ᐅ Single-family house, 175 sqm without a basement—too large?

Created on: 15 Apr 2020 10:02

Hello everyone
I would also like to hear your opinion on our current design.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 507 sqm (5455 sq ft)
Slope: yes, about 4 m (13 ft) difference in height over a length of 30 m (98 ft)
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Site occupancy index: 0.8
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 3 m (10 ft) to the street
Edge building: allowed for garage/carport
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: max. 2 full stories
Roof type: anything except flat roof
Style: any
Orientation: any
Maximum heights/limits: ridge height max. 12 m (39 ft), wall height max. 10 m (33 ft)

Client Requirements
Style, roof type, building type: gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement, almost 2 full stories (knee wall 1.86 m (6 ft))
Number of occupants, age: 3 people, 1 teenager, 2 adults
Space requirements ground floor / upper floor: approx. 175 sqm (1880 sq ft)
Office: home office
Guest bedrooms per year: rarely 2 guests
Open or closed architecture: rather open, airy, including open kitchen
Balcony, roof terrace: no to both
Garage, carport: double carport planned later

House Design
Who designed it: put together myself
What do you like most? Why?
- Direct access from the bedroom through the dressing room to the bathroom
- Cloakroom niche keeps dirty shoes outside the main passage area
- Floor-to-ceiling windows for lots of light
- Straight staircase, looks modern, easier to walk on than a spiral one and better for accessibility later (stairlift)
- Very spacious living/dining/kitchen area (though perhaps too large?)
- Pantry with everything easily accessible on open shelves
What do you dislike? Why?
- Huge waste of space in the hallways

Why did the design turn out this way?
I saw a similar layout in a townhouse that I really liked at first glance. We want a generous living feel with large window areas.
Since we are planning without a basement, an extra room upstairs was created for storage, guest room, and workshop space.
Important: the bathroom layout is not really planned yet. I have inserted my first idea there but I know it is still far from a “good idea.” For now, the focus is on the basic room layout. The windows are currently more of an idea than fully thought through.

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
- Do you see a way to reduce hallway space despite having a straight staircase?
- What is your overall impression of the design?

Floor plan of an apartment with several rooms, doors, stairs and measurement details in meters.

Floor plan of a house with several rooms, doors, stairs and area details in sqm.

Top-down floor plan: open living/dining area with kitchen, dining table, corner sofa, stairs; several rooms.

Floor plan of an apartment with bedroom, office, living room, kitchen, bathroom and stairs.

Drasleona7 May 2020 21:38

#121

@kaho674 Thanks for your suggestion! However, we do need a passage from the dressing room to the bathroom. Also, your floor plan is a bit mixed up. The master dressing and bathroom area is shown below the stairs on the plan, not above. You have the bedroom planned on the west side, but it should actually be on the south side (bottom left of the plan), and the bathroom should not be on the north side but on the east side (bottom right of the plan). But that doesn’t really change the overall planning that much.

In my proposal (#111), a window could also be added to the small toilet room. I understand the reasons you mentioned—too dark and "uncomfortable" without a window.

Tolentino7 May 2020 21:43

#122