ᐅ Semi-detached house with unequal halves = different floor plans
Created on: 6 Nov 2018 21:56
M
MadameP
Preface: The larger half on the north side (right on the plan) is intended for personal use. The smaller "half" on the south side (left on the plan) is for sale. For the sales half, the only requirement was a practical use of space for 3, max. 4 people. Therefore, I will go into more detail regarding the personal half.
Since this is not obvious from the floor plan excerpts: the personal half is 8.75 m (29 feet) wide and 9 m (30 feet) deep, the sales half is 6.10 m (20 feet) wide and 9.65 m (32 feet) deep (external dimensions).
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 479 sqm (5155 sq ft), 23 m (75 ft) wide, 20.80 m (68 ft) deep
Slope: sloping southwest, approx. 3 m (10 ft) across the northeast-southwest diagonal
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor area ratio: 0.7
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 3 m (10 ft) setback line, no specific building envelope
Adjacent buildings: neighbors’ garage on the south boundary
Parking spaces: 2 per dwelling unit
Number of floors: 2 full floors
Roof type: pitched roof 25-45 degrees, exposed rafters, half-hipped roof, vented ridge
Maximum heights / limits: max. ridge height 9.50 m (31 ft)
Additional requirements: none
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern, clean lines, simple building form, gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full floors plus attic
Number of occupants, ages: 3 (2 adults + baby, no more expected); the second semi-detached unit should accommodate a family with up to 2 children
Space requirements on ground and upper floors for own half:
Ground floor: guest WC, wardrobe, large open living/dining area, open kitchen, utility/technical room
First floor: large children’s room, master bedroom, family bathroom, laundry room
Attic: studio (office / guest room / hobby room), shower room
Office: both family use and home office
Guests per year: approx. 20 nights, 1–4 people
Open or closed architecture:
Conservative or modern design: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: both
Number of seats at dining table: 8
Fireplace: undecided
Sound/music wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: no, parking spaces only
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes / special features / daily routines and reasons why some things should be included or excluded: For the personal half, there was a requirement for a half-landing staircase that is not accessible from the living area. A design away from the “classic semi-detached house standard” was desired, including externally. No “entrance corridor”.
House Design
Designed by: architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
Personal half:
- Split level to the living area, creating high ceilings in the open living space and making use of the topography
- large wardrobe/coat area
- storage space utilized under the staircase
- utility room on the first floor
- large children’s room (intended to be swapped with the attic studio when the child is older)
Sales half:
- ?
What do you dislike? Why?
Personal half:
- Utility room only accessible from outside (wtf?!)
- Open living space rather small
- Kitchen is small, no island, dining area only for 6 people
- Guest WC wastes space
- Overall few and small windows
- Family bathroom layout: shower exit directly in front of the door, toilet right next to the sink
- No dressing room
- Attic bathroom: again, shower exit directly in front of the door
- Attic studio windows: tiny arrow slit window facing west (the side with the really great view) and two roof windows. (my next wtf moment)
Sales half:
- No second shower bathroom
- First floor bathroom tiny, no shower
- Boring floor plan
- Second room in attic without a window?! (again a wtf moment)
Price estimate according to planner: just within budget (prefer not to discuss figures publicly due to sales plans, thanks for understanding)
Preferred heating system: ideally geothermal, if still within budget
If you have to give up something, which details/extras
- can you do without: geothermal heating, attic bathroom (would at first only install plumbing, finish later)
- can you not do without: half-landing staircase
Why is the design as it currently is?
Our requirements regarding the space program were largely implemented.
Which requests did the architect fulfill?
Offset in height and depth between the two halves, staircase not opening off the living room, utility room on the first floor
What do you consider especially good or bad?
The arrangement, location and size of the windows raise major questions for me.
Furthermore, I don’t understand why the plot width isn’t fully used. We are fine with 3.50 m (11.5 ft) on the sides for parking. For the sales half, we’d leave 3 m (10 ft) to preserve garden space at the back. The very first study was even more “tube-shaped,” and we already pointed that out. Now the northern half still has 4.12 m (13.5 ft) and the southern 3.93 m (13 ft) width on the sides. Why?? Dead space next to the cars that we won’t use, instead of garden space facing west.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What can we do better?
Since this is not obvious from the floor plan excerpts: the personal half is 8.75 m (29 feet) wide and 9 m (30 feet) deep, the sales half is 6.10 m (20 feet) wide and 9.65 m (32 feet) deep (external dimensions).
