ᐅ Single-family house design with a gable roof located at the edge of the development area

Created on: 25 Sep 2020 18:06

Dear Home Builders,

After extensive experimenting with paper and templates for various staircases, carports, and layouts, we would like to discuss our current favorite design with you.
To the north and east, there is forest.
To the south and west, the neighbors.
Therefore, the house opens towards the east to enjoy peace and a great view.
The building envelope is 13x13m (43x43 ft), which is fully utilized by the 4m (13 ft) carport and 9m (30 ft) wide house, leaving 1m (3 ft) depth at the front.
The plot is mostly level but sits consistently about 40cm (16 inches) above the street; however, building up to 50cm (20 inches) higher is allowed.

The floor plans are oriented north and hand-dimensioned.
Please note that the roof could not be properly designed with the software.
Also, the landing staircase could not be modeled correctly in the tool but is marked green in the stair portal.

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 750m² (8,073 sq ft)
Slope: No
Site coverage ratio: 0.4
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 13x13m (43x43 ft)
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: max 2
Roof type: Gable roof <45°
Style
Orientation: East-West ridge line specified
Maximum height / limits: Ridge height 6m (20 ft), eaves height 10.5m (34 ft)
Other requirements: Carports only on the sides or in front of the building; no basement replacement rooms in the front garden (5m (16 ft) wide strip between building and access road)

Client Requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: Single-family house with gable roof
Basement, floors: none, 1.5/2
Number of occupants, age: 2 (~30 years) + 2 children planned
Room needs ground floor / upper floor: Bedroom, dressing room, bathroom, 2x children’s rooms
Office: 1x family use (guest room) and 1x home office
Overnight guests per year: regularly
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: calm, rather modern but not fixed on style
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open
Number of dining seats: 8 (at one table, no kitchen counter)
Fireplace: No
Music/sound wall: desired
Garage, carport: 1x carport, 1x parking space, bicycle shed
Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also explanations why certain things are preferred or avoided: Use of the beautiful view towards the east

House Design
Who designed it: Own design (of course a mix of ideas we have seen, etc.)
What do you especially like? Why? All rooms placed in the desired cardinal direction and size
What do you dislike? Why?
- Sofa orientation might create tight spots, but we would like the “music wall” facing the open-plan living/kitchen area.
- Few windows facing south, but since there is a neighbor’s house and carport to the west and the street to the south, we think the open living area is best located towards the east.
Price estimate by architect/planner: $400,000 (house only)
Personal budget limit for the house including fittings: Some flexibility left (but not required)
Preferred heating technology: Air-to-water heat pump + photovoltaic

If you have to compromise, which details/extensions
- can you give up:
- cannot give up:

Why is the design as it is now? e.g.
We created a list of requirements.
Looked at hundreds of floor plans and experimented until we decided we like this one.
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion?
It accommodates almost all requirements within the building limits.

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?
Is the open living area well laid out?
Is the staircase well chosen?
Can we fit the building services (air-to-water heat pump, central mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, photovoltaic) distributed between the attic and laundry room?
Any other comments?

Floor plan of a house with garden, terraces, carport and driveway.

Floor plan of the upper floor with bathroom, bedroom, dressing room, hall and two children’s rooms.

White modern house with large terrace, garden furniture, sun umbrella, loungers and green garden.

White modern house with carport, green garden, trees, bicycle at fence, street corner.

Floor plan of a residential apartment: guest room, living room, hall, utility room; furniture like bed and sofa.

Floor plan of a building with hall to the left, boiler room below, office to the right, large open room above.

Modern two-story house with large glass front, wooden terrace, garden furniture and car in carport.

RomeoZwo26 Sep 2020 11:21

#13

Schematic site plan with house, garage, neighboring property, and street

Option 1 would allow for a slightly larger south-facing garden and also a south-facing terrace. At first, this terrace would be quite visible from the driveway, but there are options like hedges or a gate in front of the driveway. There is practically no west-facing sunlight on the ground floor, but the upper floor could certainly make use of it, although the view of the neighbor is not ideal. I would probably choose this option, with access on the side next to the garage, where a covered walkway could also be installed to stay dry when entering the house. The driveway is quite long, which makes it expensive, but the children love sliding down it with their ride-on cars...

