ᐅ Planning a Single-Family Home for a Family of Four, West Münsterland Region, Initial Architect’s Draft
Created on: 20 Oct 2025 12:17
-
-Malte-
Hello everyone,
after some time spent on the selection of our plot in the new development area, we have now started the planning phase. We have found an architect, and a very first draft (without incorporating our feedback yet) has recently been presented to us. We would like to gather ideas and suggestions here.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 456m² (rectangular, 20.7m wide and 22.0m long)
Slope: no, completely flat
Floor area ratio (FAR) for land use: 0.4
Floor space index (FSI): 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 14m (46 feet) deep building envelope across the entire plot width
Edge development: ?
Number of parking spaces: space for 2 cars required
Number of storeys: 2 full storeys allowed (with shed or flat roof)
Roof type: with 2 full storeys a shed or flat roof is mandatory, with 1 full storey no restrictions
Architectural style: no restrictions
Orientation: no restrictions
Maximum heights/limits: base height max 0.5m (1.5 feet); eaves height max 6.5m (21 feet); ridge height max 11.0m (36 feet)
Further specifications: no dormers or roof protrusions allowed according to the development plan
Other: detailed information can easily be found online by searching "Bebauungsplan 8-23 Bocholt"
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: desired is a traditional brick-faced gable roof house typical for western Münsterland, with a fairly steep roof pitch. Construction as a solid masonry house.
Basement, storeys: built on a slab foundation without basement; living spaces planned either on ground floor and first floor or ground floor, first floor, and attic
Number of people, ages: 4 persons (38, 35, 5, 3)
Room needs on ground and first floors: living area (kitchen/dining/living), guest WC including small shower, master bedroom without separate dressing room, 2 children’s rooms, 1 office, 1 bathroom, sufficient storage space for everyday family needs
Office (family use or home office): 1 dedicated full-time home office used about 4 days/week
Overnight guests per year: very few, no guest room needed
Open or closed layout: middle ground
Conservative or modern design: middle ground
Open kitchen, kitchen island: kitchen tends to be open, possibly with slight visual separation
Number of dining seats: table for 6 persons
Fireplace: no
Music/sound system wall: TV to be located in the living area
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage desired for numerous bicycles, children’s vehicles, and other outdoor gear
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be included: the wish is for a classic single-family house for a family of four with fixed home office space. Not a "palace," but a house that functions well in everyday family life. The house should be realized as a "climate-friendly new build" (KFW300 without QNG).
About the House Design
Who created the design?
First draft by an independent architect (initial version, no details adjusted or feedback incorporated yet)
What do you particularly like? Why?
What do you not like? Why?
Price estimate from the architect/designer: none yet
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 650,000€ (house including ancillary costs, kitchen, garage, driveway/terrace)
Preferred heating technology: heat pump (possibly ground-source heat pump if trench collector is feasible, otherwise air-to-water heat pump)
What can you do without?
- can do without: excessive hallway areas, possibly the small gable projections (dormers)
- cannot do without: our room program including sufficient storage, window areas for plenty of natural light
Why does the design look the way it does now?
The design is based on our wishes/room program and generally meets them. The staircase could be extended up to the attic in the draft, but for this layout, a finished attic would not be needed for space or cost reasons. It would likely remain as an unfinished attic accessed by a folding ladder.
Final comments
After some further consideration, we see two options:
We look forward to your thoughts and input.
Best regards,
Malte
after some time spent on the selection of our plot in the new development area, we have now started the planning phase. We have found an architect, and a very first draft (without incorporating our feedback yet) has recently been presented to us. We would like to gather ideas and suggestions here.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 456m² (rectangular, 20.7m wide and 22.0m long)
Slope: no, completely flat
Floor area ratio (FAR) for land use: 0.4
Floor space index (FSI): 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: 14m (46 feet) deep building envelope across the entire plot width
Edge development: ?
Number of parking spaces: space for 2 cars required
Number of storeys: 2 full storeys allowed (with shed or flat roof)
Roof type: with 2 full storeys a shed or flat roof is mandatory, with 1 full storey no restrictions
Architectural style: no restrictions
Orientation: no restrictions
Maximum heights/limits: base height max 0.5m (1.5 feet); eaves height max 6.5m (21 feet); ridge height max 11.0m (36 feet)
Further specifications: no dormers or roof protrusions allowed according to the development plan
Other: detailed information can easily be found online by searching "Bebauungsplan 8-23 Bocholt"
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: desired is a traditional brick-faced gable roof house typical for western Münsterland, with a fairly steep roof pitch. Construction as a solid masonry house.
