ᐅ Single-family home with double garage floor plan design for the second house

Development Plan / Restrictions
Plot size: 549m² (5909 sq ft)
Slope: No
Floor area ratio (FAR): 0.4
Building coverage ratio (BCR): 0.5
Building envelope, building line, and boundary: Marked on the picture
Edge development: One side 8.99m (29.5 ft)
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of storeys: Max. 2
Roof type: Any, as long as pitch is between 20° and 45°, and NO single-sided shed roof
Architectural style: Modern
Orientation: Any
Maximum heights / limits: Eave height 7.5m (24.6 ft), Building height 9.5m (31.2 ft)

Client Requirements
Architectural style, roof type, building type: Any
Basement, floors: No basement, 2 full floors
Number of occupants, age: 2 persons, NO children yet
Office: Family use or home office? 1x Home office
Open or closed architecture: Open
Conservative or modern construction: Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Yes
Number of dining seats: 6
Fireplace: No
Music / stereo wall: No
Balcony, roof terrace: No
Garage, carport: Double garage 7 x 9m (23 x 30 ft)
Utility garden, greenhouse: No

House Design
Origin of the plan: Modified design from the internet
Preferred heating system: Air-to-water heat pump

Unfortunately, I can no longer edit the first post.
Here is the information.

The development plan is under Development Plan No. 73 "Im Felsener Moor"
available on the municipal website of Ostercappeln.

hanse987 schrieb:

A few questions:
- I assume the driveway is coming from below. Why is the garage set so far back?

I would like to keep the courtyard area as large as possible to allow proper parking (cars, campervan, etc.). Also, I must say I really like how it looks visually.

hanse987 schrieb:

- Where do your utility lines enter the property? If they come from below, then having the utility room at the rear of the house is not ideal.

They come from below. I thought it might still be possible to angle the exit from the house to reach the front of the garage.

hanse987 schrieb:

- If you ever want to convert the attic, where would the staircase go?

That’s a really good question... Maybe converting the attic is just a whim of mine and wouldn’t add any real value...

By the way, the plot in question is plot number 83.
At the very bottom of the plans...

Buddy90 schrieb:

Unfortunately, I can no longer edit the first post.
Here is the information.

And what do you particularly like? What don’t you like? What do you wish for and what do you dislike? Or is your intention exactly what you have posted here: a house from the internet, carelessly improvised and impersonal, simply converted from a single-story to a two-story? Without any personal furniture or adjustments to the plot?

Buddy90 schrieb:

Also, I have to say, I really like the way it looks.

What exactly do you like visually? The driveway? About a year ago, we had someone here who was more concerned with the access to the double garage than with the floor plan and perfect orientation.

Buddy90 schrieb:

Ostercappeln

That is in Lower Saxony. There, enclosing utility lines to the house is not permitted.

Buddy90 schrieb:

I would like to keep as large a courtyard area as possible to allow for proper parking (cars, motorhomes,...)

Parking spaces are not planned as part of a driveway or courtyard area but as designated parking spots. These must be clearly marked on the plan. Only then can you ensure that the parking spaces don’t block each other.

Actually, EVERYTHING about this design is poor: the location of the entrance offers no privacy in the garden, because the garden is positioned in front of the house due to the house’s location. The garage merely pushes the house forward enough to allow a terrace on the north side. Otherwise, the house turns away from the garden. So, the garden offers little benefit.
Neither one thing nor the other, the terrace is pushed to the northern edge, where the neighbor’s pool and trampoline are probably located. There are not even any windows facing the garden.

The guest bathroom is too small with a shower, the hallway has plenty of space but lacks any closet storage area with wardrobe quality. The open space offers a lot of (too much) room in the center for the dining table, while the sofa and kitchen are squeezed into two narrow niches. This restricts the kitchen as a functional room in a U-shape, and the sofa is cramped with nearly 3 meters (10 feet) of space around it. There have already been comments about the upper floor windows; no need to go into details here. At least the upper floor works.

Buddy90 schrieb:

By the way, the plot in question is plot number 83.
At the very bottom of the plans...

The development plan doesn’t assign numbers to the plots. Please show us the plot.

If this is the second house, I wonder: What was good about the first house? What wasn’t so good? What did you manage well? What do you want to do differently this time?

Assuming (although I don’t know, since I’m not familiar with the plot) that the street is to the south and picture 1 is oriented north, here are some thoughts about the placement:
1. Be careful: A possible terrace on the south side would lie outside the building envelope! Some local authorities can be very strict about this. In that case, only a north-facing terrace might be allowed. Whether you want it partially enclosed next to the garage is another question. There are pros and cons.
2. I would place the utility room on the south side of the house or clarify beforehand whether a side entrance is permitted (in some states/provinces, you are not allowed to run utilities under the slab or basement; and honestly, even if you can, it’s better not to).
3. With the way the house and garage are positioned, the property is basically fragmented. This isn’t ideal for garden layout or possibly the terrace.
=> My advice: Take some drink crates and ropes, go to the site, and mark it out to see what actually remains as usable space. Then you can decide how important the garden is and whether you can or should arrange things better.
4. Also consider how the driveway and related access are planned. A seven-meter (23 feet) wide driveway across the property is really wide. If the driveway is narrower, you’ll need to ensure that the cars can still easily access the garages in front of the house.

Regarding the floor plan:
1. The windows have already been mentioned; they need to be completely reconsidered.
2. Ground floor: Front door on the south, garage on the east? Second entrance through the utility room, although the utility room might have to be relocated for legal reasons? I would rethink the entire ground floor:
-> Move the utility room to the south (see above).
-> Front door on the east.
-> Redesign the main living area (currently, the living room space seems undersized, and having the sink against the interior wall doesn’t look appealing to me).
-> The staircase with storage underneath is missing a side wall (is the storage open? Or only half a storage room with a wall in the middle of the stairs? Likely not much space is lost).
-> If you move the front door to the east, the hallway and other rooms won’t work as they are anymore. If children are planned, I would keep a second shower, and then the guest bathroom cannot be downsized. Otherwise, I would have suggested a long utility room with a WC niche that could be squeezed out—but that’s too much for a room with a shower. Perhaps place the utility room on the south, flatten the guest WC a bit to the north, and add some closet space next to the guest WC door? Just brainstorming. I would rethink and redraw everything here to create a nicer hallway and entrance area.
3. I don’t understand the bathroom on the upper floor. When you open the door, what exactly do you see? Is that a mini sauna? A large closet? The toilet right next to the bathtub. At night, if things go wrong, you might bump into the tub more than once. I can’t judge the space between the bathtub and the sink; it seems quite narrow.
-> I like the large shower. As for the rest, I’d reconsider whether it can be arranged more attractively, especially if a second window is actually planned there.