Option 2 uses the separation created by the neighbor’s garage to create a "protected" area for a second terrace on the northwest side. This terrace would likely get beautiful evening light and be sheltered from the wind. However, the main terrace would then only face east (as in your drawing), and the south side of the house would be quite close and prominent to the street. In this scenario, your carport would provide a visual barrier to the neighbor’s driveway.

Do you need the parking space in front of the carport? Otherwise, the carport could maybe be placed directly in front of the house, facing the street.

RotorMotor26 Sep 2020 11:50

#14

ypg schrieb:

I would shape the open-plan living area in an L-shape... that way you capture east, south, and west.

Yes, we have tried this option as well.
For us, this meant the kitchen ended up in the southwest.
The downside was losing both the access and the view to the garden from the kitchen.
We also liked the straight open-plan layout, which some friends recently built and were very happy with.
Another factor is the neighbor’s shadow, depending on the season, and the lost garden view from the kitchen.
Is that afternoon sunlight really worth it?

ypg schrieb:

That would also mitigate the 4-meter width (too narrow for the length) issue.

That’s certainly a point. Could a bay window help here?
More than one-third of the facade would be allowed.

ypg schrieb:

Unusual and also visually unappealing is the house orientation combined with the required ridge direction. I wouldn’t design the house deeper than it is wide, because then it looks like a semi-detached house.

Another issue that gave me long headaches.
We then searched on Tim-online for various houses sized 9x12 with our ridge orientation and visited them in person.
We found several, especially with dormers facing forward, that we really liked. We also found 8x12 ones, but those strongly resembled a split house.
Our main building mass is now 9x11, which softens the effect somewhat.
Increasing the width within the building envelope is only possible at the expense of the carport.
The maximum would be something like 10x10 external dimensions, which is common with townhouse floor plans, but those often have a challenging design regarding the stairwell, right?
We also checked several neighborhoods to see carports and cars in them, since our plot is somewhat “pinched” between the neighbor’s fence and our house, making it difficult to open doors or get children in and out.
Another idea was a house wider at the front than at the back.

ypg schrieb:

Having the staircase located on the ridge side also makes more sense, to get a practical access to the attic. It’s not very nice to enter the house and have a 3-meter-long staircase side right next to you.
You seem to have reversed the natural house layout here. However, I’m currently only looking at this on my phone and don’t have much time to comment further.

With the staircase to the north, we couldn’t access the attic anymore.
That’s why we tried a central staircase.
With a 9m (30 feet) width, we then had big problems providing access to the bedrooms upstairs, as there is always a room cut off behind the stairs.
Thanks a lot for writing such a detailed message on your phone!

ypg schrieb:

- Vanity under the sloped ceiling doesn’t work.
- I would never place the toilet in the center of the house; eventually there might be a drainage issue, and that would affect the entire house… put the toilet on an external wall under the slope.
- Shower width is overrated; depth provides better comfort. No window in the shower...

What do you mean by that? Is it allowed to place the carport with one side adjacent to the sidewalk?
I would probably experiment a bit here.
If the carport stays where it is, I would orient the house sideways, with the entrance on the shorter west side, the staircase to the north with a panoramic window.
Additional terraces in the south and northwest as well.
Sorry for the brevity, hope it’s understandable.

We’ll revisit bathroom planning again.

The staircase to the north is difficult with this ridge direction, or do you mean some kind of central staircase?
Do people really use additional terraces if the kids are playing in the garden? Usually, everyone just stays there, right?
I didn’t quite understand the idea of putting the house sideways, but I’ll try to think about it again this afternoon! oops

RomeoZwo schrieb:

Option 1 would allow for a slightly larger south-facing garden and also a south terrace. Initially, this would be quite visible from the driveway, but there are possibilities like hedges or a gate in front of the driveway. There really isn’t any west sun on the ground floor; on the upper floor, it could be used but is not ideal due to the neighbor’s view. I would probably pick this option, with access beside the garage so you could have a canopy to stay dry going into the house. The driveway is quite long, so expensive, but the kids love sliding down it on their ride-on toys...

Thanks!
Basically, we already have this variant.
The house is currently set as far back as possible within the building envelope.
The canopy to the carport is also already planned.
The terrace could still be redesigned though?

RomeoZwo schrieb:

Option 2 uses the neighbor’s garage to create a “protected” area for a second terrace in the northwest. This would get lovely evening light and be sheltered from the wind. The main terrace, however, would only face east (as in your drawing), and the south side of the house would be quite close and prominent next to the street. Your carport would provide screening from the neighbor’s driveway.

