ᐅ Two-family house – initial rough drafts

Hello everyone,

We plan to build next year. Together with an architect, we have created an initial rough draft. Since then, we have made several changes that have not yet been discussed with the architect. Attached is the current version. Before going into the next round with the architect, I would like to hear your opinions. I appreciate any suggestions.

Intended use:

• The ground floor will be occupied by the parents, later rented out, and possibly lived in by us in old age.
• The parents want two adjacent single bedrooms, which has already proven to work well.
• The upper floors will be occupied by us and should form a separate living unit from the ground floor.

Planning framework from the zoning plan:

• Two full stories are allowed.
• On top, a recessed story with a flat roof and at least 25% open terrace area is permitted; all sides must be set back 40cm (16 inches), with the front set back at least 1m (39 inches).
• The house is located in the second row, connected by a small access road from the southeast.
• Garages must be on the northeast side of the house; access is necessarily from the southeast.

Surroundings:

• Downhill corresponds to south.
• The terrain rises slightly towards the north.
• There is a school to the northwest; no neighbors to the north and west.
• It is very quiet towards the northeast.
• The best views are towards the southwest and northeast.

(Desired budget approx. 400,000 including basement)

Thanks and regards,
Jim

Personally, I don’t like it when guests, who usually spend time in our living/dining area, have to walk through the quiet rooms (children’s rooms) to get in or out. I would place the kitchen and related areas downstairs and the bedrooms upstairs. Also, you would always have to carry your groceries up one floor through the apartment, passing by the children’s rooms, which would bother me.

Yes, we are painfully aware of the disadvantage. We have tried various staircase layouts and positions to access the second upper floor (OG2) with guests without passing by the children’s bedroom doors (and to have two lockable doors between the children’s rooms and the living area). However, this made the entrance area quite cramped.

And of course – having our recreational areas above the quiet rooms is definitely “unconventional” and has its drawbacks. However, we also see some advantages in it:
- All the quiet rooms would not fit on OG2 at all, as at least 25% of the floor area is missing (to make the roof terrace usable, even more). We would have to mix functions, whereas the current layout is clear.
- The view is better on OG2. I get significantly less of it in the bedroom than in the living/dining area.
- The mandatory open spaces on OG2 can be used directly. If the dining area were on OG1, an additional balcony would have to be added on OG1 (-> budget).
- With a flat roof, OG2 will certainly not stay cool all the time in summer, whereas OG1 likely has a slight advantage – which is also beneficial for the quiet rooms.

Wastl schrieb:
Personally, I don’t like it when guests, who are usually in our living/dining area, have to walk through the private rooms (children’s bedrooms) to get in or out. I would place the kitchen and related areas downstairs and the bedrooms upstairs. Also, carrying groceries through the home to the upper floor, passing by the children’s rooms, would bother me.

Hmm, maybe something like this...

Although the additional door would be extremely inconvenient during the day, as it would likely remain open, this setup might possibly work:

Thanks again to Wastl for the suggestion to reconsider this. Does anyone else have any suggestions? 🙂

First of all: I really like the ground floor! You gave good reasons for preferring to have the common areas in the attic. Would it be possible to place the staircase as a three-quarter turn staircase entirely in the north recess? This way, you would have a bit more hallway space, but on the first floor you could have the storage room and bathroom adjacent to the staircase. The other resting rooms would then be more separated from it.