Hello everyone,
We are currently in the planning phase for our upcoming house building project. However, due to the shape of the plot, it is quite difficult for us to choose from existing floor plans. Planning on our own often leads to frustration, as working with the freely available software is rather chaotic and I lack a clear sense of which dimensions to allocate for certain rooms.
The plot looks as follows and is around 1100 sqm (12,000 sq ft):
I have marked point 1 for a driveway from the western side. Point 2 could alternatively be used for a driveway from the south-eastern side. My current draft, which assumes a driveway from the street on the west side (marked as point 1 in the graphic above), roughly looks like this:
Here is the information about the project brief:
Development plan / restrictions -> It is more than 20 years old and many buildings in the area do not fully comply with the regulations, e.g. city villas with two full floors
Plot size: 1100 sqm (12,000 sq ft)
Slope: Slight
Site coverage ratio: approx. 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft)
Floor area ratio: 2
Building envelope, building line, and boundary lines
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof shape: Not specifically defined, roof pitch 25–45°
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum height / limits: Maximum eave height: 5.50 m (18 ft)
Other requirements
Client requirements
Architectural style, roof shape, building type: Either a city villa or a standard detached house – i.e., gable or hip roof
Basement, floors: Ground floor and first floor, no basement
Number of people, ages: 2 × 32 years, 1 × 2 years, 1 × 0 years
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: Not specified in detail. We expect a total of about 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft) distributed over both floors to meet our needs
Office: Family use or home office? Home office
Number of guest sleepers per year: 2–3
Open or closed architecture: Open
Conservative or modern construction: Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open
Number of dining seats: 1
Fireplace: 1
Music/stereo system: Cabinet wall in living room
Balcony, roof terrace: Terrace
Garage, carport: Double garage, ideally with additional storage space for bicycles, etc.
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons for preferences or exclusions
House design
Who designed the plan:
We have spoken with several companies, but most require us to provide floor plans. Therefore, the draft is based on our own ideas and is not finalized.
What do you particularly like? Why?
- Office located slightly apart on the ground floor, so guests do not “get lost” there
- Office can also be used as a bedroom (possibly for older age)
- Kitchen faces the street
- Separate dressing room available
What do you not like? Why?
- Bay window for the technical room
- The small, cramped bathroom on the ground floor
- Location of the master bedroom above the technical room – all conceivable installations run through the bedroom from the technical room
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: 600,000 plus additional costs for house connections and permits
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 650,000 all-in
Preferred heating system: Heat pump and underfloor heating. Additionally, a fireplace with a small stove in the living room
If you have to give up something, which details or expansions
- can you give up: Actually nothing. The draft already feels very minimalist
- cannot give up:
Why is the draft like this now? For example:
By visiting model homes, we realized what is important to us and what is less so. We put it on paper and used it for quotes. However, we are not really satisfied with the offers because the floor plan is simply used for cost calculation. No optimization suggestions were made, and contacting an architect for proposals usually only happens after signing a contract.
We are currently in the planning phase for our upcoming house building project. However, due to the shape of the plot, it is quite difficult for us to choose from existing floor plans. Planning on our own often leads to frustration, as working with the freely available software is rather chaotic and I lack a clear sense of which dimensions to allocate for certain rooms.
The plot looks as follows and is around 1100 sqm (12,000 sq ft):
I have marked point 1 for a driveway from the western side. Point 2 could alternatively be used for a driveway from the south-eastern side. My current draft, which assumes a driveway from the street on the west side (marked as point 1 in the graphic above), roughly looks like this:
Here is the information about the project brief:
Development plan / restrictions -> It is more than 20 years old and many buildings in the area do not fully comply with the regulations, e.g. city villas with two full floors
Plot size: 1100 sqm (12,000 sq ft)
Slope: Slight
Site coverage ratio: approx. 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft)
Floor area ratio: 2
Building envelope, building line, and boundary lines
Edge development
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: 2
Roof shape: Not specifically defined, roof pitch 25–45°
Architectural style
Orientation
Maximum height / limits: Maximum eave height: 5.50 m (18 ft)
Other requirements
Client requirements
Architectural style, roof shape, building type: Either a city villa or a standard detached house – i.e., gable or hip roof
Basement, floors: Ground floor and first floor, no basement
Number of people, ages: 2 × 32 years, 1 × 2 years, 1 × 0 years
Space requirements on ground and upper floors: Not specified in detail. We expect a total of about 150 sqm (1,615 sq ft) distributed over both floors to meet our needs
Office: Family use or home office? Home office
Number of guest sleepers per year: 2–3
Open or closed architecture: Open
Conservative or modern construction: Modern
Open kitchen, kitchen island: Open
Number of dining seats: 1
Fireplace: 1
Music/stereo system: Cabinet wall in living room
Balcony, roof terrace: Terrace
Garage, carport: Double garage, ideally with additional storage space for bicycles, etc.
