ᐅ Single-Family Home on a South-Facing Slope – Floor Plan Design and Tips?
Created on: 5 Feb 2019 11:39
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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?
Zaba12 schrieb:
Is that a summer toboggan run on the left? Yes, it is. It belongs to my family. So there are no land ownership issues.
Climbee schrieb:
What I basically find strange is why someone would build a house in the Upper Bavarian style in the Ore Mountains.
There is a distinct, even rustic regional style there—why not base the design on that?
Either I build deliberately without regional influences or I follow the regional architectural style.
No one would put a thatched cottage in the Alpine foothills, so why should a house in the Upper Bavarian style be placed in the Ore Mountains?
That always gives me goosebumps. I'm also a self-proclaimed “fan” of the dreadful Tuscan villas that you have to endure in almost every new housing development (poor liver of mine).
Otherwise, I can only agree with my predecessors regarding both planning and costs.
One more question: what is the purpose of the scullery? I didn’t understand that. I feel the absence of a utility room, or did I miss something? This P-thing doesn’t mean anything to me.Hello Climbee,
thank you for your feedback. I understand your point: Discussions with some local craftsmen from the Ore Mountains have shown that the regionally typical Ore Mountain construction style often results from makeshift solutions rather than technically sound decisions. The extremely steep roof simply presents challenges in terms of living space. The house is definitely intended to have an Ore Mountain character, though. I have just dreamed my entire life of a wooden house—and that has always looked like this: cellar/ground floor with white exterior walls, upper floor/attic with wooden cladding.
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Mottenhausen6 Feb 2019 13:57Climbee schrieb:
What I basically find annoying is why someone would place a house in the Upper Bavarian style in the Ore Mountains.In another thread, your personal freedom to decide for yourself, which no one else has the right to judge, was still somewhat more important to you... how quickly opinions can change sometimes...
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Matthew036 Feb 2019 15:13I also believe that personal taste should not be judged here; I’m not used to this from Climbee and find it inappropriate...
However, the original poster @philipok should really address the numerous valid objections and criticisms more specifically!?
Regarding this prep kitchen, my understanding is that the gentleman has leased a place opposite (for the future), but the kitchen there is too small, so he would like to do some prep cooking at home... whether that makes sense is another question, but I think that’s the idea.
Does poor Valerie actually have a light allergy, or why doesn’t she get a window?
However, the original poster @philipok should really address the numerous valid objections and criticisms more specifically!?
Regarding this prep kitchen, my understanding is that the gentleman has leased a place opposite (for the future), but the kitchen there is too small, so he would like to do some prep cooking at home... whether that makes sense is another question, but I think that’s the idea.
Does poor Valerie actually have a light allergy, or why doesn’t she get a window?
Matthew03 schrieb:
I also think that personal taste shouldn’t be judged here; I’m not used to that from Climbee and find it inappropriate...
The original poster @philipok could maybe address the numerous valid objections and criticisms specifically!?!
As for this prep kitchen, I understand that the gentleman has leased a restaurant across the street (in the future), but the kitchen there is too small, so they want to prepare food at home first... the reasoning aside, I think that’s what is meant.
Does poor Valerie actually have a light allergy, or why doesn’t she get a window?Hi,
I’m back... I was away on business. So, let’s get started:
@Matthew03: What exactly do you find so unusual about the idea of a prep kitchen? My cousin runs an alpine hut in the Karwendel mountains. They have a prep kitchen in their house down in Seefeld where they prepare food ahead of the season, etc. It works perfectly.
And Valerie will get a window too—preferably with a dormer. I just couldn’t manage to include that in the floor planner.
I’ve tried working on a new ground floor layout to use as a basis for planning the basement and upper floor.
Is it common to start floor plan design with the ground floor? I would think it makes sense, as that’s where most of the daily activities take place. What does the forum think?
So, here is my attempt at a new floor plan. On the ground floor, our wishes are still fulfilled for:
That would be great!
Sunny regards
- open floor plan
- central masonry stove
- Musche-Pu-Pu corner in the living area as a sofa replacement and TV corner
- pantry connected to the kitchen
- guest/office room
- bathroom including shower and toilet
- staircase access to the upper floor is not from the hallway but from the kitchen-living area
- the advantage is that mom and dad cook downstairs while the kids play upstairs
- you can call out from downstairs to upstairs that the food is ready on the table
- the "family living area" on the ground and upper floors is thus more separated from the "guest area" in the guest room and bathroom on the ground floor
- utility room connected to the pantry for washing machine and dryer
- this way, they are no longer in the upstairs bathroom
That would be great!
Sunny regards
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