ᐅ Single-family house with a small footprint, attic, and basement; neighbor approval required
Created on: 2 Oct 2015 13:52
S
sirhc
Hello everyone,
Some time ago, I shared hand-drawn sketches here for discussion. The biggest change since then is that I moved the entrance from the front to the side. I plan to review this design with a professional next week, but until then, I would like your help to identify and fix any potential weaknesses. A special feature is the significant deviation from the "square optimum," so many other interesting topics only helped me to a limited extent. Therefore, my question is: where are the major issues, what could I solve in a more elegant way, and of course, I’m also interested in what you find successful. Please excuse the pen and paper approach, but that’s how I work best on the design. Based on this, I will draw the basement, first floor, and attic over the weekend—unless the feedback turns out to be too negative.
We could build 3m (10 feet) deeper, but that would further reduce the already small garden, so we prefer not to. The roofed area in front of the garage probably requires the neighbor’s approval, right?
To the north is the access road (a dead-end street ending at our plot); to the south, behind the garden, runs a rail line for regional and freight trains (6 trains per hour during the day). The western neighbor built a long time ago; on the east side is a triangular plot currently covered with forest. We expect garages along the property boundary there, but a house probably won’t fit due to setback requirements.
Edit: very important — I know the windows are only partially shown. I’m still undecided about their arrangement on the east and south sides.
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size 372 sqm (front approx. 13.50m (44 feet), rear boundary beveled)
Slope none
Floor space ratio 0.4
Floor area ratio not defined
Building envelope, building line and boundary 7.50m (25 feet) wide x 15.00m (49 feet) deep, 5.00m (16 feet) setback to the street in front
Boundary construction House with 3.00m (10 feet) side setbacks each, garage on the property boundary
Number of parking spaces 3
Number of floors 1
Roof type gable roof or half-hip roof with 43° to 47° pitch
Architectural style not defined
Orientation not defined
Maximum heights/restrictions not defined
Other requirements not defined
Homeowner requirements
Style, roof type, building type classic, gable roof, solid construction, plaster finish
Basement, floors yes (basement, ground floor, first floor, attic)
Number of occupants, age 2 adults early 30s; 2 children planned
Space requirements on ground and first floors difficult to answer now; on the ground floor I have 56 sqm (600 sq ft) excluding stairs, which sounds small but looks sufficient
Office: family use or home office? no office
Overnight guests per year 10
Open or closed architecture open
Conservative or modern construction conservative
Open kitchen, cooking island yes, cooking peninsula
Number of dining seats 6-8
Fireplace yes
Music/sound wall no
Balcony, roof terrace no
Garage, carport yes, yes
Vegetable garden, greenhouse possibly, no
Other wishes/features/daily routine none
House design
Who designed it do-it-yourself
What do I like most? openness from kitchen through dining to living area; central staircase connects all floors with minimal hallway/traffic space
What do I dislike? the limitation to 7.50m (25 feet) house width causes more problems than expected; doubts whether the central staircase in the living room will be a problem
Cost estimate according to architect/designer not yet defined
Personal price limit for house including fittings not yet defined
Preferred heating system air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up something, which details/extras
-can you give up? canopy/carport, possibly fireplace
-can you not give up? basement, garage
Best regards
sirhc
Some time ago, I shared hand-drawn sketches here for discussion. The biggest change since then is that I moved the entrance from the front to the side. I plan to review this design with a professional next week, but until then, I would like your help to identify and fix any potential weaknesses. A special feature is the significant deviation from the "square optimum," so many other interesting topics only helped me to a limited extent. Therefore, my question is: where are the major issues, what could I solve in a more elegant way, and of course, I’m also interested in what you find successful. Please excuse the pen and paper approach, but that’s how I work best on the design. Based on this, I will draw the basement, first floor, and attic over the weekend—unless the feedback turns out to be too negative.
We could build 3m (10 feet) deeper, but that would further reduce the already small garden, so we prefer not to. The roofed area in front of the garage probably requires the neighbor’s approval, right?
To the north is the access road (a dead-end street ending at our plot); to the south, behind the garden, runs a rail line for regional and freight trains (6 trains per hour during the day). The western neighbor built a long time ago; on the east side is a triangular plot currently covered with forest. We expect garages along the property boundary there, but a house probably won’t fit due to setback requirements.
Edit: very important — I know the windows are only partially shown. I’m still undecided about their arrangement on the east and south sides.
