Dear forum members,
I have been a quiet reader here for years and now kindly ask for your input. Attached you will find the floor plans and the site plan. Overall, we are satisfied, but we are complete novices and may have overlooked some details. Our challenge is to accommodate, in addition to 3 bedrooms, a guest room and a home office, and also have a small storage room (besides the attic) without a basement. Thank you in advance for your critical feedback.
Development Plan
Plot size: approx. 700 m² (8,400 sq ft)
Slope: see contour lines (distance between lines: 1 meter (3 feet))
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor area ratio: 0.7
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Orientation: see plan (attachment)
Eaves height: 6.5 meters (21 ft)
Building height: 9.5 meters (31 ft)
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: single-family house, simple/classic, gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement (due to soil contamination with arsenic + copper, resulting in higher disposal costs), 2 full stories
Occupants: 2 adults, 2 small children
Space requirements: 3 bedrooms, guest room, home office, bathroom, guest bathroom, storage room (laundry, etc.)
Office: small workspace with 2 desks
Overnight guests per year: several days each month, sometimes many days in a row
Open or closed architecture: closed
Conservative or modern design: conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: closed
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Garage, carport: carport
House Design
Planner: architect from the construction company
What do we particularly like? Why?
What do we not like? Why?
Cost estimate according to architect/planner for house + slab foundation: ready to move in approx. 380,000 - 400,000 €
Heating system: air-to-water heat pump
I have been a quiet reader here for years and now kindly ask for your input. Attached you will find the floor plans and the site plan. Overall, we are satisfied, but we are complete novices and may have overlooked some details. Our challenge is to accommodate, in addition to 3 bedrooms, a guest room and a home office, and also have a small storage room (besides the attic) without a basement. Thank you in advance for your critical feedback.
Development Plan
Plot size: approx. 700 m² (8,400 sq ft)
Slope: see contour lines (distance between lines: 1 meter (3 feet))
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor area ratio: 0.7
Number of floors: 2 full stories
Orientation: see plan (attachment)
Eaves height: 6.5 meters (21 ft)
Building height: 9.5 meters (31 ft)
Homeowners’ Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: single-family house, simple/classic, gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement (due to soil contamination with arsenic + copper, resulting in higher disposal costs), 2 full stories
Occupants: 2 adults, 2 small children
Space requirements: 3 bedrooms, guest room, home office, bathroom, guest bathroom, storage room (laundry, etc.)
Office: small workspace with 2 desks
Overnight guests per year: several days each month, sometimes many days in a row
Open or closed architecture: closed
Conservative or modern design: conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island: closed
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Garage, carport: carport
House Design
Planner: architect from the construction company
What do we particularly like? Why?
- Accommodation of the required rooms (even if at the expense of a larger circulation area with an internal corridor)
- ... undecided: Utilization of east and south sides (small seating area on the east + terrace on the south) is good, as we get up early and go to bed early OR possibly reversing the floor plan would be better, as it seems that a south-west orientation is always “recommended” (?)
What do we not like? Why?
- Dark hallway; a brighter hallway with this room layout would probably only be possible with a larger floor area or by relocating it into the living area, which we personally do not want; therefore: arrange windows and doors in the storage room, office, and living room in a row so that a little light can enter (?)
- Access to the kitchen only through the living room; possibly a second door (sliding door) from the hallway to the kitchen and open the other door from the kitchen into the living room (?)
- Maybe the guest room next to the utility room is inconvenient because it might be too noisy (?)
- Possibly revise the window arrangement in the children’s rooms (?)
Cost estimate according to architect/planner for house + slab foundation: ready to move in approx. 380,000 - 400,000 €
Heating system: air-to-water heat pump
K
KlausKleister1 Jan 2020 10:53kaho674 schrieb:
With that size, quite a lot should be possible. However, the layout of the rooms is completely unclear to me. The kitchen should probably be closer to the terrace than a guest room, right? If this is the result of extended consultation, I wonder whether your preferences are very unusual or if the planner is just unmotivated?
I would start from scratch. Thank you also for your feedback! This is not the result of a longer consultation. The thread can please be deleted by a moderator, and we will come back with a new floor plan.
