ᐅ House Planning under Section 34 of the Building Code: Sloped Lot, Basement Yes or No, Open Kitchen & Budget of €700,000

Development plan / restrictions:
No formal development plan, § 34 Federal Building Code; verbal information from the building authority: the main guideline is to follow the neighboring buildings, especially regarding built-up area / footprint, basically "Please don’t build significantly larger than the others!”

Plot size: 620m² (6676 sq ft)

Slope: slight north-facing slope, overall 3m (10 ft) drop across the entire plot, or 1.5–2m (5–6.5 ft) in the targeted building area (southern corner); although the lowest measured point is in the north, the terrain near the existing building slopes more parallel to the street (or has been shaped accordingly in the past)

Floor area ratio / plot ratio: N/A, but not (significantly) larger than surrounding buildings
Gross floor area ratio: N/A
Building envelope, building line and boundary: N/A
Border development: usual Bavarian rule (house up to 3m (10 ft) from boundary, small bay windows (maximum 1.5m (5 ft) deep, less than 5m (16 ft) long and less than 1/3 of the house wall length) don’t count; a normally sized carport/garage may be on the boundary but max. 9m (30 ft) per side and max. 15m (50 ft) total for the whole plot)

Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of stories: N/A; at least 2 plus attic in the neighborhood
Roof style: N/A, gable and hip roofs in the neighborhood
Architectural style: N/A
Orientation: N/A
Maximum heights / limits: N/A
Other requirements: none

Clients’ requirements:
Architectural style, roof type, building type: preference for “stone” construction (exclusion of timber frame construction), otherwise all flexible; slight preference for a gable roof (mainly regarding photovoltaics suitability)

Basement, floors: (half “living”) basement plus 2 floors; this was a major discussion point: we also considered building more broadly across just two floors (+/- attic), but due to the slight slope, the engineer suggested a basement, and the building authority also urged “not to build excessively large,” which influenced our decision => we look forward to your opinions on this!

Number and age of residents: currently 4, hopefully/probably a 3rd child soon; 40, 35, 2, 0, ?

Space requirements:
Short:
3 children’s rooms, master bedroom, 2 bathrooms (one with bathtub), large kitchen, pantry, dining room (open to kitchen), living room (preferably separate), spacious office, cloakroom, laundry room, technical room, storage and supplies areas, terrace access from dining area (or kitchen)

Detailed:
On the entrance level: cloakroom, generous shower bathroom, pantry (for short-term storage, possibly freezer, rarely used kitchen equipment, cleaning supplies, recycling bags for paper/plastic/glass, empties, etc.), large kitchen with open adjacent dining area for comfortably 6–8 diners (possibly up to 10+ on special occasions) and either a cozy living/TV room separated from the kitchen-dining area or a spacious office/guest room
On the other floor(s): 3 children’s rooms, master bedroom, family bathroom (preferably with a T-layout or another solution that allows privacy at the toilet while someone else uses the sink/shower, but no separate children’s bathroom);
Anywhere: laundry room with space for at least one large drying rack (alternative: ground-level accessible covered outdoor drying area), technical room (heat pump, photovoltaics + battery storage, central ventilation system, possibly air conditioning, possibly water softening system), lots of storage (seasonal clothes and equipment—for example, Christmas decorations, Easter nests, snow shovel, barbecue, garden furniture, sled, etc.—tools, suitcases, camping gear, currently unused children’s clothes/toys, lots of stuff!), long-term storage room (e.g., main part of preserves, bulk supplies, chest freezer, possibly second fridge), and additionally the “either-or” room not used on entrance level (so either living room or office); a simple hobby/sewing/crafting/workshop room where a child could learn drums or double bass or have sports or parties would also be nice

Office: home office for 1 person, daily use; also recreational computer use
Overnight guests per year: none so far due to lack of space => this will evolve during house use (potentially grandmother/uncle with family/friends with family)

Open or closed architecture: indifferent
Conservative or modern construction: indifferent
Kitchen: very large with pantry, open to dining area; cooking-dining area as the heart of the house where family life happens; an island was never really desired but was always considered useful in planning ideas for efficient use of space in a large kitchen (otherwise there would be a useless empty spot in the middle, or does anyone have other ideas?)

Number of dining seats: comfortable for 6–8; possibly 10–15 on occasions
Fireplace: no
Music / stereo wall: old speaker system including subwoofer and projector/screen available, so the living/TV room can be larger if desired but doesn’t have to be

Balcony, roof terrace: not needed
Garage, carport: ideal wish would be 1 garage and 1 large carport (space for 1 car, the whole family’s two-wheel fleet, possibly also trash bins) with an adjoining shed area (garden tools, grill, etc.); budget is a limiting factor here, so if needed, the two cars will be parked for some years on loose gravel outside — we will see what is ultimately possible...