Utility garden, greenhouse: No
Additional wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons for preferences or exclusions
House design
Who designed the plan:
We have spoken with several companies, but most require us to provide floor plans. Therefore, the draft is based on our own ideas and is not finalized.
What do you particularly like? Why?
- Office located slightly apart on the ground floor, so guests do not “get lost” there
- Office can also be used as a bedroom (possibly for older age)
- Kitchen faces the street
- Separate dressing room available
What do you not like? Why?
- Bay window for the technical room
- The small, cramped bathroom on the ground floor
- Location of the master bedroom above the technical room – all conceivable installations run through the bedroom from the technical room
Cost estimate according to architect/planner: 600,000 plus additional costs for house connections and permits
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 650,000 all-in
Preferred heating system: Heat pump and underfloor heating. Additionally, a fireplace with a small stove in the living room
If you have to give up something, which details or expansions
- can you give up: Actually nothing. The draft already feels very minimalist
- cannot give up:
Why is the draft like this now? For example:
By visiting model homes, we realized what is important to us and what is less so. We put it on paper and used it for quotes. However, we are not really satisfied with the offers because the floor plan is simply used for cost calculation. No optimization suggestions were made, and contacting an architect for proposals usually only happens after signing a contract.
maabaa schrieb:
Due to the shape of the plot, it’s rather difficult for us to choose from existing floor plans, and designing on our own usually ends in frustration because working with the freely available software feels chaotic, and I lack a sense of the dimensions to allocate for certain rooms. Before I can spend more time with you this evening, here’s some good news: you are not alone with a triangular plot – see the thread by @Oakland: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/grundriss-schlauchhaus-l-form-dreieckiges-Grundstück-samt-eiche.p6i9x6/ A great, platform-independent house planning tool is graph paper, a set square, and a pencil. Professionals, by the way, usually start with the upper floor.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Thank you for your feedback, 11ant.
I have reviewed the post you mentioned and am happy to report that we have significantly more space available.
I just pulled the main dimensions from the floor framing system:
Please note: The dashed line is only a guideline to help estimate the total width of the building plot.
I appreciate any suggestions.
I have reviewed the post you mentioned and am happy to report that we have significantly more space available.
I just pulled the main dimensions from the floor framing system:
Please note: The dashed line is only a guideline to help estimate the total width of the building plot.
I appreciate any suggestions.
Papierturm6 Mar 2026 18:08maabaa schrieb:
Site coverage ratio: approx. 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) ?
The site coverage ratio should actually be given as a fraction.
"Over 20 years" is a very vague statement, which is important here. What the site coverage ratio refers to has changed over the years. The applicable regulations are always those that were in place when the zoning plan was published.
A zoning plan from 1960? Very little counts towards the site coverage ratio (e.g., no pathways).
A zoning plan from 2005? Many more elements count towards the site coverage ratio.
With a 2005 zoning plan, 150 m² (1,615 sq ft) would already be quite low and would require careful planning. I can’t really imagine that.
maabaa schrieb:
and to the architect for suggestions Alternatively: first consult the architect, then take your floor plan and equipment list to various suppliers.
A fundamental question you need to ask yourselves:
- What are the favorable sides of the plot? Which ones are less favorable?
- How important is natural light to you? Both in the living spaces and on the terrace?
An 1100 m² (11,840 sq ft) plot is quite large and therefore offers many possibilities.
