ᐅ Single-family hillside house with basement for 2 people, including a home office and hobby rooms

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot Size
Slope: see attachment. Quite steep near the street at the bottom, fairly flat at the "garden" area at the top
Floor Area Ratio 0.4
Building Coverage Ratio 0.8
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: irregular building envelope, see attachment, 18 meters
Edge development: not permitted except for ancillary buildings
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: not specified
Roof shape: not specified
Architectural style: not specified
Orientation: not specified
Maximum heights / limits: eaves height (section from exterior wall to roof covering at street level) 7.5 meters (24.6 feet), ridge height not specified.
Other requirements

Homeowners’ Requirements
Architectural style, roof shape, building type: gable or hip roof, preferably with dormers to add variation to the large roof
Basement, floors: basement, then ground floor, then upper floor with 1.40-meter (55 inches) knee wall
Number of occupants, age: 2 adults around 30 years old, 3 cats, no children planned but 2 rooms on the upper floor specifically desired for hobbies
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: see floor plan
Office: family use or home office? Both working from home, so office needed on upper floor and a partially finished basement for a second office (this layout is desired)
Guest stays per year: about 6 nights per year
Open or closed layout: ?
Conservative or modern construction: ?
Open kitchen, island: no kitchen island, closed kitchen
Number of dining seats: 4
Fireplace: yes
Music / stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: garage for 2 cars with a wide door
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Further wishes / special features / daily routine, including reasons: garage access to basement is important because of frequent off-site appointments, so I don’t want to walk through wind and rain. This elongated room is the sports room and must be kept as is.

House Design
Who designed it:
- Do-it-yourself
What do you particularly like? Why? Laundry room next to the bathroom, as I want a laundry chute for dirty clothes here.
What don’t you like? Why? After about 100 redesigns, everything is now satisfactory.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: no cost estimate yet for this floor plan.
Personal budget limit for the house, including fittings: 500,000
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump with underfloor heating

If you had to give up, which details / extensions
- could you do without: second hobby room on upper floor, guest room on ground floor, instead use rooms in the basement.
- cannot give up: everything else

Why did the design end up as it is?
It’s a mix of many examples from various magazines… then tailored to our needs and the required functions of each room. Considerations included whether a room should be on the ground or upper floor, orientation, adjoining rooms, and traffic flows. Bedroom next to dressing room and bathroom, facing the garden, not above the living room, because my partner often has visitors in the evenings when I want to sleep. Office with no morning sun because sunlight disturbs me when working on screens, and I usually work early in the morning. Bathroom facing the garden.

What do you think makes it particularly good or bad?

What is the most important / fundamental question about the floor plan in 130 characters?

Do you have any suggestions for improvement?

The garage is planned on the left side of the house. The street is on the south side, and the garden extends to the northeast. The terrace should wrap around the corner near the living and dining area to get evening sun, but also provide shade during the summer midday heat. It is a south-facing slope. The neighboring houses are only bungalows built into the slope, so they do not block the light.