Hello everyone,
At our developer, a customer who had reserved a plot of land dropped out. Since the other plot faces south / southwest, we didn’t hesitate long and switched to that plot. The new plot is smaller, so we gave up on our bungalow dream. The plot number is 5.
To remind you: The plot is tied to the developer.
I have been thinking over the past few days about the arrangement and design of the rooms and the plot, and I would first like to know if the concept is okay. I am not concerned with details inside the rooms such as windows, doors, or bathroom design. That’s not possible anyway since I created the floor plan myself based on Gussek Haus floor plans. However, I tried to design it as well as possible. For this reason, I want to share the floor plan here for discussion. I’m mainly looking for feedback on the layout and room arrangement, as well as ideas, suggestions, or tips. Maybe you’ll also spot things that “just don’t work” or are not practical for everyday living.
I created the floor plan with RoomSketcher, but only used the free version, so many features are limited. Please ignore the room dimensions on the upper floor. There is a dormer in the area of the home office.
A few more details about the house.
Roof pitch 38°
Knee wall (Drempel) 100cm (39 inches)
External dimensions 12.85 x 9.60 m (42.2 x 31.5 feet) (enlarged, original dimensions of Gussek Haus models are smaller)
Unfortunately, I cannot show internal room dimensions because RoomSketcher does not allow it.
Attached again is the completed questionnaire.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 676m²
Slope: NO
Site coverage ratio: 0.4 (allowed exceedance 25 out of 100)
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries: On the north side / south side approx. 20.5 m (67 feet) wide, west and east sides approx. 33 m (108 feet) wide, 3 m (10 feet) building setback on each side, rectangular plot, clearly visible in the pictures
Edge construction setback: 3 m (10 feet)
Number of parking spaces: no requirement
Number of stories: maximum 2 full stories
Roof style: Gable roof, hipped roof
Other requirements: Garage must be 5 m (16 feet) from the property boundary. Garage on the west side because the curb is lowered there.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Doesn’t matter, initially considered a house with a gable roof, there is a dormer in the home office area
Basement, number of floors: No basement due to high groundwater level
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people aged 36 (female), 37 (male), 3 (child), 1 (child)
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: Living/dining/kitchen area, utility room, guest WC with shower, hallway with coat area and stairs to upper floor, guest room / playroom
Upper floor: Master bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, bathroom, storage room, office
Office use: Family use or home office? Home office combined with family use
Guests per year: 1–2 times
Open or closed architecture: Closed architecture?
Conservative or modern style: A mix of both
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Closed kitchen with island would be nice but not a must; open kitchen is also an option
Number of dining seats: 4, with the option for 6
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Sound system in the living room
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Space for 2 cars is required, preferably 3 to 4. Currently considering a garage (3 x 6 m / 9.8 x 19.7 feet) with a carport (3.6 m / 12 feet) in front, not sure if that works. Plus 2 parking spaces in front of the house.
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things should or shouldn’t be:
House Design
Who created the design:
- DIY - copy and combination of Gussek Haus models Lindenallee, Kiefernallee variant 1, and Buchenallee variant 2
What do you especially like? Why?
- Large closed kitchen with island and direct / short access to the terrace
- Living room close to the terrace
- Guest / playroom on the ground floor
- Storage room on the upper floor with washing machine and dryer
- Utility room with washing machine and dryer (yes, twice)
- 6 rooms
- Layout of rooms on the upper floor
What do you not like? Why?
- Location of the home office on the upper floor is not ideal in my view, but I could live with it
Price estimate from architect/planner: No new estimate so far
Personal price limit for house including features: 400,000
Preferred heating system: Heat pump
Why does the design look like it does now? For example:
Copy-paste of Gussek Haus models Lindenallee, Kiefernallee variant 1, and Buchenallee variant 2
What is the most important fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Is the room layout okay?
At our developer, a customer who had reserved a plot of land dropped out. Since the other plot faces south / southwest, we didn’t hesitate long and switched to that plot. The new plot is smaller, so we gave up on our bungalow dream. The plot number is 5.