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size 372 sqm (front approx. 13.50m (44 feet), rear boundary beveled)
Slope none
Floor space ratio 0.4
Floor area ratio not defined
Building envelope, building line and boundary 7.50m (25 feet) wide x 15.00m (49 feet) deep, 5.00m (16 feet) setback to the street in front
Boundary construction House with 3.00m (10 feet) side setbacks each, garage on the property boundary
Number of parking spaces 3
Number of floors 1
Roof type gable roof or half-hip roof with 43° to 47° pitch
Architectural style not defined
Orientation not defined
Maximum heights/restrictions not defined
Other requirements not defined
Homeowner requirements
Style, roof type, building type classic, gable roof, solid construction, plaster finish
Basement, floors yes (basement, ground floor, first floor, attic)
Number of occupants, age 2 adults early 30s; 2 children planned
Space requirements on ground and first floors difficult to answer now; on the ground floor I have 56 sqm (600 sq ft) excluding stairs, which sounds small but looks sufficient
Office: family use or home office? no office
Overnight guests per year 10
Open or closed architecture open
Conservative or modern construction conservative
Open kitchen, cooking island yes, cooking peninsula
Number of dining seats 6-8
Fireplace yes
Music/sound wall no
Balcony, roof terrace no
Garage, carport yes, yes
Vegetable garden, greenhouse possibly, no
Other wishes/features/daily routine none
House design
Who designed it do-it-yourself
What do I like most? openness from kitchen through dining to living area; central staircase connects all floors with minimal hallway/traffic space
What do I dislike? the limitation to 7.50m (25 feet) house width causes more problems than expected; doubts whether the central staircase in the living room will be a problem
Cost estimate according to architect/designer not yet defined
Personal price limit for house including fittings not yet defined
Preferred heating system air-to-water heat pump
If you have to give up something, which details/extras
-can you give up? canopy/carport, possibly fireplace
-can you not give up? basement, garage
Best regards
sirhc
Manu1976 schrieb:
I find the floor plan quite usable. However, I think there should be more windows—especially at the top of the plan, where the cabinet is drawn next to the dining table. There is definitely one missing there. And is the couch completely without natural light?The original poster is aware of this. They just wanted to hear our opinion first.
What surprises me is that the requirement is for a single-story building. You persist with your personal preferences, like the enclosed entrance and the recessed corner in the living area. How is the upper floor supposed to come about? Are these corners meant to be repeated upstairs? Will there be bay windows on the ground floor, or is the entire floor area intended to be used on the upper floor? I can imagine that a more straightforward design might better satisfy the single-story requirement.
If you don’t receive any fundamental criticism now, you will proceed to draw the upper floor. You will probably have trouble fitting a closet into your plan.
Have you already thought beyond the ground floor?
P.S. The staircase is too narrow (the railing also needs depth) and too short if it is supposed to be a staircase with a landing.
Chimney flue?
If you don’t receive any fundamental criticism now, you will proceed to draw the upper floor. You will probably have trouble fitting a closet into your plan.
Have you already thought beyond the ground floor?
P.S. The staircase is too narrow (the railing also needs depth) and too short if it is supposed to be a staircase with a landing.
Chimney flue?
ypg schrieb:
The OP is aware of that. He just wanted to hear our opinion first :-D Those who can read clearly have a big advantage :-D
sirhc schrieb:
I already have half a folder full of drawings for the other floors, but I wasn’t confident enough in the results to find it useful to discuss them here.This quote is from your first thread (page 7, I don’t have the exact date handy) regarding your floor plan.
Have you ever considered leaving the next 50 years of your home to a professional, meaning an architect? How should the upper floor with the same dimensions as in the first attempt (excluding interior walls) improve enough to make further discussion worthwhile?
There are tens of thousands of good designs for houses narrower than 7.50 meters (25 feet).
There are great single-family homes with the layout of a terraced house or semi-detached house. There are also excellent designs for houseboats and other unique homes, for example infill plots in urban areas that are narrow.
Maybe the creative people here have time and enthusiasm to draft something on paper or start a new project, but from my experience, I would initially leave out bays and niches because they usually interfere with practical design (and I consider these features less important anyway, since a terrace can be covered in other ways).
The usable space on the upper floor needs a custom solution too. And if the garden ends up being 2 meters (6.5 feet) smaller, that doesn’t bother me at all, because even a small garden can be useful.
sirhc schrieb:
A special feature is certainly the strong deviation from the “square optimum,”There is no such thing as a square optimum.
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