ᐅ Single-Family Home on a South-Facing Slope – Floor Plan Design and Tips?
Created on: 5 Feb 2019 11:39
P
philipok
Hello everyone,
Things are getting serious for us: we're moving into the detailed planning of our building project. I would really appreciate your feedback on our amateur floor plan design. We are building in the Ore Mountains, in Germany’s highest-altitude town, Oberwiesenthal. Here, prices are still similar to those in former East Germany (I have compared and there is a significant price difference). So, here we go...
Development Plan / Restrictions
Things are getting serious for us: we're moving into the detailed planning of our building project. I would really appreciate your feedback on our amateur floor plan design. We are building in the Ore Mountains, in Germany’s highest-altitude town, Oberwiesenthal. Here, prices are still similar to those in former East Germany (I have compared and there is a significant price difference). So, here we go...
Development Plan / Restrictions
- Plot size: 1,200 sqm (0.3 acres)
- Slope: facing south
- Site coverage ratio: unknown
- Floor area ratio: unknown
- Building zone, building line, and boundary:
- 3 m (10 ft) from the property boundary
- The properties to the south and west belong to my parents
- Edge development: unknown
- Number of parking spaces: 2 (carport on the east side of the house)
- Number of floors: basement, ground floor, first floor, attic
- Roof type: gable roof, pitch 35-38°
- Architectural style: Bavarian farmhouse
- Orientation: east-west, meaning roof slopes facing north-south
- Maximum heights / limits: must adapt to the surrounding buildings
- Other requirements: unknown
- Style, roof, building type:
- Country/wood house (basement and ground floor with white plaster exterior; upper floor and roof structure with wooden planks in Tyrolean castle look)
- Gable roof
- Basement and floors
- Basement partly used commercially (my wife’s naturopathy practice and my office, with separate access from outside/south)
- Ground and first floors as living areas
- Attic: half storage, half sleeping/chill area for our children with friends or guests
- Number and age of residents
- Kati (40) & Philipp (39)
- Helene (10), Benedikt (8), and Valerie (6)
- Space requirements on ground and first floors
- see floor plans (approx. 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft))
- Office: commercial use
- Guest nights per year: 20–30
- Open or closed architecture: closed (mountains, cold winters, constant wind)
- Conservative or modern construction method: conservative
- Open kitchen: yes; kitchen island: no
- Number of dining seats
- Standard: 5
- Expandable to 10
- Fireplace: masonry stove with viewing window (water-heated)
- Music/sound wall: no
- Balcony: ground floor facing south; roof terrace: no
- Garage: no; carport for 2 vehicles
- Utility garden: no; greenhouse: yes
- Other wishes/special features/daily routine
- We still have real winters in Oberwiesenthal
- The children usually ski daily
- They come home with wet clothes and ski boots, carrying their ski equipment
- Therefore, a second entrance in the basement on the west side is planned, including a simple cloakroom and storage room for skis or mountain bikes in summer and work clothes after gardening
- Important: currently, Oberwiesenthal has a lot of snow (approx. 150 cm (59 inches))
- Paths and driveways must be cleared in winter
- Snow must be cleverly “stored” (i.e., the snow storage must be carved so that after two months of snow clearing, the snow blower can still throw snow over the snow wall)
- Considerations regarding roof slopes and sliding snow
- In the basement there is a prep kitchen for the Prijut12, which I will operate starting May 2020 (a rustic wooden hut with a modest menu and great location for drinks)
- In the prep kitchen, before the main winter season, we want to a) prepare and freeze food, or b) cook fresh meals in larger quantities and sell them right opposite at Prijut12 (about 80 m (260 ft) away)
- The kitchen in Prijut12 is very small
- Planner:
- Do-it-yourself
- What do you especially like? Why?
- Large windows / sliding door facing south and west
- The sunlight comes in (solar energy enters the house)
- The view to the southwest is simply breathtaking (ski slope, night skiing, Klínovec mountain as the highest peak of the Ore Mountains)
- The view is unobstructed and without trees
- Open living and kitchen area
- Interaction with children and friends while cooking, for example
- Cozy “shell-pu-pu” corner including TV
- My father implemented this in his holiday home
- It is very cozy
- Large lounging area
- Curtains cover the TV (it disappears from daily view)
- Second small bathroom on the first floor
- When our two daughters enter puberty, they will have their own hygiene area
- Cost estimate according to architect/planner: €480,000
- Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: €500,000
- Preferred heating technology: I’m quite uncertain and undecided...
