Development Plan/Restrictions
Plot size -> 833m² (10,000 sq ft)
Slope -> no
Site coverage ratio -> 0.4
Floor area ratio -> 0.8
Building window, building line, and boundary
Edge development -> no
Number of parking spaces -> 2
Number of stories -> 1
Roof style
Architectural style
Orientation -> SW
Maximum height/limits -> 9.0m (30 ft)
Other requirements -> no
Clients’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type -> Classic single-family house with gable roof
Basement, stories -> 2 floors, including 1 full story
Number of people, ages -> 46, 41, 12, 10, and 8
Room requirements on ground floor and upper floor -> see floor plan
Office: family use or home office? -> mainly home office
Guests sleeping over per year -> /
Open or closed layout -> closed
Conservative or modern construction style -> conservative / classic
Open kitchen, kitchen island -> closed (with sliding door to dining area) + kitchen island
Number of dining seats -> 5
Fireplace -> no
Music/speaker wall -> no
Balcony, roof terrace -> no
Garage, carport -> garage
Utility garden, greenhouse -> no
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why certain things should or should not be included
House Design
Planning by:
- Designer from a construction company (draftsman)
What do you like most? Why? -> We generally like the ground floor, but we would swap the office with the kitchen + living and dining areas
What do you dislike? Why? -> children's rooms are too small // no natural light in the hallway // bathroom should be accessible from the hallway // windows are not aligned vertically
Estimated price according to architect/designer -> 570,000€
Personal price limit for house including fixtures and fittings: 550,000€
Preferred heating system -> heat pump
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
- can you give up -> children’s bathroom and utility room (upstairs) can be combined into one room
- cannot give up:
Why is the design like it is now? For example:
Standard design by the planner? -> no
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What makes it particularly good or bad in your view?
Hello, I look forward to suggestions and improvements.
Best regards
Plot size -> 833m² (10,000 sq ft)
Slope -> no
Site coverage ratio -> 0.4
Floor area ratio -> 0.8
Building window, building line, and boundary
Edge development -> no
Number of parking spaces -> 2
Number of stories -> 1
Roof style
Architectural style
Orientation -> SW
Maximum height/limits -> 9.0m (30 ft)
Other requirements -> no
Clients’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type -> Classic single-family house with gable roof
Basement, stories -> 2 floors, including 1 full story
Number of people, ages -> 46, 41, 12, 10, and 8
Room requirements on ground floor and upper floor -> see floor plan
Office: family use or home office? -> mainly home office
Guests sleeping over per year -> /
Open or closed layout -> closed
Conservative or modern construction style -> conservative / classic
Open kitchen, kitchen island -> closed (with sliding door to dining area) + kitchen island
Number of dining seats -> 5
Fireplace -> no
Music/speaker wall -> no
Balcony, roof terrace -> no
Garage, carport -> garage
Utility garden, greenhouse -> no
Additional wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why certain things should or should not be included
House Design
Planning by:
- Designer from a construction company (draftsman)
What do you like most? Why? -> We generally like the ground floor, but we would swap the office with the kitchen + living and dining areas
What do you dislike? Why? -> children's rooms are too small // no natural light in the hallway // bathroom should be accessible from the hallway // windows are not aligned vertically
Estimated price according to architect/designer -> 570,000€
Personal price limit for house including fixtures and fittings: 550,000€
Preferred heating system -> heat pump
If you have to give up something, which details/extensions
- can you give up -> children’s bathroom and utility room (upstairs) can be combined into one room
- cannot give up:
Why is the design like it is now? For example:
Standard design by the planner? -> no
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?
A mix of many examples from various magazines...
What makes it particularly good or bad in your view?
Hello, I look forward to suggestions and improvements.
Best regards
J
JochenBu785 Jul 2025 22:49First of all, thank you all for the feedback. I will discuss the issue of single-story design at the next appointment with the planner, and regarding the budget, I will wait until we have concrete quotes.