To remind you: The plot is tied to the developer.
I have been thinking over the past few days about the arrangement and design of the rooms and the plot, and I would first like to know if the concept is okay. I am not concerned with details inside the rooms such as windows, doors, or bathroom design. That’s not possible anyway since I created the floor plan myself based on Gussek Haus floor plans. However, I tried to design it as well as possible. For this reason, I want to share the floor plan here for discussion. I’m mainly looking for feedback on the layout and room arrangement, as well as ideas, suggestions, or tips. Maybe you’ll also spot things that “just don’t work” or are not practical for everyday living.
I created the floor plan with RoomSketcher, but only used the free version, so many features are limited. Please ignore the room dimensions on the upper floor. There is a dormer in the area of the home office.
A few more details about the house.
Roof pitch 38°
Knee wall (Drempel) 100cm (39 inches)
External dimensions 12.85 x 9.60 m (42.2 x 31.5 feet) (enlarged, original dimensions of Gussek Haus models are smaller)
Unfortunately, I cannot show internal room dimensions because RoomSketcher does not allow it.
Attached again is the completed questionnaire.
Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 676m²
Slope: NO
Site coverage ratio: 0.4 (allowed exceedance 25 out of 100)
Floor area ratio: 0.6
Building envelope, building line, and boundaries: On the north side / south side approx. 20.5 m (67 feet) wide, west and east sides approx. 33 m (108 feet) wide, 3 m (10 feet) building setback on each side, rectangular plot, clearly visible in the pictures
Edge construction setback: 3 m (10 feet)
Number of parking spaces: no requirement
Number of stories: maximum 2 full stories
Roof style: Gable roof, hipped roof
Other requirements: Garage must be 5 m (16 feet) from the property boundary. Garage on the west side because the curb is lowered there.
Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Doesn’t matter, initially considered a house with a gable roof, there is a dormer in the home office area
Basement, number of floors: No basement due to high groundwater level
Number of occupants, ages: 4 people aged 36 (female), 37 (male), 3 (child), 1 (child)
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor:
Ground floor: Living/dining/kitchen area, utility room, guest WC with shower, hallway with coat area and stairs to upper floor, guest room / playroom
Upper floor: Master bedroom, 2 children’s rooms, bathroom, storage room, office
Office use: Family use or home office? Home office combined with family use
Guests per year: 1–2 times
Open or closed architecture: Closed architecture?
Conservative or modern style: A mix of both
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Closed kitchen with island would be nice but not a must; open kitchen is also an option
Number of dining seats: 4, with the option for 6
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: Sound system in the living room
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Space for 2 cars is required, preferably 3 to 4. Currently considering a garage (3 x 6 m / 9.8 x 19.7 feet) with a carport (3.6 m / 12 feet) in front, not sure if that works. Plus 2 parking spaces in front of the house.
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons why certain things should or shouldn’t be:
House Design
Who created the design:
- DIY - copy and combination of Gussek Haus models Lindenallee, Kiefernallee variant 1, and Buchenallee variant 2
What do you especially like? Why?
- Large closed kitchen with island and direct / short access to the terrace
- Living room close to the terrace
- Guest / playroom on the ground floor
- Storage room on the upper floor with washing machine and dryer
- Utility room with washing machine and dryer (yes, twice)
- 6 rooms
- Layout of rooms on the upper floor
What do you not like? Why?
- Location of the home office on the upper floor is not ideal in my view, but I could live with it
Price estimate from architect/planner: No new estimate so far
Personal price limit for house including features: 400,000
Preferred heating system: Heat pump
Why does the design look like it does now? For example:
Copy-paste of Gussek Haus models Lindenallee, Kiefernallee variant 1, and Buchenallee variant 2
What is the most important fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Is the room layout okay?
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
I learned from you that a rafter-steel deck is more expensive. I can confirm that I don’t have much expertise.
Still, the additional cost of a rafter-steel deck compared to a hipped roof and two full stories is less than 5,000€ (about 5,400 USD). I understand that we could get an even better price with a beam-steel deck. It would be amazing if the additional cost referred to having a hipped roof. The beam cap is the key price secret behind the “urban villa.”