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 479 sqm (5155 sq ft), 23 m (75 ft) wide, 20.80 m (68 ft) deep
Slope: sloping southwest, approx. 3 m (10 ft) across the northeast-southwest diagonal
Site coverage ratio: 0.35
Floor area ratio: 0.7
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 3 m (10 ft) setback line, no specific building envelope
Adjacent buildings: neighbors’ garage on the south boundary
Parking spaces: 2 per dwelling unit
Number of floors: 2 full floors
Roof type: pitched roof 25-45 degrees, exposed rafters, half-hipped roof, vented ridge
Maximum heights / limits: max. ridge height 9.50 m (31 ft)
Additional requirements: none
Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: modern, clean lines, simple building form, gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement, 2 full floors plus attic
Number of occupants, ages: 3 (2 adults + baby, no more expected); the second semi-detached unit should accommodate a family with up to 2 children
Space requirements on ground and upper floors for own half:
Ground floor: guest WC, wardrobe, large open living/dining area, open kitchen, utility/technical room
First floor: large children’s room, master bedroom, family bathroom, laundry room
Attic: studio (office / guest room / hobby room), shower room
Office: both family use and home office
Guests per year: approx. 20 nights, 1–4 people
Open or closed architecture:
Conservative or modern design: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: both
Number of seats at dining table: 8
Fireplace: undecided
Sound/music wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: no, parking spaces only
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes / special features / daily routines and reasons why some things should be included or excluded: For the personal half, there was a requirement for a half-landing staircase that is not accessible from the living area. A design away from the “classic semi-detached house standard” was desired, including externally. No “entrance corridor”.
House Design
Designed by: architect
What do you particularly like? Why?
Personal half:
- Split level to the living area, creating high ceilings in the open living space and making use of the topography
- large wardrobe/coat area
- storage space utilized under the staircase
- utility room on the first floor
- large children’s room (intended to be swapped with the attic studio when the child is older)
Sales half:
- ?
What do you dislike? Why?
Personal half:
- Utility room only accessible from outside (wtf?!)
- Open living space rather small
- Kitchen is small, no island, dining area only for 6 people
- Guest WC wastes space
- Overall few and small windows
- Family bathroom layout: shower exit directly in front of the door, toilet right next to the sink
- No dressing room
- Attic bathroom: again, shower exit directly in front of the door
- Attic studio windows: tiny arrow slit window facing west (the side with the really great view) and two roof windows. (my next wtf moment)
Sales half:
- No second shower bathroom
- First floor bathroom tiny, no shower
- Boring floor plan
- Second room in attic without a window?! (again a wtf moment)
Price estimate according to planner: just within budget (prefer not to discuss figures publicly due to sales plans, thanks for understanding)
Preferred heating system: ideally geothermal, if still within budget
If you have to give up something, which details/extras
- can you do without: geothermal heating, attic bathroom (would at first only install plumbing, finish later)
- can you not do without: half-landing staircase
Why is the design as it currently is?
Our requirements regarding the space program were largely implemented.
Which requests did the architect fulfill?
Offset in height and depth between the two halves, staircase not opening off the living room, utility room on the first floor
What do you consider especially good or bad?
The arrangement, location and size of the windows raise major questions for me.
Furthermore, I don’t understand why the plot width isn’t fully used. We are fine with 3.50 m (11.5 ft) on the sides for parking. For the sales half, we’d leave 3 m (10 ft) to preserve garden space at the back. The very first study was even more “tube-shaped,” and we already pointed that out. Now the northern half still has 4.12 m (13.5 ft) and the southern 3.93 m (13 ft) width on the sides. Why?? Dead space next to the cars that we won’t use, instead of garden space facing west.
What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
What can we do better?
ypg schrieb:
Do you also have an upper floor for yourselves?
Are you aware that the staircase will be a hazard in the living room? Oops, I uploaded the attic level twice, that wasn’t my intention. Unfortunately, I can’t edit the post anymore. Here is the upper floor plan.
Regarding the staircase, the architect said that where the partition wall between the hallway and the sofa area begins, the staircase has a height of 1.60 meters (5 feet 3 inches). At first, I didn’t think that was a big issue; the sofa side would just be used from further away from the wall, especially since the fireplace is planned for the corner where the staircase is still low. You would have to walk around the fireplace anyway...