Nevertheless, I would appreciate specific suggestions for improving the floor plan. For example, how can I reduce the square meters of the hallway to gain more space for the children’s rooms?
Nevertheless, I would appreciate specific suggestions for improving the floor plan. For example, how can I reduce the square meters of the hallway to gain more space for the children’s rooms?
JochenBu78 schrieb:
How can I reduce the hallway area to gain more space for the children's rooms?!Completely redesign the floor plans, and if the ground floor needs to be significantly larger than the upper floor, consider placing one children's room and the office on the ground floor, or the master bedroom on the ground floor and three children's rooms plus the office upstairs.However, this requires a completely new spatial concept, which cannot be achieved by just moving two walls.
EDIT:
Maybe also provide a site plan including the surroundings.
Explain why there are so many bay windows, brick cladding probably due to the "northern German" style, right?
So,
In theory, you can of course swap the office and kitchen. But it will require many adjustments. The central hallway can be halved. However, I find the staircase right at the entrance very misplaced in the dirt/entry area. Also, the showers with windows are not well thought out.
The upstairs hallway has more corners than I can count.
Upstairs, you could remove the utility room to give the two children’s rooms a bit more space.
But in the end, a complete redesign is unavoidable.
A few months ago, I had to redesign a similar plan – it’s just a small (additional) request to a rushed design that turns everything upside down, which involves a lot of work.
If you want to swap the rooms, give a redesign a chance.
P.S. With vague information and no site plan, you can’t really say anything definitive anyway. And in Lower Saxony (NDS), the 3/4 rule still applies to counting full stories, excluding structural ancillary buildings.
In theory, you can of course swap the office and kitchen. But it will require many adjustments. The central hallway can be halved. However, I find the staircase right at the entrance very misplaced in the dirt/entry area. Also, the showers with windows are not well thought out.
The upstairs hallway has more corners than I can count.
Upstairs, you could remove the utility room to give the two children’s rooms a bit more space.
But in the end, a complete redesign is unavoidable.
A few months ago, I had to redesign a similar plan – it’s just a small (additional) request to a rushed design that turns everything upside down, which involves a lot of work.
If you want to swap the rooms, give a redesign a chance.
P.S. With vague information and no site plan, you can’t really say anything definitive anyway. And in Lower Saxony (NDS), the 3/4 rule still applies to counting full stories, excluding structural ancillary buildings.
JochenBu78 schrieb:
No, so far just the calculation. We will only request quotes once we are (almost) done and satisfied with the floor plan.Really? – I would have considered the shown plans to be those of a general contractor’s pawn.JochenBu78 schrieb:
First, thanks to everyone for the feedback. I’ll discuss the single-story issue at the next meeting with the planner, and regarding the budget, I’ll wait until we have concrete offers.Unfortunately, I do believe in the single-story calculation here and consider such contortions...kbt09 schrieb:
You mean all those corners in the ground floor that are becoming expensive and requiring flat roofs,...not a sensible approach.JochenBu78 schrieb:
I would still appreciate concrete suggestions for improving the floor plan. For example, how can I reduce the square meters of the entrance hall in order to have more square meters for the children’s rooms?!You actually need those “extra” square meters on the ground floor to legally achieve single-story status by inflating the reference floor area.To me, the planning here seems too far advanced / rushed / premature. Satisfaction on the conceptual level should be complete before moving on to the design phase—or even the drafting phase at all. See also:
11ant schrieb:
A design is not “more advanced” or “better” than a preliminary design – it is worse because it is unsuitable (and more expensive on top of that). Many young architects of the “CAD generation” have not understood the process of multi-stage designing; they immediately shift into third gear and cheerfully produce designs by blindly “painting by numbers” using the “Infinite Monkey method,” instead of working academically and technically sound on the concept. This costs clients a lot of time and money and leads to unusable results (because it simply can’t do otherwise).https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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