Do I understand the text correctly that the floor plan is oriented to the northeast? ("Driveway from point 1" would, if a straight line, suggest the plan is oriented to the northeast if you want to drive straight into the garage.)
Considering all this, as well as the missing meter specifications:
- The living room is placed in the darkest corner of the open plan area. Some may like this; others may find it too dark.
- The utility room (HWR – Hauswirtschaftsraum) could be problematic due to the second door. It costs important space for placement and wall area. Effectively, the utility room would only be about 6 m² (65 sq ft) sized if you compare it to a "normal" utility room without this second door. Its unusual shape, together with the garage, also leads to a significant cost increase.
- The hallway on the ground floor will be completely dark; the only natural light may come from the front door. There will likely be hardly any storage space here either.
- The differently sized children’s rooms could lead to disagreements in the future.
- I am only moderately satisfied with the bathroom on the upper floor. I think some corners may end up quite dark.
- The storage room on the upper floor is good. However, I suspect it will also need to be used for the washing machine and similar appliances because the utility room is very small.
Please don’t take this as criticism; I really mean it constructively:
Overall, I find the floor plan a good starting idea to build on. However, personally, one planning detail ruins the plan for me. That is, the tail wags the dog—meaning the floor plan is so fundamentally subordinated to the car (and the second door through the garage). Given the house dimensions, the ground floor (especially the hallway area and the utility room) could be designed more beautifully and functionally if the garage did not play such a central role.
On the plot, a garage by the street (which would not be the case here), or on the east or north side (depending on the property), would also be better located than in the west area, where you tend to have more sun in the afternoon.
maabaa schrieb:
Although we have spoken with several companies, most require floor plans from us. Therefore, the design is based on our own idea and is not finalized. [...] Visiting model homes helped us understand what is important to us and what isn’t. We put that on paper and used it to request quotes. However, we are not really satisfied with the offers because the floor plan is simply taken and used for calculations. So far, there have been no optimization suggestions, and usually, you only get to consult with the architect about changes after signing. This is the worst approach ever, even if most laypeople do it the same way.
Your next step should be: “wipe the slate clean,” meaning start fresh from scratch and blacklist all these unreliable companies that demanded a floor plan from you.
You are a “normal family” (2 adults, 2 children) and obviously have a typical plot (the unusual shape doesn’t matter; what matters is that, as it looks, it is a flat site. Maybe the soil report says rock or swamp, but otherwise, it’s straightforward).
From these two factors, it follows that a sufficiently experienced general contractor can hardly claim not to have tried-and-tested building proposals ready, especially since a single-family villa of this size is a bestseller conceptually.
Go to an independent architect (found on your own, paid by you, fully committed to your interests) and commission them for “Module A,” see my “House Building Roadmap, also for You: the HOAI Phase Model!” It is important— but you can read more about this there— that the architect can handle “both halves” (phases 1 through 8), but initially, you only commission them for this module.
With the architect, you will develop a preliminary design, nothing more at this point, then move into the > resting phase, which you will also use for > decision-making. During the decision-making phase (also described at the source of my house-building roadmap), you or an independent building consultant like me request bids from a handful of general contractors (a mix of timber and masonry builders, precisely because of the decision-making). The key question here is number 2 (requesting a proven house design with serial maturation close to the preliminary design developed with your independent architect). This way, it works smoothly, as they say in Bavaria.
Because of the “old” development plan and, at least in your view, several deviations from it, you should simultaneously submit a preliminary building inquiry to the building authority alongside the general contractor requests to be safe.
In the amateur design you have shown here, I see no indication that finding proven standard designs would be difficult.
A roof eave height of fifty-five centimeters (21 inches) suggests that an exemption may be needed, or a shift away from the single-family villa concept.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
maabaa schrieb:
An office can also be used as a bedroom (possibly in old age) Forget that as soon as you’re in your early thirties!
Changing properties is often a much better option. Age-appropriate new builds have already reached the under-60 age group – this trend is unlikely to reverse by the time you get to that stage. You can also find two posts on the topic of age-appropriate building at the above-mentioned source.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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