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
gregman225 Aug 2022 09:04Elokine schrieb:
At first glance, it looks very spacious. But looking closer, the rooms are just large without offering much added value. For example, I would start thinking about the kitchen layout right away. As drawn, this probably isn’t your dream kitchen? The ground floor feels a bit like the architect just scaled up a standard layout for a 140 m² (1,507 sq ft) house.
The granny flat has no storage space at all, and I don’t see a washing machine there either. Will your in-laws have to carry laundry through your main house down to the basement? For a holiday apartment, that might be fine, but if family is going to live there for several years, I think the balance between your very generous ground floor and the granny flat doesn’t work. You could probably carve out 10 to 15 m² (108 to 161 sq ft) from the main house and give the granny flat its own terrace and basement access (possibly from outside).
The garden view is very nice and quite unique! I’m also totally in favor of an open/concept design like this, where every square meter isn’t maximized. Just be careful not to place children’s bedrooms directly adjacent to such open spaces because of sound transmission. Hi Elokine,
thank you very much! Good points!
Regarding room size: Could you maybe provide a bit more detail? It seems you have comments not only about the kitchen but also other rooms.
Storage in granny flat: Yes, I agree. Having storage space with a washing machine makes sense.
General feedback on granny flat: The granny flat has been heavily criticized, especially concerning the room layout. Could you or anyone else please sketch an alternative proposal based on the current conditions? How would you orient and divide the rooms? That would be really helpful! It is deliberate that the granny flat does not have basement access.
Thanks again for your positive feedback on the garden view – much appreciated.
The kitchen doesn't need to be fully planned in detail yet, but it might be helpful to experiment with a kitchen planner like Ikea's to get an idea of a functional layout for you (number of tall cabinets, windows, kitchen island, which appliances, etc.). This way, you can get a sense of how the space should be arranged when you revise the floor plan more thoroughly.
gregman22 schrieb:
I have additionally attached an enlarged screenshot of the staircase. If I understand correctly, the staircase has a horizontal length of 16 x 18.9cm (7.4 inches) = 302.4cm (9 ft 11 in).
How would you arrange or construct the staircase differently? With 18.9cm (7.4 inches) rise / 26, the calculated length would be 26 x 16 steps = 416cm (13 ft 7 in).
However, I based my measurements on the drawing, and when I measure two points to estimate an approximate value, the drawn staircase appears narrower than the dimensioned wall section of 374cm (12 ft 3 in) shown at the bottom.
Also, when I count, I only see 14 steps.
So something doesn’t add up. Moreover, since on the ground floor on the right side of the plan there is just over one meter (about 3 ft) of space, and on the upper floor on the left side there is also just over one meter (about 3 ft) of space to the respective walls, you can’t just adjust things randomly. The concept itself seems flawed.
I probably replied too quickly last night with #26. But okay, now let’s get into the details.
… you actually don’t have any strict separation at all! While the entrance door is separate from yours, the private life isn’t. The sightline between the granny flat and the living/dining area goes exactly both ways. You can see each other’s plates. 🙁
True. I consider the garage situation, like the basement, as very secondary, but 34 sqm (about 366 sq ft) is even less than the standardized 36 sqm (about 387 sq ft). No motorized vehicles like bikes or a children’s vehicle fleet are present.
I love void spaces. Nowadays, if you can manage it both energetically and financially (in construction), you should go for it. We have one too. If I were building today, I would plan my skylight differently so that I don’t consume more thermal mass energy than I can economically justify. We are currently at a turning point. I’m always surprised that young parents today don’t want to improve the “other life,” the difficult future of their own children. But I just wanted to mention that briefly because it deserves attention! That said, no need to discuss it further here! All good.
A gallery view from an upstairs corridor is very nice but also not very practical. It’s simply beautiful, spacious, and has a special touch. But a void space isn’t just a hole in the intermediate floor; it must be carefully planned… * Having windows in that opening doesn’t exactly create a cozy atmosphere in bedrooms.
…* in that case, you have a full view from the dining area into the walk-in closet. Is that intended? A reasonably modest person would feel exposed being naked in the dressing area… Imagine: a group of men or teenagers at the dining table in the evening, and the woman wants to go to bed... she stands there, with makeup removed and in lingerie, on full display… No, that’s not acceptable. The same applies to the left children’s bedroom: why should the child watch TV at an awkward angle downward, which isn’t child-friendly?