Basement, storeys: built on a slab foundation without basement; living spaces planned either on ground floor and first floor or ground floor, first floor, and attic
Number of people, ages: 4 persons (38, 35, 5, 3)
Room needs on ground and first floors: living area (kitchen/dining/living), guest WC including small shower, master bedroom without separate dressing room, 2 children’s rooms, 1 office, 1 bathroom, sufficient storage space for everyday family needs
Office (family use or home office): 1 dedicated full-time home office used about 4 days/week
Overnight guests per year: very few, no guest room needed
Open or closed layout: middle ground
Conservative or modern design: middle ground
Open kitchen, kitchen island: kitchen tends to be open, possibly with slight visual separation
Number of dining seats: table for 6 persons
Fireplace: no
Music/sound system wall: TV to be located in the living area
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage desired for numerous bicycles, children’s vehicles, and other outdoor gear
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be included: the wish is for a classic single-family house for a family of four with fixed home office space. Not a "palace," but a house that functions well in everyday family life. The house should be realized as a "climate-friendly new build" (KFW300 without QNG).
About the House Design
Who created the design?
First draft by an independent architect (initial version, no details adjusted or feedback incorporated yet)
What do you particularly like? Why?
- The design fully covers our room program/specifications; all necessary rooms and sufficient storage space are included.
- Preferences such as the arrangement of kitchen/dining/living “around the corner” and similarly sized children’s rooms are included.
- The design as a gable roof house with two small gable projections (dormers/gables) is visually very appealing to us.
What do you not like? Why?
- Overall, the floor plan—especially the upper floor—does not appear efficient to us. The hallway area is clearly too large. The total living area is about 179m² (ground floor 94m² and upper floor 85m²), but it does not feel like that. For cost reasons alone, we aim for around 160m².
- The house is currently designed as 11m by 11m (36 by 36 feet) square, but we feel it should be stretched somewhat (e.g., 12m by 10m or similar) to better separate the kitchen and master bedroom. Probably the square shape was chosen to make the roof easier to develop.
- We suspect the current draft does not reach one full storey height yet (North Rhine-Westphalia: 3/4 rule) — adjustments to knee wall height and roof pitch may be necessary.
- Details need adjustment (e.g., remove pantry in kitchen to enlarge kitchen; doors; possibly add more roof windows; etc.).
Price estimate from the architect/designer: none yet
Personal price limit for the house including fittings: 650,000€ (house including ancillary costs, kitchen, garage, driveway/terrace)
Preferred heating technology: heat pump (possibly ground-source heat pump if trench collector is feasible, otherwise air-to-water heat pump)
What can you do without?
- can do without: excessive hallway areas, possibly the small gable projections (dormers)
- cannot do without: our room program including sufficient storage, window areas for plenty of natural light
Why does the design look the way it does now?
The design is based on our wishes/room program and generally meets them. The staircase could be extended up to the attic in the draft, but for this layout, a finished attic would not be needed for space or cost reasons. It would likely remain as an unfinished attic accessed by a folding ladder.
Final comments
After some further consideration, we see two options:
- Make the current design with the small dormers and room program on two floors more efficient and reduce it to about 160m². The attic would not be developed.
- Request an alternative design where the house is overall more compact and the attic is fully integrated (ground floor kitchen/dining/living, guest WC, utility room; first floor 2 children’s rooms, master bedroom, and bathroom; attic office and storage).
We look forward to your thoughts and input.
Best regards,
Malte
M
MachsSelbst5 Dec 2025 19:16kbt09 schrieb:
@MachsSelbst ... which plan did you look at?The one in the original post, is it already outdated after one day? 😀
Oh, October 20th. Oops...
I see a strong improvement compared to #1, especially likely due to the now chosen rectangular layout.
Upper floor: The bedroom is possible as shown, but compared to other room sizes, I would give it a bit more space. To be honest, I once built exactly the same bedroom and can therefore imagine it well. Due to the unfavorable door position, you will often bump into the 62cm (24 inches) deep wardrobe, sometimes even 2cm (about 1 inch) more because of baseboards, which is inconvenient. The bed and furniture may not be perfectly to scale, so it could get tight at least along the wall with the extra dresser. In any case, I would plan for a 2m (79 inches) bed with a frame, so about 230cm (90 inches), even if you currently have something different.
Of course, 17.5sqm (188 sq ft) per child is nice, but 2-3sqm (about 20-30 sq ft) less wouldn’t be a real disadvantage for them, while the bedroom would gain significant benefits.