Garden: extension of dining and play area, access via dining area (or kitchen). The next few years mainly terrace, children’s play area, herb beds and some fruit/vegetables; when time permits, more fruit/vegetable growing desired; currently there are some nice fruit trees and grapevines on the plot—anything that can remain or be successfully relocated during construction would make us very happy!

Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why this or that shouldn’t be:
We want a cozy home for our hopefully 5-member family someday. We don’t need luxury in pure aesthetics, brand names, materials, windows, stairs or doors, but expect well-made and durable products. Family time and visits should take place mainly in the kitchen and dining area, both planned (board games and craft projects at the dining table, cooking/baking together, all meals, coffee and chatting) and unplanned (parents working in the kitchen, children briefly sitting nearby and telling about their day or playing within sight, later just stopping for a quick coffee after school and chatting). Cooking and baking are not only for nutrition but also an important, occasionally elaborate hobby! Honestly, we have only known open kitchens so far; currently, with toddler and baby, open kitchen seems “necessary” to keep up with the family while cooking. Some disturbance from kitchen noises (in addition to normal dishes clattering and washing, sometimes nut grinding, dough kneading, cream whipping, juicing, etc.) or smells in the dining area is expected; we would prefer the quiet living area to be separated as a “calm zone,” but the current plan does not provide separation for a spacious feel. What are your views or experiences and tips/warnings/opinions on this?
Regarding the cloakroom, we are still unsure whether a separate room (nicer as it’s less “visible” and probably larger, with space for sports gear, school bags sometimes, etc.) or an open area (more straightforward: enter and take off shoes/jacket, no complicated walk to a closet, any spare jackets and other items would go to bedrooms) is better; we welcome a variety of suggestions!
We want to live in the house as a family but also want the option to grow old there (and occasionally host elderly relatives temporarily, e.g. if grandma breaks a leg and cannot stay home alone), so living on the entrance level should be feasible in the long term (how the rest of the house would be used is secondary!).

House design:
Designer: planner from the general contractor, small changes after our feedback on the first draft
What are we especially happy with? Why? House shape with bay window (we just like it...), size and layout fit our needs exactly, furnishing works well, location/orientation on plot (neighbors to the south have some unattractive garages at the boundary, whereas to the north/east it is wonderfully green)

What don’t we like? Why? Terrain planning (in our view unnecessary fill on the east, but insufficient terrain modification on west/northwest). Ground floor bathroom is somewhat cramped—seems possible to adjust this...

Price estimate by planner: not yet available—we fear the worst, even though our budget was clear from the start; also worried that all earthworks are not included in the price...
Personal price limit for the house, including demolition (estimated 35–50k), necessary earthworks, ancillary building costs, paving and garage/carport: 700k (750k as pain threshold, then basically no buffer left)
Preferred heating technology: heat pump

If you had to give up certain details/features:
Can give up: hobby room; garage, possibly even carport
Cannot give up: 4 bedrooms plus office, large kitchen, plenty of storage space

Why is the design the way it is? => design by general contractor’s planner based on terrain and our space needs/lifestyle concept, with small adjustments following first feedback from us
Which wishes were implemented by the planner? Room requirements perfectly met! Large kitchen, plenty of storage
What makes it special in our view:
a) good: upper floor layout suits us very well (3 children’s rooms of similar size, parents’ room somewhat separate/closest to stairs <=> north orientation of kids’ rooms suits us too); ground floor has lots of space for kitchen/dining and living area; bay window and terrace roof look very nice (even though we initially said “appearance doesn’t matter, prefer simple = inexpensive building shape!”); cloakroom (for one of us a highlight); large office in basement and additional living room in basement; preliminary kitchen layout (the blue painted areas...); after simple furniture trials, except for the ground floor bathroom, we are very happy with the proposal, but unfortunately:
b) bad: we fear it is far beyond budget!
Also: ground floor bathroom a bit too tight => but cloakroom exists: broaden bathroom a bit and remove cloakroom niche next to entrance?!
Also: dining area OK but not especially airy and open.
No T-layout bathroom upstairs.
Children’s rooms have only one window each (apparently first budget cut; previously 2 children’s rooms had two corner windows and the middle one had a very large/wide window, which we liked a lot!).
Lots of built-up area => possibly shift carport toward street (so no additional 2 parking spaces in front of the carport on the plot; visitors must park on the street)?!
Office has only one window <=> a second south-facing window should be possible, especially if the carport shifts toward the street...
And last but big: garden/terrain—the various levels (west garden lower than terrace, east garden much higher than original terrain) and the slope cuttings along almost the entire boundary don’t please us <=> our idea would be to zone the garden into 2 levels: in the west/street side at about street level and fairly level with the terrace, and in the east of the house at the level of the lower plot boundary; the height difference would be taken up at the south behind the carport/storage and at the north near the terrace <=> is this realistically doable or are we totally mistaken? What ideas do you have?

