ᐅ Planning a Gable Roof House on a 600 m² Plot – What Does a Preliminary Building Inquiry Allow in a Section 34 Zone?

Development Plan / Restrictions
Section 34 Building Code area, preliminary building inquiry submitted, especially regarding ridge height, eave height, and gable orientation.
Plot size: 600 sqm (6458 sq ft)
Slope: none, flat
Site coverage ratio: >0.4
Floor area ratio: not relevant
Building envelope: approx. 10.3 x 14 m (34 x 46 ft)
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 1.5
Roof type: gable roof
Orientation: gable end facing east-west
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height 9.1 m (30 ft), eave height per inquiry (4.5 m / 15 ft)

Homeowners’ Requirements
We enjoy following the discussions here and, after receiving the approved preliminary building inquiry, are now entering the crunch phase of planning.

The facts:

• 600 sqm (6458 sq ft) plot, relatively narrow (about 17 m / 56 ft), oriented east-west, low traffic nearby, helicopter view and west-facing outlook attached.
• Section 34 area; we are allowed 1.5 m (5 ft) knee wall on the first floor with 40-degree roof pitch, within a ridge height of 9.1 m (30 ft). Due to narrow plot, we want to build with the gable end facing the street.
• Wood frame construction; exterior walls are excluded on the floor plans.
• Notes about floors included in the images.
• We need two separate offices (lawyers, extensive home office).
• Two adults, two small children.
• No basement planned; the plot is nearly level – 0.6 m (2 ft) fall over 35 m (115 ft).
• More roof windows on the upper floor would be nice, but this is the south side with photovoltaic panels. With the high knee wall, outlook will be limited anyway.
• We want a hallway on the upper floor since we both loved having a “neutral” play area there as kids.
• The pantry size is sufficient for us; we currently have a smaller one, and the technical room is not far away.
• Guest room 1 and guest bathroom might be converted with two walls into a separate apartment for KfW297/298 funding, house itself is KfW300.
• Soil survey is underway.
• The architect has so far handled the preliminary building inquiry and knows the floor plan; we have not yet taken the plans to the architect/interior designer in person.
• The guest room on the ground floor is relatively small; it is sufficient as an office, and just about acceptable as a guest bedroom. Overnight guests about 6–8 times per year.
• An interior toilet in the upper floor bathroom is my wife’s wish; I understand the arguments against it but won’t fight that battle.
• We want the staircase from the upper floor to the attic to be permanent as the attic might be used as an office. Also, there is no basement.

Why is the design like it is now?
We started about 8 months ago based on the Medley 410 by Fingerhaus, as it provides a fairly good starting floor plan for us. Since then, my wife has rebuilt it in 3D over many hours and repeatedly adjusted it following input from planners/architects, etc. We also have proper plan drawings already but did not want to share them yet unless it makes sense.

We have made some compromises, especially the small, somewhat awkward office/guest room downstairs – we can’t become wider, but it works as an office. According to two construction companies, it might even be possible to use the guest room and bathroom downstairs as a separate apartment with two doors from the hallway later in life (then a KfW297 scheme could be considered). We’ve requested the extra costs for this in offers as a contingency item – I know some members here don’t support this, but we would only do it if it can be done without major extra effort.

Regarding costs: we already purchased the plot. We currently estimate the house to cost about 650,000 (offers from Isowood, Büdenbender, and Nordhaus received). Garage and landscaping are separate.