I wouldn’t generally choose an 86cm (34 inches) door size but rather a classic 1m (39 inches); with narrower or inward-opening doors, I always suspect a planning weakness, often also with sliding doors.
The bathroom is simply large but certainly has an uncomfortable area in the middle, and unfortunately, the door is directly adjacent to the wall.
Ground floor a: I would simply consider the shape of the living area as a classic rectangle; a "corridor" would have to be much longer and narrower. We have something like that here, and I’m sitting in it right now, and once furnished with furniture, you probably won’t perceive it as such. You say windows are not planned yet, but I would suggest a horizontal window above the kitchen wall to give the room more depth. If you then take really large windows on the long wall, it will naturally feel connected to the room and bigger.
Obviously, the TV plays a significant role; otherwise, I would have oriented the living room more towards the outside view or placed the sofa along the end wall rather than in front of the window. You won’t be able to sit four people on the sketched sofa, and certainly not watch TV comfortably. What happens when the kids grow older? I would also plan real furniture shapes now and make sure it actually fits.
Ground floor 2-b: At first glance, I like the living room better positioned here, with the WC and wardrobe also better, although I don’t like the even narrower access to the living area, and you have to walk directly into the kitchen — but maybe there are other ideas for that.
These are my rough ideas for now...
The window sizes and your general approach to them might significantly change the floor plan, so you should at least plan them appropriately in principle now. The kitchen will tend to be darker due to the planned partition, so that’s another reason I would keep it open; you have planned the partition to the stairwell anyway. If you absolutely need more storage there, maybe make 1/3 closed.
I would make the passage to the hallway wider and definitely allow light to pass through (maybe build something with half-height fixed glass), because otherwise, it will be dark there; also, in my opinion, this feels more spacious.
The garage is very dominant since it takes up the whole wall. With a carport, maybe you could consider horizontal windows at the top.
The wardrobe is far from the entrance; maybe swap it, but then there would be window problems due to the garage. The door opening inward is inconvenient; I would leave it open anyway, otherwise it will be pitch dark there. I don’t see the advantage of an enclosed room in this case.
The utility room also only has an 86cm (34 inches) door, which is never suitable for a utility room.
I have no solution, but I don’t like this staircase block with the access around the corner; maybe I’m wrong, but the two conflicting doors are definitely a fail, and again they open inward.
Upper floor: The bedroom is possible as shown, but compared to other room sizes, I would give it a bit more space. To be honest, I once built exactly the same bedroom and can therefore imagine it well. Due to the unfavorable door position, you will often bump into the 62cm (24 inches) deep wardrobe, sometimes even 2cm (about 1 inch) more because of baseboards, which is inconvenient. The bed and furniture may not be perfectly to scale, so it could get tight at least along the wall with the extra dresser. In any case, I would plan for a 2m (79 inches) bed with a frame, so about 230cm (90 inches), even if you currently have something different.
Of course, 17.5sqm (188 sq ft) per child is nice, but 2-3sqm (about 20-30 sq ft) less wouldn’t be a real disadvantage for them, while the bedroom would gain significant benefits.
I wouldn’t generally choose an 86cm (34 inches) door size but rather a classic 1m (39 inches); with narrower or inward-opening doors, I always suspect a planning weakness, often also with sliding doors.
The bathroom is simply large but certainly has an uncomfortable area in the middle, and unfortunately, the door is directly adjacent to the wall.
Ground floor a: I would simply consider the shape of the living area as a classic rectangle; a "corridor" would have to be much longer and narrower. We have something like that here, and I’m sitting in it right now, and once furnished with furniture, you probably won’t perceive it as such. You say windows are not planned yet, but I would suggest a horizontal window above the kitchen wall to give the room more depth. If you then take really large windows on the long wall, it will naturally feel connected to the room and bigger.
Obviously, the TV plays a significant role; otherwise, I would have oriented the living room more towards the outside view or placed the sofa along the end wall rather than in front of the window. You won’t be able to sit four people on the sketched sofa, and certainly not watch TV comfortably. What happens when the kids grow older? I would also plan real furniture shapes now and make sure it actually fits.
Ground floor 2-b: At first glance, I like the living room better positioned here, with the WC and wardrobe also better, although I don’t like the even narrower access to the living area, and you have to walk directly into the kitchen — but maybe there are other ideas for that.
These are my rough ideas for now...