We are particularly interested in:
Does anyone strongly oppose the concept of having a basement on this plot? Why?
Where do you see potential savings? Where do you think m² could be cut?
General opinions on the floor plan?
Practical everyday pitfalls?
Experiences / tips / thoughts on an “open kitchen” living arrangement?
Regarding the corridor upstairs: should the small alcoves be added to Children 1/3 rooms or does it make the corridor feel more spacious if these pieces remain with the corridor? Is the corridor bright enough?
Is the staircase to the lower garden level at the south/by the carport really needed? We considered removing it and instead moving the house further south; what do you think?
Is the carport wide enough for 2 cars at all?
Any other thoughts?

Thank you very much for your help!

I would actually wait for the general contractor’s price before discussing the floor plan. I’m afraid your budget might be significantly exceeded.

First of all: Thanks for the great opening post! It really makes thinking about this enjoyable.

I’ll start with the text content:

Noxmortana schrieb:

Slope: slight north-facing slope, overall dropping 3m (10 feet) across the entire plot, or 1.5-2m (5-6.5 feet) in the planned building area (southern corner);

I wouldn’t call a 2m (6.5 feet) slope “slight.”

I would suspect that building on a slab here would already cost about two-thirds (if not more) of what a basement would cost. Therefore, I would tend to favor a basement rather than not.

Homeowner requirements: Style, roof shape, building type: a preference for “masonry” (exclusion of timber frame construction), otherwise mostly indifferent, slight preference for a gable roof (especially regarding compatibility with photovoltaics)

If I were building with a basement (which I did not, because my plot was flat), I would also go for masonry. Simply because basements offered by prefabricated home providers are often only partially integrated into the design. Especially in cases like this, where a “walk-out basement” makes sense, I think masonry would probably be better.

Lots of storage space (seasonal clothing, seasonal items such as Christmas decorations, Easter nests, snow shovel, grill, garden furniture, sled, ...), tools, suitcases, camping gear, currently unused children’s clothing/toys ... basically lots of stuff!

Okay. I haven’t looked at the plans yet (I always read the text first), so here’s a quick thought: The grill and garden furniture can be stored outside later in a shed, garage, or similar. With a gable roof, depending on the pitch and knee wall height, you usually have quite a bit of storage space upstairs. For bulky items like camping gear and sleds, I wouldn’t reserve indoor space if there are cheaper options like a shed or attic available.

Garden: expansion of dining and play area, access via dining area (or kitchen). In the coming years, primarily a terrace, children’s play area, herb beds, and some fruit/vegetable growing; once time permits, more fruit and vegetable gardening is desired. Currently, there are some nice fruit trees and grapevines on the plot, and we’d be very happy if any of these can be preserved or successfully transplanted during construction!

What survives depends on the plot size. I can only say that on our roughly 650m² (7000 sq ft) plot, almost all the ground ended up as bare soil after construction. We were a bit shocked.

What do you think? Do you have experience, tips, warnings, or opinions?

So far, we have (and plan to keep) an open kitchen but made sure the living-dining-cooking area can be closed off with a door (so not a fully open plan). Mainly to avoid smells spreading through the entire house. Works well. (Only my partner complains if I forget to close the door when frying.)

Regarding the wardrobe area, we are still undecided whether to have a separate room (prettier, less “obvious,” probably bigger so it can also accommodate sports equipment, sometimes school bags, etc.) or an open area (more straightforward: walk in and take off shoes/jacket, no awkward detour to a cloakroom; any extra jackets and other items would need to be stored in bedrooms). We’re looking forward to various suggestions!

How about both?

A small wardrobe area where you hang the jackets you just wore or guests can put theirs, plus a separate room for the bulk of the “mess” so the small wardrobe corner doesn’t get overwhelmed? (Which it would with 5 people.)

Cost estimate according to planner: not available yet – sadly we fear the worst, even though our budget was clearly communicated from the start; we also worry that all the earthworks may not be included in the price at all ...
Personal price limit for house, including demolition (estimated 35-50k), necessary earthworks, secondary construction costs, paving, and garage/carport: 700k (750k as an absolute limit, but then basically any buffer is gone)

Uh oh.
Very roughly, I wouldn’t expect to get more than about 160m² (1700 sq ft) on a sloped plot for that budget—including demolition, earthworks, and paving. A garage or carport might be difficult. Maybe with some DIY work, you could stretch it to around 170-180m² (1800-1900 sq ft), including the finished basement.

Bay windows are also unusually expensive with many providers, so maybe reconsider them in favor of more floor area.