I don’t think the design is bad.
The staircase in the living room doesn’t really work, in my opinion. But it is quite long. Maybe there’s room to save some space there. I would find a 18.5cm (7.3 inches) rise and 26cm (10.2 inches) tread depth sufficient. Also, I would redesign the entrance area so that the staircase could be moved about half a meter (around 1.6 feet) closer to the kitchen door.
I also find the living room next to the dark wall in the dark corner bothersome. You shouldn’t forget that’s the north side. I’m skeptical about whether it gets enough natural light.
It’s a pity that the space under the stairs can’t be used as a pantry.
The staircase in the living room doesn’t really work, in my opinion. But it is quite long. Maybe there’s room to save some space there. I would find a 18.5cm (7.3 inches) rise and 26cm (10.2 inches) tread depth sufficient. Also, I would redesign the entrance area so that the staircase could be moved about half a meter (around 1.6 feet) closer to the kitchen door.
I also find the living room next to the dark wall in the dark corner bothersome. You shouldn’t forget that’s the north side. I’m skeptical about whether it gets enough natural light.
It’s a pity that the space under the stairs can’t be used as a pantry.
MadameP schrieb:
We plan to start marketing once the building permit / planning permission is approved. I don’t think it’s too early for a website / Facebook page / online classified ad to raise awareness of the project; my question was also meant as a suggestion to have the timing planned from a (tax) legal perspective.
If you are basically acting as the developer for the other semi-detached house, I wouldn’t wait until after the building permit to start looking for a buyer. The contract can wait until then, but the search can start now. Unless you plan to sell in several years, as mentioned above.
kaho674 schrieb:
I would be concerned about the wastewater disposal in the attic. Does it run through the bedroom? Exactly, I overlooked that: I would estimate it runs along a corner of the bedroom near the kitchen island.
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kaho674 schrieb:
The staircase in the living room doesn’t work like that, in my opinion. But it is long. Maybe you could save some space there. I would find a rise of 18.5cm (7.3 inches) and a tread depth of 26cm (10.2 inches) sufficient. Also, I would redesign the entrance area so that the staircase could be moved about half a meter (1.6 feet) towards the kitchen door. What could that look like? It would probably only work if we give up the upper floor space above the stairwell, otherwise you couldn’t get into the kids’ room… In the attic, moving it half a meter (1.6 feet) might also make access to the storage space tight.
I will bring up the rise and tread depth; none of us are exactly short, so the steeper rise might work well. Maybe just shifting the “tread depth” forward a bit could already help.
kaho674 schrieb:
I also find it annoying that the living room is against the dark wall in the dark corner. We shouldn’t forget, that’s the north side. I’m skeptical whether there will be enough light. We have thought about that too. There are several reasons we believe it will work anyway: The kitchen/dining area has about 2.95m (9.7 feet) ceiling height and accordingly larger/taller glass elements, so during the day the brightness should be sufficient. From the split-level platform, you would basically look down into the garden. The ceiling height in the seating area of the living room would still be about 2.50m (8.2 feet), so it wouldn’t feel cave-like.
In summer, we tend to spend evening time outside anyway, and in winter, it’s dark in the evening when we’re lounging on the couch. We rarely watch TV here, and it’s not a high priority; it would be placed on the wall facing the hallway, so there wouldn’t be disturbing reflections when it’s on.
We also like the idea of a protected, cozy corner retreat that is still open to the kitchen/dining area.
kaho674 schrieb:
It’s a pity that the space under the stairs can’t be used as a pantry. That’s true in one way, but on the other hand, I’m already looking forward to the spacious hallway area. That’s one of the things that annoys me most about my current apartment. I want a folding staircase, and underneath it I would put a nice sideboard for hats, gloves, and other small hallway items, and next to the wall towards the living room a bench for putting on shoes… (the bench would not be under the stairs, of course.)
Thanks already for all the comments!
I still think the design is successful. It is inviting, not boring, yet functional.
Would it be possible to integrate a light strip between the living room and the hall under the ceiling? Then the interior wall in the living room could be finished with natural stone or something similar... maybe also in the hall, so that this wall serves as an accent from both sides?
Would it be possible to integrate a light strip between the living room and the hall under the ceiling? Then the interior wall in the living room could be finished with natural stone or something similar... maybe also in the hall, so that this wall serves as an accent from both sides?
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