We’ve struggled so far to create access to that terrace.
Would that be through one of the more northern rooms, like the utility or guest room?

RomeoZwo schrieb:

Do you need the parking space in front of the carport? Otherwise, the carport could perhaps be placed directly in front of the house at the street.

We thought about that as well. Having a second parking spot for maybe a small second car or guests would be nice.
If the carport is moved in front of the house, you’d probably need a second space next to it.
Then the entrance to the house would be difficult or less attractive.
Overall, we’re concerned it would worsen the facade and again create shadows from the south and west on the ground floor.

pagoni202026 Sep 2020 12:29

#15

RotorMotor schrieb:

Do you think the 4m (13 feet) overall width is too narrow?

We’ve seen it several times in person and consider 4m (13 feet) width an absolute minimum for a room like this; ideally it should be wider. I also believe that, especially with the current furniture layout, an extra meter (3 feet) in length would be helpful.

RotorMotor schrieb:

Or is it just unfortunate that the room ended up being so uniform?

I think you need to see rooms with these dimensions and shapes in person a few times and at your own pace, which we did—particularly considering our open space above. Often the preference is for staggered or offset rooms, which is perfectly understandable. In this open-plan area, everything is directly adjacent and aligned, so you really have to like that kind of layout. That’s why it’s worth viewing it multiple times!

RotorMotor schrieb:

Increasing the width in the building area only comes at the expense of the carport.

My choice here would be clear and straightforward—100% in favor of living space. Trading a more attractive house for a relatively minor parking area for my car? I feel too much attention is being paid to where the car will be parked. The plot seems to present some tricky challenges, so I would prioritize finding the optimal living layout first and address parking later. Creating a parking spot is usually much easier than creating an ideal living area.

Bertram10026 Sep 2020 15:49

#16

RotorMotor schrieb:

Is that afternoon sunlight really worth it?

In my opinion, sunlight is overrated. As long as there is enough window area, even a house in Lapland will be bright. I believe you can be just as happy watching the sunlight come in—you don’t have to be standing “in” it to benefit from it (that’s how I see it).
I have an open space of 6x6m (20x20 ft) and I’m glad that there’s always some part of the room without direct sunlight. Direct sun heats up the space, causes glare, and fades colors. Of course, in spring, sunlight is especially welcome. But I wouldn’t rearrange an entire floor plan just for that.

It’s not like the areas without direct sunlight are dark. And here is my very personal, probably old-fashioned opinion: I have never seen a residential house with a lot of light and big windows that still feels cozy and homey. It often feels more like a café or car showroom (depending on how many tiles and concrete surfaces are visible).

ypg26 Sep 2020 19:26

#17

Pinky0301 schrieb:

I think that’s overrated. What exactly is supposed to happen or be different?

The relevant part is beneath the foundation slab. The larger this area, the bigger the problem.

ypg26 Sep 2020 20:07

#18

RotorMotor schrieb:

More width in the building area would only come at the expense of the carport.

The building area is definitely a challenge.

RotorMotor schrieb:

With the stairs to the north, we couldn’t access the attic anymore.

That’s true. You’re not building a two-story house after all.

RotorMotor schrieb:

Is that worth the afternoon sunrays?

That’s probably a matter of personal opinion. I definitely wouldn’t buy a house anymore without both south and west-facing windows. I work until the afternoon and want to enjoy some sunshine inside the house as well as in the garden or on the terrace in the early evening.

RotorMotor schrieb:

Do people really use additional terraces if the kids are playing in the garden? Usually, you end up sitting there, right?

In summer, ideally you can enjoy the sun until 8:00 pm (and later). By that time, the kids are usually already in bed, so you have time for yourselves. But I’d also say it doesn’t have to be quite that late. Then you can just go for a walk in the sunset. Sitting on the terrace can be overrated. Many people end up in front of the TV anyway, or they have tasks to do in the garden.

After work, you just need to add a second terrace at the back of the property, which is definitely possible. I also find @RomeoZwo’s suggestion charming... I would probably create some kind of courtyard there.
What was it again? The carport is allowed at the front too?

Personally, I find the landing stairs next to the entrance a bit too long and bulky.

In the end, you have to feel comfortable with the house, of course.

ᐅ Single-family house design with a gable roof located at the edge of the development area

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