Dear forum members,
We bought a plot of land last autumn and are currently deep into the floor plan design. We would like to share our current draft with you and welcome any comments and opinions.
[F]irst some preliminary information about the plot and its buildability:[/F]
Best regards
We bought a plot of land last autumn and are currently deep into the floor plan design. We would like to share our current draft with you and welcome any comments and opinions.
[F]irst some preliminary information about the plot and its buildability:[/F]
- 1000 m² (10,764 sq ft) rear plot, southwest facing (so southwest is on the left side of the site plan)
- Building boundary up to approx. 16 m (52 ft) behind the property line (up to the dashed line on the site plan)
- No zoning plan (construction according to § 34 of the Building Code)
- Groundwater at surface level and peaty soil (exact geotechnical report pending), so piled foundation required and no basement
- Affordable! (Our maximum budget for the house including foundation slab is €230,000)
- Country house style
- Bright, large windows facing south/garden
- Open living/dining/kitchen area
- Family of four, 1 bedroom and 2 children’s rooms
- Not oversized, max 150 m² (1,615 sq ft), preferably less
- Solid construction using Ytong blocks (for us the most cost-effective option, although we would have liked to build with wood as well).
- Developed ourselves after studying various floor plans (including from the book "Affordable Building with a Small Budget" by Achim Linhardt) with support from architect friends and our planner (an independent civil engineer).
- Dimensions 12.50 x 7.50 m (41 x 25 ft) (the measurements shown on the site plan are from an earlier draft).
- What we like: open living area, all main rooms have large windows facing the garden, efficient size, although the children’s and bedroom could be smaller, sewing/work nook behind the stairs upstairs, plenty of wall space for large wardrobes in the upstairs bedroom and hallway on the ground floor, light shaft in the stairwell, staircase (we originally wanted a straight run staircase but it would have taken too much space; the one with three quarter turns is also fine with us).
- What we don’t like 100% yet: the height of the house from the outside. It is currently planned as a two-story house with an eaves height of 6.2 m (20 ft), with the ground floor 2.84 m (9 ft 4 in) high and the upper floor 2.60 m (8 ft 6 in) high. The gable roof will be an uninsulated, unfinished cold roof, mainly because of the economical prefabricated truss construction method. This is a bit disappointing because I really like sloped ceilings and did not want the character of a townhouse. Lowering the roof with a knee wall of about 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) and an insulated roof with open sloped ceilings would probably be more expensive due to the rafter/beam construction. We would also lose the garden view through the floor-to-ceiling bedroom windows.
- Simple: What do you think about the floor plan?
- Can you still imagine the relatively tall two-story house having a country house character? Maybe it depends on the facade design and choice of materials? Do you think it looks too “blocky,” especially from the front entrance side? Or would a lower eaves height with an attic conversion including a knee wall be preferable?
- We are still unsure how to arrange the windows on the garden side. The drawing with the elevations shows two possible versions. We actually prefer it when the upper floor window is centered over the lower window front. However, this does not align the interior line of sight from the entrance door to the garden/patio door (see ground floor plan). This represents version two; for version one, the window front would have to be shifted about one window width to the right, so that the patio door is behind the dining table. With the window front shifted left, the interior looks better to us, but from the outside it looks strange if it is offset from the upper floor window, right? What do you think?
Best regards
la.schnute schrieb:
I have mentioned it somewhere before: everything is to scale, including wall thicknesses, windows, and all the furniture we plan to bring along. We don’t yet have a dining table that size; so far, ours is much too small. The table to be bought or built can be adjusted to fit the space on site. I will provide a dimensioned floor plan once our planner has completed all calculations and drawings. As a rough guide: the width of the living room between the stairs and the window/south facade is 4.15 m (13.6 ft). The window by the sofa is 1.80 m (5.9 ft) wide, as is the one by the dining table, plus a 90 cm (35 in) wide door right next to it.I’m curious. How much space is there between the kitchen and the sofa? For a table, you should plan at least 2.5 m (8.2 ft) in width including chairs—and you also need enough room to walk comfortably around it. So about 4.5 m (14.8 ft) between the kitchen and the sofa would be ideal. That should work well. It’s the same for the length—you have 4.15 m (13.6 ft), and ideally, about 1 m (3.3 ft) clearance on each side, so you could fit a table roughly 2 m (6.6 ft) long.
Matthew03 schrieb:
...feeling the wife's watchful eyes over your shoulder?Off-topic: Poor you! As far as I know, there is no one-size-fits-all bathroom spray. You have to decide: if you want to tackle limescale, you need an acid. For organic dirt, chlorine works better – although the latter should only be used in emergencies. Mixing both doesn’t seem to work – at least, I haven’t come across it yet.
la.schnute schrieb:
The window in the living room corner will be a seating window with a 40 cm (16 inch) sill height.What exactly is a seating window? How do you plan to implement it? Will there be a bench in front of the window?P
Pinkiponk11 Mar 2020 10:27Matthew03 schrieb:
... feeling the wife’s watchful eyes on your neck?I just wanted to add: That can’t be true, because women are not like that, not a single one of us.
Can someone please explain how the house is positioned on the plot? In the first post, I see the entrance facing east, but I don’t see a north arrow. So far, my comments have only referred to the floor plan itself. I liked the last one, although I would probably mirror the staircase so that you go upstairs from the dining area (which would make the top view less tidy). Now I’m starting to wonder why such a long house is positioned that way on the plot.
It would be helpful if someone could share the actual orientation and location of the house along with the post number. I must have missed something.
It would be helpful if someone could share the actual orientation and location of the house along with the post number. I must have missed something.
P
Pinkiponk11 Mar 2020 10:34chrisw81 schrieb:
What is a window seat?See the photo. My husband and I initially liked window seats as well, but then decided against them because it wasn’t quite clear if they would be truly comfortable. We realized we’d probably prefer to just place an armchair in front of the window or door when we want to look outside.