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
C
Chrisi19066 May 2020 16:13kaho674 schrieb:
It would be quite easy to enlarge the guest bathroom in these sketches as well and additionally enjoy the advantage of a bigger living room. This isn’t brain surgery, just adapting the two rooms as requested. But okay, if you don’t want to.
Also, your kitchen island as drawn is quite pointless, right? How long is that 1.20m (4 feet)? Has it already been painted? If so, it’s best to just erase it immediately to avoid confusing everyone repeatedly.
Patio doors behind the sofa are also a bad idea.
That gigantic bathroom is simply ridiculous as it is now. So either add a sauna, a hot tub, or something else. At a minimum, a walk-in shower and a double vanity sink should be standard here. The fact that you still run into a wall when entering, even though this is like a ballroom, is really baffling. We still want to discuss the kitchen with a kitchen planner. The same goes for the bathroom. The planner has again included standard toilet units even though I wanted something different. I guess I can’t change that? My only concern is that it might get too expensive.
I’ll comment on the floor plan again.
- Guest room doesn’t have enough space for the bed with two wardrobes
- Hallway is okay
- Utility room also not accessible from the hallway!
- Bathroom a bit small and especially too narrow!
- I would prefer the living room built-in wall on the other side. The distance between the sofa and TV is too big.
- Dining area is great!
- Kitchen is also very good with the kitchen island
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
I’ll comment on the floor plan again.I’ll respond:Chrisi1906 schrieb:
- Guest room too small with two wardrobes around the bedRotate the bed. Adjust the window.Chrisi1906 schrieb:
- Utility room not accessible from the hallway either!Just like it is now.Chrisi1906 schrieb:
- Bathroom a bit small and especially too narrow!Make it wider. There’s enough space. You still have a utility room upstairs.Chrisi1906 schrieb:
- Would prefer the living room feature wall on the other side.Then just rotate the furniture 180°, although it looks much better as shown!Chrisi1906 schrieb:
Distance between sofa and TV too large.Too large isn’t an option. Just buy a bigger TV!Chrisi1906 schrieb:
- Dining area top notch!Absolutely fantastic.Chrisi1906 schrieb:
- Kitchen also very good with the cooking islandDefinitely better and still has potential for further development.C
Chrisi19066 May 2020 19:26kaho674 schrieb:
Okay, I switched on the automatic dimensioning for once—normally I don’t do that. But at least this gives you an approximate position of the windows. Unfortunately, the measurements often have up to four decimal places and aren’t 100% accurate. You’ll have to adjust and simply round those yourself. I had to move one wall by a few centimeters (cm) (inches)—see the red circle. It might be an option to replace the floor-to-ceiling window at the staircase on the ground floor with a regular window at sill height. Both options are possible.
It’s not set in stone either. Maybe someone else has some tips on improving the design?
Well done. Thanks for that. Is there any way to nicely design the front if, instead of the window/light strip next to the front door, you put a strip of glass? So the front door would have an integrated glass strip on the right side.
kaho674 schrieb:
I’ll comment back: I’m also replying. I agree with you on one point: the size of the bathroom on the upper floor. It bothers me as well because it will probably become quite expensive. I’d be very grateful if you could help me with that.
kaho674 schrieb:
Rotate the bed. Adjust the window. The bed would then be below the window? How is that supposed to work?
kaho674 schrieb:
Exactly as it is now. Exactly, so no advantage.
kaho674 schrieb:
Make it thicker. There’s enough space. You still have a utility room upstairs. The architect always assumed at least 2.3m (7 feet 7 inches) width/length for the utility room in all drawings. I don’t see any advantage in placing the guest toilet “in front” of the utility room if you still have to walk through the kitchen.
kaho674 schrieb:
Then just rotate the furniture 180°, even though it looks much nicer as drawn! Matter of taste!
kaho674 schrieb:
Too big is not an option. Buy a bigger TV! Our TV is 65" and I find the distance in our rental apartment slightly too large. It’s about 4.8m (16 feet) from the TV wall to the back edge of the couch.
kaho674 schrieb:
Definitely better and still can be developed further. We’re still planning the kitchen.