As stated before: the feeling of space must be planned cleverly and not made by crudely cutting a rectangle into the intermediate floor. Comfort, privacy, and personal development should be the highest priorities when building a house. At least for a family where many developments are still underway.
No. This concerns the ground floor and the sightline from the entrance. It’s not about the view from the upper floor down to the ground floor this time.
No. The bedroom should not be a passage room. You disturb the other person when you constantly have to turn on the light and the other is still sleeping. People move back and forth in the morning anyway. (By the way, this is also a point about the void space: if it’s bright downstairs, it’s also bright upstairs, so definitely not suitable for sleep areas.)
Cinema/playroom on the right side? And why is one children’s room several square meters bigger than the other?
The design already seems very odd from the inside. A door next to an open space, room dividers (wall sections that don’t line up), what happens with the short wall section in the ground floor living/dining and upper floor void space? What is its purpose?
Is the flat suitable for the in-laws? Do they have a parking space? Storage space? A spot for a washing machine?
I would reconsider whether a sensible arrangement of many windows combined with cost-effectiveness might work better. In my opinion, a fundamental rethink is needed here. We live on credit and destroy, consuming far too much energy... A heat pump and photovoltaic system are no free pass for avoidable energy consumption.
Yes.
Planning is not that simple that you can create something useful in 30 seconds.
I would definitely advise against having a general contractor build a house of this financial size! There are always cases here – a TE, Hotzenplotz or RHotzenplotz is a very good example – showing that general contractors are often overwhelmed when it comes to delivering large houses free of defects. They can manage standard projects well in manageable scope. They can also handle some upgrades… but with a huge void space combined with a large window front, there will probably be issues that aren’t visible upfront but become apparent during construction and occupancy. Something doesn’t fit here. I’m not an expert to specify further. I can only say based on years of experience that these are the only problems I’ve read about with this combination.
As proof of my suspicion serves the design. General contractor architect? Is this your amateur plan drafted neatly? No objections, because the client is paying well and might be useful for the general contractor’s marketing…? That’s how it looks to me.
I also question the ceiling heights with these room dimensions. Thus, the staircase would naturally have to be longer if the ceiling height is adjusted.
As already mentioned: information and site plan are missing.
You are also not in the right subgroup; you will find a questionnaire in the floor plan discussion section.
k-man2021 schrieb:
Imagine someone in the granny flat needing to use the bathroom from the bedroom while guests are still there 😳
gregman22 schrieb:
We wanted a strict clear spatial separation with a separate entrance. Do you have any further comments on that?
… you actually don’t have any strict separation at all! While the entrance door is separate from yours, the private life isn’t. The sightline between the granny flat and the living/dining area goes exactly both ways. You can see each other’s plates. 🙁
Knautnaundorf schrieb:
I think the garage is way too small. 34 square meters? What’s supposed to fit in there?
True. I consider the garage situation, like the basement, as very secondary, but 34 sqm (about 366 sq ft) is even less than the standardized 36 sqm (about 387 sq ft). No motorized vehicles like bikes or a children’s vehicle fleet are present.
Knautnaundorf schrieb:
Void space? I would leave that out since it’s pointless.
I love void spaces. Nowadays, if you can manage it both energetically and financially (in construction), you should go for it. We have one too. If I were building today, I would plan my skylight differently so that I don’t consume more thermal mass energy than I can economically justify. We are currently at a turning point. I’m always surprised that young parents today don’t want to improve the “other life,” the difficult future of their own children. But I just wanted to mention that briefly because it deserves attention! That said, no need to discuss it further here! All good.
gregman22 schrieb:
Gallery overlooking the ground floor
A gallery view from an upstairs corridor is very nice but also not very practical. It’s simply beautiful, spacious, and has a special touch. But a void space isn’t just a hole in the intermediate floor; it must be carefully planned… * Having windows in that opening doesn’t exactly create a cozy atmosphere in bedrooms.
gregman22 schrieb:
Dining table slightly shifted: No particular reason? Probably so that half the guests can look up at the gallery view?