The window sizes and your general approach to them might significantly change the floor plan, so you should at least plan them appropriately in principle now. The kitchen will tend to be darker due to the planned partition, so that’s another reason I would keep it open; you have planned the partition to the stairwell anyway. If you absolutely need more storage there, maybe make 1/3 closed.
I would make the passage to the hallway wider and definitely allow light to pass through (maybe build something with half-height fixed glass), because otherwise, it will be dark there; also, in my opinion, this feels more spacious.
The garage is very dominant since it takes up the whole wall. With a carport, maybe you could consider horizontal windows at the top.
The wardrobe is far from the entrance; maybe swap it, but then there would be window problems due to the garage. The door opening inward is inconvenient; I would leave it open anyway, otherwise it will be pitch dark there. I don’t see the advantage of an enclosed room in this case.
The utility room also only has an 86cm (34 inches) door, which is never suitable for a utility room.
I have no solution, but I don’t like this staircase block with the access around the corner; maybe I’m wrong, but the two conflicting doors are definitely a fail, and again they open inward.
Thank you for your feedback. I’ll try to address the main points.
I also see the orientation of the utility room towards the garden as a challenge. As I understand it, our local utility provider does not allow supply lines to be built over. That means the garage would probably have to be moved further back; according to initial info, the supply lines under the driveway are no problem.
For the upper floor, in the current design both children’s rooms face south, and the office is positioned in the middle. Given the rectangular floor plan and this staircase, that seems obligatory to me.
Regarding the layout of living/dining/kitchen areas, we have looked at model homes and floor plans from friends. We do prefer some separation, especially for the kitchen. Therefore, we find the “corner” arrangement appealing, but we have also seen nice solutions for slightly separating the kitchen in a “linear” layout (e.g., by a beam or drywall strip under the ceiling combined with short partition walls). Both options are conceivable, and we wonder if we should accept the disadvantage of the “corner” layout not being fully oriented towards the south/garden.
Regarding the upper floor, I conclude from your recommendations that you would lay it out very differently (?). I at least don’t see how we could increase the bedroom by at least 60cm (24 inches) so that the door opens in front of the wardrobe. That would work if we only had the two children’s rooms at the back, but with the office in between, the doors won’t work. Increasing the house depth would probably not make sense because we would have to narrow the width again, moving back towards a square shape.
The same applies to a 100cm (39 inch) door width – certainly nicer, but currently we manage quite well with 86cm (34 inch) doors in our rented semi-detached house. I also see an increase as only possible if the office upstairs is eliminated or the building dimensions are significantly changed (which is possible in principle, as we are open to it, but the total area should not become larger).
General feedback regarding your ground floor comments: We would like to install many large windows. We currently have that too, and I really like the integration of the garden. The sofa is shown at 3m x 2m (10ft x 6.5ft), simply because our current sofa (which we will eventually replace) has these dimensions. The TV is not that important but should still be reasonably visible.
Access from the hallway to the living area is definitely an important issue. We want it to be fairly wide and generally open, but it should also be possible to close it. Currently, we have an entirely open living room to the hallway and find it annoying that in the evening with guests you can’t acoustically separate the upstairs children’s rooms. With this floor plan, probably only a sliding door can be reasonably installed (even though it likely provides less sound insulation than a “normal” door).
Best regards
Malte
Papierturm schrieb:
My head has a big problem: the orientation of the utility room. In many residential areas, the utility room must face the street. That obviously has a strong impact on the floor plan.
Regarding the questions:
1.
What comes to mind about option 2 (ignoring windows):
-> I would place the entrance to the guest WC towards the "top" (away from the dirty area), and create a small cloakroom area right next to the door. I’m not quite satisfied with the hallway end before the stairs, but I don’t have a good solution off the top of my head.
What comes to mind about option 1:
-> I like it less. The utility/storage room leaves too much unusable open space in the middle. The cloakroom separated by a door (I wouldn’t do that). Access to the WC through the dirty area is unavoidable.
What comes to mind for the upstairs:
-> The key question here is how the house is oriented! I would put both children’s rooms facing south. Bathroom and master bedroom facing north.
-> The office between the children’s rooms is a matter of preference.
2. Many floor plans have an office or guest room downstairs because many people want that. Individual needs > general needs. According to your questionnaires, you don’t need an office/guest room downstairs, so why build one?
3. Yes, there is a reason: personal preference!
I’m not joking. Some people like it symmetrical, some like it separated, some like the L-shape. Of course, everything affects the rest of the floor plan. But... hey, personal preference! Check out model homes and then see what appeals to you most.
