ᐅ Unpopular Terraced House Plot Seeking Floor Plan and Building Family – Floor Plan (Version 4) Open for Feedback and Suggestions

Dear forum community,

We have reserved a narrow terraced house plot that had been overlooked through three rounds of tenders.

This is our attempt to (almost) boldly and naively dive into a planned adventure with a rather small plot. A little piece of land for us, with a garden and a dog – simply security and not having to move again.

From now on, the luxury problems that all builders face when building on the edge of what’s possible: no basement, limited windows, terraced house. But what wouldn’t you do to be able to plant a tree… seriously – can we even build like this, or are we about to make a mistake?

Development Plan / Restrictions

House Position:

Development Plan:

Terraced House Requirements:

Legend:

Plot size: 284 sqm (3,054 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.6
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Full stories: 2

Building window, building line and boundary: Terraced house with permitted boundary construction, see development plan link.
On the upper floor (possibly on full stories?), a 3m (10 ft) distance to the neighbor’s residential building must be maintained. Therefore, in my opinion: if the 3m (10 ft) distance is observed on the ground and upper floors by the two garages west/east as follows: own garage (west) → own house → neighbor’s garage (east), then 7.50m (24.6 ft) width can be used for the house.

Peripheral building: garage or carport
Number of parking spaces: 2 (1 carport, 1 in front of the house)
Number of stories: 2
Roof type: gable roof
Style: classic to modern
Plot size: 284 sqm (3,054 sq ft)
Slope: no
Site coverage ratio: 0.6
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Full stories: 2

Building window, building line and boundary:
Terraced house with permitted boundary construction, see images of the development plan.
On the upper floor (possibly on full stories?), a 3m (10 ft) distance must be maintained to the neighbor’s wall. Therefore, as I understand it: if the 3m (10 ft) distance is maintained for ground and upper floors by the two garages west/east: own garage (west) → own house → neighbor’s garage (east). This means 7.50m (24.6 ft) can be used as the house width, just as the neighboring terraced houses have built.
Peripheral building: garage or carport
Number of parking spaces: 2 (1 carport, 1 in front of the house)
Number of stories: 2
Roof type: gable roof
Style: classic to modern
Orientation: open living area facing south (garden)
Maximum heights/limits: see development plan images

Further requirements:
Stormwater infiltration is 100% routed into the sewer system, no windows allowed on the east side (terraced house, quiet/view area) – except skylight over stairs and bathroom window. However, this is restricted by the garage, so these would mainly be used on the upper floor.

Opposite on the north side, a kindergarten and a three-story multi-family building with underground parking (TG-1) are planned – see surrounding image.
Neighbor to the west built higher than we plan, and the east plot is free.

Builders’ requirements
Basement, floors: no basement, preferably two full stories, cold attic as a pitched roof
Number of people, ages: 32, 40 (planning children)
House size: based on the development plan and wishes, a 7.50m (24.6 ft) by 11m (36 ft) house should be sufficient to keep costs manageable.

Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor:

Ground floor:
Open-plan living space
Utility/service wall
Small wardrobe area
Pantry
Guest room
Guest shower bathroom

Upper floor:
1 main bedroom (classic)
1 child’s room 1
1 room for child 2 / office (home office) / guest
1 small storage room
1 utility room
1 shower bathroom

Guests per year: 4–5 (parents and siblings) staying longer periods (2x 3 weeks per year) and occasional family visits. The guest room must be on the ground floor due to the parents.

Open kitchen or cooking island:
Work or cooking island if reasonable and desired. Initial ideas have been drawn. Only oven (built-in, tall), dishwasher (built-in, tall), induction cooktop, refrigerator (existing: 60x203 cm (24x80 in)), toaster, kettle. No other appliances, no extractor hood desired, since controlled mechanical ventilation with cooking switch is planned.
Number of dining seats: 4–6
Fireplace: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: mandatory with 3x6 m (10x20 ft), possibly greened
Vegetable garden, greenhouse: no

Other wishes / special features / daily routine, also reasons why some things should or should not be:

• We want a music/media wall with 2.24m (7.35 ft) width for a permanent screen (not rollable), total wall width at least 3m (10 ft) so there is room for speakers and a lowboard.
• A niche for a dresser, e.g., in the entrance hall, would be nice.
• We are still open about the stairs, storage space under the stairs preferred; about 1 sqm (11 sq ft) pantry area would be desirable – pantry because there is no basement and a "cooler" storage area would be good. We cook a lot.
• Network cabinet in the utility room
• For the shower bathrooms, we want tiled open shower niches because glass is not desired in the household… but in the guest shower bathroom, we would consider a low-maintenance solution, due to the problem of wall junctions and calcification. Using a Kärcher on tiles seems simpler and more hygienic for our hard water.

House design
Who planned it: Do-it-Yourself, floor plans for narrow houses and semi-detached house templates, started on the ground floor like every layperson.

What do you particularly like? Why?
Versions 1 to 4 were created chronologically and would roughly reflect my preference order. Therefore, I discuss favorite V4 first, as this should receive the critiques.

V4: Small wardrobe and pantry now exist, small but nicely integrated under the stairs, enabling space for the hi-fi wall due to the length of the required wall. This offers a similarly nice layout as in V1 (open), but with more light and more space for feature walls/furniture. Could the skylight in the hallway help with kitchen lighting?