And last but not least, a very big point: garden/terrain: the different levels (west garden lower than terrace, east garden significantly higher than original ground level) and the embankments along nearly the entire boundary bother us <=> our idea would be to zone the garden into 2 levels: on the west/street side roughly street level and fairly level with the terrace, and on the east side at the level of the lower property boundary, with the height difference carried at the south behind the carport/storage room and at the north near the terrace <=> is this realistically achievable, or are we completely underestimating? What ideas do you have?

Oof. Without seeing pictures: The planner’s ideas would, I fear, greatly exceed the budget. The garden and any terraces would first need to be kept as simple and as close to the original ground level as possible to avoid blowing the budget.

Okay, now on to the floor plan:
I’m starting to feel a bit bad because I actually quite like a lot here. Still, I have to be firm on the budget:

• Basement removed; ground floor becomes walk-out basement.
• Bay window removed.
• Wardrobe becomes the utility room. Pantry added to utility room.
• Storage room placed under the stairs (no longer possible to store basement under stairs).
=> this brings it roughly to about 170m² (1800 sq ft), so it’s already tight. With some DIY effort, the bay window might be possible again.

Everyday stumbling blocks?

I fear those come with my above suggestions.
(I ignored window planning here because I feel the budget is clearly exceeded.)

In my proposal, the pantry would be moved under the stairs, and the wardrobe area would be very small.

In addition: A small storage room upstairs would also be good. The bathroom is big enough to sacrifice a few square meters, but I’m not sure how best to position it.

Regarding the upstairs hallway: shouldn’t the small nooks better be added to Kid1/Kid3’s rooms, or does the hallway feel more spacious if those bits remain hallway? Is the hallway bright enough?

Brutally put: Assigning those nooks to the kids’ rooms would create dead space. You can’t use the door areas inside the rooms. And where the doors currently open to the rooms, that’s circulation space and can’t be used.
So I’d leave it as is.

Is the carport even wide enough for 2 cars?

Depends on the cars and driving skills. 5m (16.5 feet) is quite tight.

The good thing about the bay window is that you can simply remove it without significantly changing the building. I would do exactly that and design the kitchen based on what remains. The cabinets on the upper wall of the plan don’t actually add any additional space since they cover two cabinets from the other sections, but they still cost money, take up "space," and make the kitchen more complicated because all the cabinets need to fit precisely around the countertop angles.

How many square meters (square feet) is that?

Noxmortana schrieb:

In the end, the structural engineer recommended a basement mainly because of the slight slope, and the building authority’s advice not to build anything "excessively large" also influenced our decision => we’re eager to hear your assessment of this!

Why, I wonder... a nice functional basement is no problem for him, but making something useful out of a slope is not. That worries him and requires a bit more brainwork. Why bother, if you can have a basement that’s basically useless? Then make the client like the idea of an extra room with "living space quality." That’s certainly legitimate.
What does "excessively large" refer to? Nearly four stories? Basement, ground floor, first floor, and attic? I would consider that excessively large!
Additional space: 95 m² (1,023 sq ft)! Ninety-five! If that’s not excessive.

Noxmortana schrieb:

I do see some potential disturbance from kitchen noises (besides regular dish clattering and washing, also occasionally grinding nuts, kneading dough, whipping cream, juicing, etc.) or smells affecting the dining area. We actually wanted to separate the quiet living area as a "quiet zone," but the current plan includes no separation to keep a more spacious feel; How do you see that? Do you have experience or tips/warnings/opinions about this?

Warnings? True, you could issue a warning when cream is being whipped 😉. The best way to keep that household noise down is probably to just close the door 😉
Seriously: it won’t happen that often. And if it does, maybe you’re actually home alone because everyone else is at school or at work. Otherwise, kitchen tasks can be shared among household members. I rarely see situations where some want to relax with a movie, and someone else is working hard in the kitchen. It usually blends together somehow. And if not, you just give a quick heads-up.

Noxmortana schrieb:

Does anyone explicitly disagree with the "with basement" concept for this specific plot? Why?

Costs without benefits. 28 m² (300 sq ft) dedicated to something others manage with 15 m² (160 sq ft). Over 40 m² (430 sq ft) extra space, and upstairs in the first floor they’re queuing for the bathroom. Then there’s the many steps in the garden: 2 or 3 steps are fine, but it’s better without a basement that creates a barrier at the ground floor level.

Noxmortana schrieb:

Where do you see potential for savings? Where do you think floor area could be cut?

Basement

Noxmortana schrieb:

in case grandma breaks her leg and can’t stay home alone, etc.)

Doesn’t matter, she won’t move in with you and sleep on the sofa with a broken leg. Grandmas want to wake up at home every morning, especially when they’re ill.

Noxmortana schrieb:

Everyday usability stumbling blocks?

The outside stairs.

GeraldG schrieb:

How many square meters is that?

Total: about 190 (175 + 15 living space in the basement)
Or do you mean just the kitchen? About 20