ᐅ Site Planning for a Single-Family Home on Uneven Terrain: Where to Place the Garage?
Created on: 4 Mar 2026 09:49
S
Spatz5
Hello everyone,
We are currently facing the question of how to position all the structures on our property. Unfortunately, our plot is not flat, so I am attaching the plan showing the different elevation levels.
Basic information:
The plot is 600 sqm (6,458 sq ft), approximately 27.5 meters (90 ft) long and 22.5 meters (74 ft) wide.
We plan to build a prefab house with 1.5 stories (including a basement). We currently have an offer for a house measuring about 9.84 m by 9.14 m (32.3 ft by 30 ft).
There is no building permit/planning permission in place.
I had originally imagined placing the house roughly in the center, with the front door on the east side. Right next to it, a carport about 3 meters (10 ft) wide, which would also serve as a canopy over the door, and a garage about 3.3 meters (11 ft) wide. Yesterday, however, the sales consultant raised concerns that this is the lowest point on the plot, requiring about two meters (6.6 ft) of ground leveling (expensive), and that the building height is limited to around three meters (10 ft) because of the proximity to the neighboring property.
Alternative suggestions were to place the carport/garage in front of the house or even on the west side. I don’t really like the idea of "blocking off" the west and south sides. Maybe I just can’t picture whether enough garden and terrace space would remain. On the other hand, my partner is quite relaxed about this and would be fine placing it on the west side since he thinks it would be cheaper due to less ground work required.
I realize that the architect will probably be able to provide much better advice, but I just can’t stop thinking about it right now.
What are your opinions? Has anyone had experience with such varying elevation levels on their plot and a good idea for this?
Does anyone know a good app for planning and testing layouts like this?
In general, I’m also interested in whether we can get reliable information or experience about additional building costs in advance, especially for earthworks?
Thanks very much in advance!
We are currently facing the question of how to position all the structures on our property. Unfortunately, our plot is not flat, so I am attaching the plan showing the different elevation levels.
Basic information:
The plot is 600 sqm (6,458 sq ft), approximately 27.5 meters (90 ft) long and 22.5 meters (74 ft) wide.
We plan to build a prefab house with 1.5 stories (including a basement). We currently have an offer for a house measuring about 9.84 m by 9.14 m (32.3 ft by 30 ft).
There is no building permit/planning permission in place.
I had originally imagined placing the house roughly in the center, with the front door on the east side. Right next to it, a carport about 3 meters (10 ft) wide, which would also serve as a canopy over the door, and a garage about 3.3 meters (11 ft) wide. Yesterday, however, the sales consultant raised concerns that this is the lowest point on the plot, requiring about two meters (6.6 ft) of ground leveling (expensive), and that the building height is limited to around three meters (10 ft) because of the proximity to the neighboring property.
Alternative suggestions were to place the carport/garage in front of the house or even on the west side. I don’t really like the idea of "blocking off" the west and south sides. Maybe I just can’t picture whether enough garden and terrace space would remain. On the other hand, my partner is quite relaxed about this and would be fine placing it on the west side since he thinks it would be cheaper due to less ground work required.
I realize that the architect will probably be able to provide much better advice, but I just can’t stop thinking about it right now.
What are your opinions? Has anyone had experience with such varying elevation levels on their plot and a good idea for this?
Does anyone know a good app for planning and testing layouts like this?
In general, I’m also interested in whether we can get reliable information or experience about additional building costs in advance, especially for earthworks?
Thanks very much in advance!
Spatz5 schrieb:
Currently, I only have pictures with snow, not very revealing, [...] The neighbor next door is not the seller. Oh look, you actually surprised 11ant there. The other perspectives (towards the street and up the slope) would be interesting, the snow is not a problem.
So there are still overhead lines – as well as pits, or is there already underground conduit?
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/