I also see the orientation of the utility room towards the garden as a challenge. As I understand it, our local utility provider does not allow supply lines to be built over. That means the garage would probably have to be moved further back; according to initial info, the supply lines under the driveway are no problem.
For the upper floor, in the current design both children’s rooms face south, and the office is positioned in the middle. Given the rectangular floor plan and this staircase, that seems obligatory to me.
Regarding the layout of living/dining/kitchen areas, we have looked at model homes and floor plans from friends. We do prefer some separation, especially for the kitchen. Therefore, we find the “corner” arrangement appealing, but we have also seen nice solutions for slightly separating the kitchen in a “linear” layout (e.g., by a beam or drywall strip under the ceiling combined with short partition walls). Both options are conceivable, and we wonder if we should accept the disadvantage of the “corner” layout not being fully oriented towards the south/garden.
Arauki11 schrieb:
I see a big improvement over #1, especially due to the now chosen rectangular shape.
Upper floor: The bedroom layout is possible but compared to other room sizes I would give it a bit more space. Honestly, I once built exactly the same layout for a bedroom and can imagine it well. Because of the unfortunate door position, you end up walking against the 62cm (24 inch) deep wardrobe, sometimes even 2cm (1 inch) more because of baseboards, which is inconvenient. The bed and furniture probably aren’t quite to scale, so it could get tight on the wall with the extra chest of drawers. In any case, I would plan a 2m (78 inch) bed including the frame, so about 230cm (90 inches), even if you currently have something different.
Certainly, 17.5sqm (188 sq ft) per child is nice, but 2-3sqm (20-32 sq ft) less wouldn’t really be a disadvantage for them, while the bedroom would gain significant advantages.
I also wouldn’t go for an 86cm (34 inch) door width in general, but rather the classic 1m (39 inch) width; narrow or inward-opening doors always raise a suspicion of planning weaknesses, often also with sliding doors.
The bathroom is just big with certainly uncomfortable space in the middle and unfortunately the door is directly next to the wall.
Ground floor option a: I would consider the shape of the living area as basically rectangular; a "corridor" would have to be much longer and narrower. We have that here, and I’m sitting here right now – once furnished, you probably won’t feel like it is a corridor. You said windows aren’t planned yet, but I would suggest a horizontally oriented one above the kitchen wall, which would add depth to the room. If you add really large windows along the long wall, it will belong to the room and feel bigger.
Apparently the TV plays a significant role; otherwise I would orient the living room towards the outside or place the sofa on the front wall instead of in front of the window. You won’t be able to seat four people on the drawn sofa, let alone watch the TV comfortably, and what happens when the kids grow older? I would already plan real furniture layouts and check for fit.
Ground floor option 2-b: At first glance, I like the living room position better here, also WC and cloakroom are better. But I don’t like the narrower access to the living area and the fact that you have to walk straight into the kitchen – maybe there are other ideas here.
These are my rough thoughts for now....
The window sizes and your general attitude towards them might shake up the floor plan again, so you should plan them reasonably now at least in principle. The kitchen will be rather dark due to the intended separation; for that reason alone I would keep it open. You’ve planned separation to the stairwell, so if you really need more cabinet space, maybe make it 1/3 closed.
I would make the passage to the hallway wider and definitely translucent (maybe build something with half-height fixed glass), otherwise it will be dark there and it feels less spacious to me.
The garage is very dominant as it takes an entire wall. With a carport, you might at least consider horizontally oriented windows at the top.
The cloakroom is far from the entrance; you could change that but then you have the window problem because of the garage; the inward opening door is not great, I would leave it open anyway, otherwise it would be pitch dark there; I don’t see the advantage of a closed room here.
Utility room also only 86cm (34 inch) door, never for a laundry room.
I don’t have an idea but that staircase block with an angled entrance doesn’t appeal to me, but maybe I’m wrong. The two clashing doors are definitely a fail and again open inward.
Regarding the upper floor, I conclude from your recommendations that you would lay it out very differently (?). I at least don’t see how we could increase the bedroom by at least 60cm (24 inches) so that the door opens in front of the wardrobe. That would work if we only had the two children’s rooms at the back, but with the office in between, the doors won’t work. Increasing the house depth would probably not make sense because we would have to narrow the width again, moving back towards a square shape.
The same applies to a 100cm (39 inch) door width – certainly nicer, but currently we manage quite well with 86cm (34 inch) doors in our rented semi-detached house. I also see an increase as only possible if the office upstairs is eliminated or the building dimensions are significantly changed (which is possible in principle, as we are open to it, but the total area should not become larger).