- Option 1:
- Solar thermal for hot water preparation
- Gas condensing boiler
- Water-heated masonry stove (I have 2 ha of land, so wood supply, and definitely want a fire stove inside)
- Option 2:
- Water-heated masonry stove
- Ground-source heat pump
- Supplied by a photovoltaic system
- If you had to give up something, what details/extensions would you omit?
- Reduce size of guest/workroom on ground floor
- Guest bathroom on ground floor without shower (purely guest toilet)
- What can you not do without?
- Living rooms
- 2 bathrooms
- Prep kitchen
- Practice room
- Office
- Why is the design like it is now?
- Because we want lots of light in the living area
- Because we can enjoy a great view in a fantastic location
- Because I personally want to use as much solar energy as possible
- Because in summer we want to open the large sliding door to step directly into the garden where the greenhouse will be and where I will tend to my bees (I want to start beekeeping)
- Because we have no technical know-how for the requirements
- Standard design from planner: none yet
- What is the most important fundamental question about the floor plan, summarized in 130 characters?
- Does this floor plan make sense regarding building technology/piping routes, and can the forum identify flaws for daily use?
haydee schrieb:
Regarding winter and keeping paths clear
You have 3 entrances, all on different sides of the house. That would be a no-go for me. I love winter, but not snow shoveling.There’s some truth to that.
charli schrieb:
The masonry stove in the middle of the room is really in the way between the kitchen and dining area. Besides that, the chimney has to run through all the floors. Right now it ends up right in the middle of the basement hallway, or am I mistaken?No, a chimney can also start where it is actually going to be installed.
However, the chimney and stove have to be well supported because of the load, so they definitely need reinforcement downstairs in the basement, like a supporting wall or something similar.
What I notice: the very narrow toilet in practice, with direct access to the restroom. I don’t find that ideal. The mentioned lack of access to the main house was also pointed out.
The entrance area on the ground floor could be nicely done (staircase issue), but the staircase design doesn’t work. If you visualize the cross-section, you’d hit your head because there’s no stairwell opening or dropped ceilings.
That cozy corner will probably be a small lounge, but it certainly won’t replace a living room or TV area for a family of five with many overnight guests.
Just imagine an evening with guests: dinner is done, the adults want to chat over wine and water, the kids get bored and want to watch TV among themselves.
Fast forward seven years: Helene turns 18 and wants to throw a party with 18 guests in the kitchen area. Where is the rest of the family supposed to be then?
The bedroom is a small hole, and dressing will have to happen in the hallway?! Helene’s boyfriend will be happy—and so will you when Benedikt’s girlfriend is standing in the hallway in the morning.
Laundry in the bathroom for such a large house is also a no-go in my book... no bathtub, cough, and this in a cold snow region; eventually, it will be missed.
I’m reading: attic as a chill lounge... that should be planned carefully with regard to ceiling height and similar factors.
I would rather plan the upper floor as the kids’ zone with a hangout room and a proper bathroom including a bathtub, and the attic as the parents’ floor with a small bathroom and guest area.
The guest room on the ground floor could be connected to the dining area with a larger cozy corner around the corner.
But: the staircase needs to be redone. And it could be placed where the basement doesn’t have a confusing hallway but rather a practical floor plan.
Basically, I miss the slope information here. It would be helpful if the plan included some contour lines to see how you access the garden from the ground floor.
Right now, you seem to fall deeply through the sliding door on the ground floor and risk getting hurt.
philipok schrieb:
Space requirements on the ground floor and upper floor
- see floor plans (approx. 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft))
Basement and attic not included.
I am missing, as in the example, a small balcony or house corner for the firewood.
ypg schrieb:
Basement and attic not included.
I’m missing, like in the example, a small balcony or house corner for the firewood. Of course, we also have ground floor, basement, and upper floor.
That’s why it stands out to me. I know my open-plan layout on the ground floor and see the square meter area of the rooms on the ground floor of the original poster. The numbers just don’t match the floor area.
philipok schrieb:
Here is the site plan including contour lines. The upper floor will be wider than the ground floor. On the right, I have also marked the carport area. Is that a summer toboggan run on the left?
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