H
hampshire1 Jan 2020 16:53Don’t give up so quickly on this floor plan, which of course raises a few questions. I’ll try to provide more specific comments:
1. Kitchen: I found it pleasant in our last house to be able to look out onto the street from the kitchen, especially when the children were younger and playing on the street or playground opposite. The route from the kitchen to the front door is far from practical: long and passing through the living area.
2. Guest room: Guests are given a very “prominent location.” There are guests and situations where this might be desirable.
3. Ground floor hallway and stairs: The hallway is definitely on the dark side, but this can be easily solved with lighting – after all, the hallway is not a space where you stay for long periods. It’s good that there is space planned for a coat area – this is often overlooked. The staircase is a space-consuming feature – it’s surprising how much room it takes up. For a “design centerpiece” this is of course possible. Its central location has the advantage of giving the other rooms more exterior walls, allowing more natural light.
4. Upper floor hallway and stairs: You don’t take advantage of the potential for lots of light in the rooms around the central staircase – none of the rooms are “bathed in light.” As you said yourself, the circulation area is quite large. The way to the bathroom is quite far for one of the children – though the child probably won’t mind.
5. Storage-laundry room: I really like its placement above the front door. Short distances for all laundry activities and bright. This aspect is really well thought out.
6. Rooms on the upper floor: The room sizes are okay. Still, it’s hard for me to imagine the rooms feeling right since each room has a lower ceiling or a sloped roof on one side. Additionally, the layout results in too many niches, which makes the rooms somewhat harder to use. A niche itself is not a problem if it is planned for a specific use. However, a niche that emerges from service or secondary rooms rarely fits well within the main room. These challenges on the upper floor are a result of the staircase arrangement (as previous commenters have already noted).
My conclusion: The planned house is too small for incorporating a central staircase – both in terms of floor area and ceiling height.
1. Kitchen: I found it pleasant in our last house to be able to look out onto the street from the kitchen, especially when the children were younger and playing on the street or playground opposite. The route from the kitchen to the front door is far from practical: long and passing through the living area.
2. Guest room: Guests are given a very “prominent location.” There are guests and situations where this might be desirable.
3. Ground floor hallway and stairs: The hallway is definitely on the dark side, but this can be easily solved with lighting – after all, the hallway is not a space where you stay for long periods. It’s good that there is space planned for a coat area – this is often overlooked. The staircase is a space-consuming feature – it’s surprising how much room it takes up. For a “design centerpiece” this is of course possible. Its central location has the advantage of giving the other rooms more exterior walls, allowing more natural light.
4. Upper floor hallway and stairs: You don’t take advantage of the potential for lots of light in the rooms around the central staircase – none of the rooms are “bathed in light.” As you said yourself, the circulation area is quite large. The way to the bathroom is quite far for one of the children – though the child probably won’t mind.
5. Storage-laundry room: I really like its placement above the front door. Short distances for all laundry activities and bright. This aspect is really well thought out.
6. Rooms on the upper floor: The room sizes are okay. Still, it’s hard for me to imagine the rooms feeling right since each room has a lower ceiling or a sloped roof on one side. Additionally, the layout results in too many niches, which makes the rooms somewhat harder to use. A niche itself is not a problem if it is planned for a specific use. However, a niche that emerges from service or secondary rooms rarely fits well within the main room. These challenges on the upper floor are a result of the staircase arrangement (as previous commenters have already noted).
My conclusion: The planned house is too small for incorporating a central staircase – both in terms of floor area and ceiling height.
What is most disturbing is not shown on the plan: the bathroom drainage upstairs. Just imagine the drain next to the sofa, visibly protruding 20cm x 20cm (8 inches x 8 inches) in front of the exterior wall.
I wonder why the bathrooms are not stacked on top of each other. Even considering the inconvenient staircase position, placing the bathroom in the upper-left corner of the plan would have been better, and the room sizes could have been adjusted accordingly.
Therefore, I won’t comment on missing doors or other minor details, as the upper floor definitely needs to be changed in my opinion.
I wonder why the bathrooms are not stacked on top of each other. Even considering the inconvenient staircase position, placing the bathroom in the upper-left corner of the plan would have been better, and the room sizes could have been adjusted accordingly.
Therefore, I won’t comment on missing doors or other minor details, as the upper floor definitely needs to be changed in my opinion.
KlausKleister schrieb:
I've been a silent reader for years Let me put it this way: the floor plans don’t really reflect that.
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