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?

Ground floor plan of a house with two dwellings: kitchen, living, corridors, storage rooms and terraces.


Floor plan of a two-story house with two staircases, corridors, rooms, and bathrooms/WC.


Floor plan of a two-story residence: stairs, corridors, rooms, technical space, bathroom/WC, storage.


Two adjacent houses on a sloped street; people at doors, cars parked along street.


Modern multi-story house on a slope, car in front, two windows on upper floor, people on edge.


Two adjoining houses, light on left, dark on right; three people in front of entrances.


Gray residential building sketch with three windows, parked car in front, sloped street.


Architectural section of a two-story building with staircase, people and cars outside.


Cross-section of a three-story building with stairs and three people inside.


Cross-section through a multi-story building with stairwell and people on stairs and floors.
Y
ypg
9 Nov 2018 12:54
MadameP schrieb:
What could the fire protection issue be?

If there is a window in the gable, the minimum distance to another building applies, which is 3 meters (10 feet) due to fire safety regulations.
But this was just a note from me.
I do not expect any other advantages from rotating the roof.
11ant9 Nov 2018 14:17
MadameP schrieb:
We haven’t considered a slanted partition wall in the house yet. I currently have no clear idea how that might look,

It’s enough if you’re the only one confused, without a centipede alongside you:

Two-part floor plan: Blue marks upper floor, yellow marks lower floor, north arrow.

MadameP schrieb:
I’m attaching a screenshot of the initial height study

And now add a “Dutch gable” to the cross wing that meets the gable of the other house. This way, the cross wing will have standing height for a shower or headroom for a staircase where it was too low before.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
K
kbt09
10 Nov 2018 18:26
In the original proposal, the kitchen does not function as shown.

Floor plan of a house with open living/dining area, kitchen, staircase, and terrace.
11ant10 Nov 2018 19:19
kbt09 schrieb:
The kitchen in the original proposal does not work as shown.

Which of the two kitchens do you mean? – I don’t find either of them convincing in both houses, but they are probably just placeholders in the preliminary design (?)
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
K
kbt09
10 Nov 2018 19:21
In the smaller half, the kitchen works, but in the larger half, there is only a 60cm (24 inches) aisle space to the peninsula. However, if the peninsula is positioned properly, the dining area and therefore the passage to the kitchen become very restricted.
MadameP10 Nov 2018 20:49
kbt09 schrieb:
In the smaller half, the kitchen works, but in the larger half there is only about 60 cm (24 inches) of clearance between the counter run and the peninsula. However, if the peninsula is positioned properly, the dining area and therefore the passage to the kitchen become very restricted.

Yes, we noticed that too; it simply doesn’t work. As 11ant correctly pointed out, they are currently more like placeholders, but the floor plan as it stands does not allow for a functional kitchen. We are working on that. On the front side of the house, however, space is being wasted...