above the HQ100 line – meaning above the basement level. That would be a disaster again, and it’s the first time I’ve heard this. I haven’t been able to talk to our architect yet because he’s on vacation. What do you think about this?
- I want to rearrange the basement rooms a bit. The following technical components are currently planned: KNX cabinets with all actuators, network technology/server cabinet, heat pump unit for geothermal heating, water storage tank (probably 600 liters (160 gallons)), central ventilation unit, meter cabinets, photovoltaic storage.
- Our current floor plan includes two utility rooms of 24 sqm (258 sq ft) and 13.5 sqm (145 sq ft). Do you think 24 sqm (258 sq ft) is enough and I could use the second room for something else?
- Currently, the utility room has a basement window. Is it absolutely necessary due to waste heat, or could we assign that window to another room (e.g., housekeeping/laundry room)?
Do you have any opinions on my other questions?
gregman22 schrieb:
We don’t have children (yet), but we plan to have two in the future. We are aware of that—not only from the questionnaire (by the way, in post #43, in case anyone is looking for it)—but it is also evident from the various priorities you have set, which clearly reflect this intention.
Children reshape their parents’ lives so profoundly that it’s actually wiser to have them before buying a home. I hope that your children will still “like” the house (which, from a child’s perspective, has very little to do with styling).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
S
Sunshine3871 Jan 2023 17:18That really leaves me speechless. You hope that the children will like the house? How absurd is that? The children should be happy and grateful to grow up in such a beautiful house. Naturally, you design your house the way you like it.
Sunshine387 schrieb:
That really leaves me speechless. You hope that the children will like the house? How absurd is that? Children should be happy and grateful to grow up in such a beautiful home. Of course, you design your house to suit your own tastes. Uh, no – you leave me speechless. I already explained that I am not referring to "liking" in a stylistic sense. Children change their parents’ worldview much like the historical dividing line of "before and after Christ." Planning a house in the pre-parenthood stage to be a home suitable for the whole family is, frankly, an incredibly bold project for seasoned professionals taking a Russian roulette kamikaze gamble – you need a lot of luck. Respect!
I only dare to do this thanks to decades of planning experience, and I always advise those planning to build and start a family to wait with their house plans as Plan A until at least the first child (K1) is out of diapers.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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