General feedback regarding your ground floor comments: We would like to install many large windows. We currently have that too, and I really like the integration of the garden. The sofa is shown at 3m x 2m (10ft x 6.5ft), simply because our current sofa (which we will eventually replace) has these dimensions. The TV is not that important but should still be reasonably visible.
Access from the hallway to the living area is definitely an important issue. We want it to be fairly wide and generally open, but it should also be possible to close it. Currently, we have an entirely open living room to the hallway and find it annoying that in the evening with guests you can’t acoustically separate the upstairs children’s rooms. With this floor plan, probably only a sliding door can be reasonably installed (even though it likely provides less sound insulation than a “normal” door).
Best regards
Malte
-Malte- schrieb:
We spent the past two weeks reviewing standard floor plans to develop an idea that we can then discuss with the architect and use as a basis. You did well to get your thinking going, especially if the architect hasn’t done that already.
-Malte- schrieb:
Do you consider the floor plan ideas generally useful, or are there any clear deal-breakers? Generally useful.
More later.
-Malte- schrieb:
Regarding the upper floor, I gather from your recommendations that you would build it quite differently (?).Unfortunately, I don’t have a solution for that; I just wanted to point out that this is what stood out to me. A skilled planner or maybe some people here in the forum might have ideas if you want to change it. I also think that a workspace for an adult should be “nice” and that the two children’s rooms do not necessarily have to be the same size or even face the same direction; at least that wasn’t the case in our home. Eventually, we even swapped the kids’ rooms with the bedroom as our children grew older. Eventually, the number of parameters in a seemingly straightforward plan becomes too many. Just a loose thought here, without any expectation that you see it the same way.-Malte- schrieb:
if the office on the upper floor were removed or the building footprint significantly altered (which you can basically do—we are quite flexible—but the total floor area should not increase).I understand, but having formerly worked with interior architects in the family, I know there are often solutions that aren’t obvious to laypeople; so if needed, an architect could step in or the talented members of the forum might help.-Malte- schrieb:
In terms of windows, we would like to install many large windows.Try sketching them roughly at the desired size—you will then have a better idea whether it will work with furniture layout, including the sofa. Don’t draw anything other than what you really plan to have. Sometimes the floor plan gets really tight; we actually planned around existing, nice furniture and used every centimeter. Actual furniture dimensions are a must!-Malte- schrieb:
By the way, the TV is not very important but should be visible in a reasonable way.Then arrange it so that it’s viewable by four people, AND mark the windows first. Only then will you see where the issues are.-Malte- schrieb:
In this floor plan, probably only a sliding door makes sense (even if it probably does not provide as much sound insulation as a “normal” door).I no longer use sliding doors—they always ended up being too inconvenient to operate. A colleague did something similar using drywall or calcium silicate blocks to create an open shelf with glass inserts, with a regular door adjoining it.
Papierturm6 Dec 2025 07:51-Malte- schrieb:
Thank you for your feedback. I’ll try to address the main points.
I also see orienting the technical room toward the garden as a challenge. As I understand it, our local utility provider does not allow supply lines to be built over. This likely means the garage would need to be moved further back, although the lines under the driveway are apparently not a problem according to initial information.I had mentally excluded the garage anyway.When I include it, it makes me feel quite uncomfortable. The reason: light! A garage right next to the house means there are little to no possibilities for natural light on that side (and depending on orientation, possibly limited light due to shadows cast).
If the garage is shifted a few meters, the situation looks quite different.
However, I also want to raise the question: is the plot large enough for a garage at all?
For the upper floor, our current design has both children’s rooms facing south, with the office in between in the middle, which I think is inevitable with a rectangular floor plan and this staircase.That’s perfectly fine then! (I couldn’t tell without a north arrow.)The only alternative would be placing the children’s rooms on one side, the bedroom and bathroom on the other, with the office between the bathroom and the children’s rooms. However, that would place one children’s room facing north. (This layout would have the advantage that no children’s room shares a wall with the parents’ bedroom, which some teenagers prefer.)
Both options seem feasible, and we’re wondering whether we should accept the drawback of the “around-the-corner” layout not being fully oriented toward the south/garden.The question here is really how you plan to arrange everything in the end. I also prefer the floor plan with the around-the-corner layout.Are you planning to have the kitchen or the living room connected to the garden? What are your plans for terraces?
(These questions are not for me but for you to consider.)
Similar topics