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
Well done. Thanks for that. Is there still a way to nicely design the front if, instead of a window / strip of windows next to the front door, you make a strip of glass? So the front door would then have an integrated glass strip on the right side. So, a side panel? How wide? Can the window still be included?
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
… the size of the bathroom on the upper floor. It bothers me too because it will probably be quite expensive. If you could help me with that, I would be very grateful. Well, I can’t lend you money if that’s what you mean.
I would make the bathroom a bit narrower and enlarge the utility room instead. (Just move the wall in between.) Then you have a nice space in the utility room for handling tasks, ironing a shirt, and also storing Christmas decorations. The bathroom will be a little smaller but at 14.68m² (158 ft²) it is still in the high-end range. Add cabinets and a generous layout, and you won’t feel like you’re in a gym hall anymore. However, this doesn’t offer huge savings. So start looking for affordable tiles already!
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
The bed is then placed under the window? How is that supposed to work? I wanted to move the window to the other side of the room. But then the garage would be on the west side, I just remembered. It really should be on the east side. Can’t you switch that around? Curbs can be lowered anywhere. What does the general contractor say about this?
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
The planner has drawn the utility room with a minimum width/length of 2.3m (7.5 ft) in all drawings. I don’t see the advantage of placing the guest toilet “in front” of the utility room because you’d still have to go through the kitchen to get there. I’m not following you. Again: the reward is a larger dining and living area without the other rooms noticeably suffering. It’s not a miracle solution. You don’t get any new downside you don’t already have, but you do get a bigger living room. And the kitchen is nicer too. That’s something!
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
Matter of taste! Okay, then please get your wife here.
Chrisi1906 schrieb:
Our TV is 65" and I find the distance in our rental apartment to be just a bit too large. It’s about 4.8m (16 ft) from the TV wall to the back edge of the couch. I think the problem is just the lack of glasses.
C
Chrisi19067 May 2020 05:51kaho674 schrieb:
So, a side section? How wide? Will the window still fit? It should be 30cm (12 inches) wide. Remove the window.
kaho674 schrieb:
I can’t lend you money, if that’s what you mean.
I would make the bathroom slightly smaller and enlarge the utility room instead. (Just move the wall between them.) That way, the utility room can be used comfortably, for example, ironing a shirt and also storing Christmas decorations. The bathroom will be a bit smaller but with 14.68m² (158 sq ft) it’s still quite generous. Add some cabinets and a well-thought-out layout, and it won’t feel like a gym hall anymore. However, this doesn’t create a huge potential for savings. So start looking for affordable tiles already!
More money only if I don’t have to pay it back.
Thanks for the solution with the bathroom and storage room. I like that, and we could save a few euros this way. We don’t need expensive tiles, but even normal good ones are supposed to be costly with the bathroom planner. If we make the storage room that big, my wife will be happy.
kaho674 schrieb:
I wanted to move the window to the other side of the room. But then the garage was on the west side, just remembered. It should be on the east side. Can’t you just switch it? Curbs can be lowered anywhere. What does the general contractor say? We could put the garage on the other side as well. There are no restrictions about that in the development area. But I don’t see any big advantage in positioning it to the east in this floor plan. We want a large guest room that can also be used as a bedroom.
kaho674 schrieb:
I don’t get it at all. To repeat: the benefit is a bigger dining and living room, without the other rooms noticeably suffering. It’s no miracle solution. No disadvantage will arise that you don’t already have, but you get a larger living room. And the kitchen is nicer too. That’s something!
Okay, then go get your wife.
I think it’s due to the lack of glasses. Okay, you’re right about the lack of glasses. Better now? Just kidding. I still think the living and dining area is big enough. My wife agrees, by the way! We’d rather have a large guest room that can later also be used as a bedroom. Then you would only need to stay on the ground floor and not necessarily go upstairs anymore.
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