…* in that case, you have a full view from the dining area into the walk-in closet. Is that intended? A reasonably modest person would feel exposed being naked in the dressing area… Imagine: a group of men or teenagers at the dining table in the evening, and the woman wants to go to bed... she stands there, with makeup removed and in lingerie, on full display… No, that’s not acceptable. The same applies to the left children’s bedroom: why should the child watch TV at an awkward angle downward, which isn’t child-friendly?
gregman22 schrieb:
We want this feeling of space from the ground floor carried upstairs. We currently live in a maisonette apartment with a gallery – we really love it.
As stated before: the feeling of space must be planned cleverly and not made by crudely cutting a rectangle into the intermediate floor. Comfort, privacy, and personal development should be the highest priorities when building a house. At least for a family where many developments are still underway.
gregman22 schrieb:
Ground floor stairs and wall: We had the idea of installing a large viewing window above the stairs so you could see through from the hallway. Would that solve this issue?
No. This concerns the ground floor and the sightline from the entrance. It’s not about the view from the upper floor down to the ground floor this time.
gregman22 schrieb:
Bedroom -> walk-in closet -> bathroom, right?
No. The bedroom should not be a passage room. You disturb the other person when you constantly have to turn on the light and the other is still sleeping. People move back and forth in the morning anyway. (By the way, this is also a point about the void space: if it’s bright downstairs, it’s also bright upstairs, so definitely not suitable for sleep areas.)
gregman22 schrieb:
- 2 children’s bedrooms with attached bathrooms
- 1 playroom (initially a home cinema, to be converted later) above the garage
Cinema/playroom on the right side? And why is one children’s room several square meters bigger than the other?
k-man2021 schrieb:
I also find the corner with the kitchen strange... a door next to an open entrance... short wall sections, which usually carry beams, without escape routes…
The design already seems very odd from the inside. A door next to an open space, room dividers (wall sections that don’t line up), what happens with the short wall section in the ground floor living/dining and upper floor void space? What is its purpose?
gregman22 schrieb:
It can also be overlooked. It’s actually intended to be used for in-laws in the next few years, possibly later for an au pair, and eventually for the first child moving out. So it’s 100% family-related and therefore gets a nice spot.
Is the flat suitable for the in-laws? Do they have a parking space? Storage space? A spot for a washing machine?
gregman22 schrieb:
Air conditioning in different rooms
I would reconsider whether a sensible arrangement of many windows combined with cost-effectiveness might work better. In my opinion, a fundamental rethink is needed here. We live on credit and destroy, consuming far too much energy... A heat pump and photovoltaic system are no free pass for avoidable energy consumption.
gregman22 schrieb:
Do you think the staircase is completely out of place and that everything should be reconsidered (impact on all floors)?
Yes.
gregman22 schrieb:
Roughly sketched on paper in 30 seconds?
Planning is not that simple that you can create something useful in 30 seconds.
k-man2021 schrieb:
I would give the architect fewer details…
I would definitely advise against having a general contractor build a house of this financial size! There are always cases here – a TE, Hotzenplotz or RHotzenplotz is a very good example – showing that general contractors are often overwhelmed when it comes to delivering large houses free of defects. They can manage standard projects well in manageable scope. They can also handle some upgrades… but with a huge void space combined with a large window front, there will probably be issues that aren’t visible upfront but become apparent during construction and occupancy. Something doesn’t fit here. I’m not an expert to specify further. I can only say based on years of experience that these are the only problems I’ve read about with this combination.
As proof of my suspicion serves the design. General contractor architect? Is this your amateur plan drafted neatly? No objections, because the client is paying well and might be useful for the general contractor’s marketing…? That’s how it looks to me.
gregman22 schrieb:
If I understand correctly, the staircase has a horizontal length of 16 x 18.9 cm = 302.4 cm.
How would you arrange or design the staircase instead?
I also question the ceiling heights with these room dimensions. Thus, the staircase would naturally have to be longer if the ceiling height is adjusted.
gregman22 schrieb:
Can you or anyone here sketch an alternative suggestion with the current conditions? How would you orient/divide the rooms?
As already mentioned: information and site plan are missing.
You are also not in the right subgroup; you will find a questionnaire in the floor plan discussion section.
gregman22 schrieb:
My biggest construction concern right now is the layout of the attic floor.I don’t understand the attic floor plan. The room layout was designed as if it were a full story, but when you look at the dormers and roof slopes, the attic will at best be usable as a storage room or playroom.What does the zoning plan say about the maximum number of floors, maximum height, etc.?
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