V3: The 180-degree angled staircase saves space. It lacks a wardrobe and pantry – just an experiment. V4 handled that better.

V2: Classic semi-detached house layout. System staircase with half-turn. Too cramped and dark for us. We gain space and light with the open living area. Looks tidy on paper but was rejected internally.

V1: System staircase with half-turn. Here, the short hall and transition to a large open kitchen appeal. Light and communication in the open living area must mainly come from the south. Affordable system staircase in beech. Pantry is missing. Less light than V2–V4 since one window wall serves as hi-fi wall. Therefore, we dared a restart with V3.

A quarter-turn staircase with landing would also work but, in my opinion, takes up too much space. Which staircase would you choose?

Price estimate according to architect/planner:
Still unclear whether to take V4 to the architect or go directly with the general contractor. Should they see the floor plans or start fresh on a greenfield site?

DIY work:
Flooring and painting (except tiles), doors, making the attic accessible, network cabinet in the utility room.

Building services:
Heat pump + underfloor heating
Central ventilation with heat recovery
KFW55
Electric shutters only where necessary
Power sockets, lighting, and LAN
Wallbox and solar preparation

If you had to give up, which details/build features
- could you give up:

• Must give up the basement – neighbor already showed us calculations – definitely not feasible. Everything must be planned out on floor plans – with compromises.
• Lower ceiling height: for a slightly walkable stair and cost reduction, e.g., 2780 mm (9 ft 1.5 in) instead of 2880 mm (9 ft 5.5 in) on the ground floor, 2650 mm (8 ft 8.5 in) on the upper floor.
• Cooking island or work peninsula would be nice, or none if needed.

- could not give up:

• Two small storage rooms (no basement!)
• Small pantry
• Hi-fi/home theater wall
• Guest room on the ground floor → for the parents.

Why is the design as it is now?
First, we tried to adapt standard floor plans, which didn’t work because the space on the ground floor isn’t enough for the generous room program. After visiting a semi-detached house, I came up with the idea of using a utility/service niche and building the utility room upstairs. This would work from our perspective – only the network operator’s electrician must agree, as I was told.
Due to boundary construction, we have a terraced house with window restrictions – on the ground floor because of garages on both sides and generally no east-facing windows. To get light into the guest room and bathroom, these are planned on the north side. We already love open kitchens – the TV hi-fi wall had a big influence on the plan.
A bit of experimenting with floor plans was necessary to understand the challenges that an architect/general contractor should solve and to put our own wishes on paper. I would have liked one more variant with a long kitchen counter and an island in front, then followed by the cinema wall and sofa area. But then the dining area would probably have ended up in the rather dark stairwell.

Additional question about the idea of the utility/service wall:

A. Location on the plot: see screenshot; would you consider 5m (16.4 ft) space from the curb sufficient for a car parking in front of the house? Would it be allowed later to extend the carport roof and create a 1m (3.3 ft) covered porch to the front door? Or better not since the windows would get less light?

B. Do the pipes on the upper floor need to run exactly at the same spot on a wall, or can they be moved 1–2 meters (3–7 ft) to align with the utility room wall upstairs?

I look forward to “Roast my floor plan” and hope it won’t end with “Roast house-building idea.”

Floor plans:

V4 Ground floor:
Please focus criticisms on V4

V4 Upper floor:

V3 Ground floor:

V3 Upper floor:

V2 Ground floor:

V1 Ground floor:

V1 + V2 Upper floor:

The problem starts with trying to include a guest room of 9m² (100 sq ft) in such a cramped house meant for two people, for just about 2 weeks of overnight guests per year, and moving the utility room upstairs to make space for it. That room will cost you around 25,000 EUR (assuming 2,500 EUR/m²) plus interest. You could spend many nights in a hotel instead, or simply buy a comfortable pull-out sofa for the living room for your guests. My mother, who is in her mid-70s, sleeps on our sofa about 20-25 days a year.

If you skip the guest room, you can keep the utility room on the ground floor where it belongs and enlarge the really tiny children’s rooms upstairs. Honestly, 10.5m² (113 sq ft) for a child’s room, where a child will live up to their 18th birthday and often several years beyond that, is barely enough space. You can hardly fit a 1.40m (55 inch) bed, and if you do, there’s barely room to turn around next to the wardrobe, shelves, and desk.

Given the size of the house, you should also avoid features like a pantry, storage room, or similar. Food should be stored in one or two tall kitchen cabinets with pull-out drawers. The utility room can be cleverly equipped with shelves or you can place one or two cabinets in the hallway for extra storage. Separate rooms take up disproportionate space due to extra walls and doors that need to open somewhere. Your 1.92m² (20.7 sq ft) storage room in the V3b OG design is too narrow to even fit a long shelf—it’s only about 80-85cm (31-33 inches) wide, which matches the 735mm (29 inch) door you’ve planned there.

I would also skip the shower on the ground floor. It’s not often that everyone needs to shower at the same time, and you simply don’t have space for it.

Focus on the children’s rooms, the kitchen, and the living room. That’s where 95% of life happens. Of course, sometimes in the bedroom too, but basically, you just need the bed in there.

Since it is currently not possible to work properly with user profiles, thread history, or the topic archive, I will wait to respond until the essential basic functions have been restored.
I am not paid here, so I must avoid any effort that takes up an unreasonable amount of time :-(

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Thanks for the initial feedback.
But the main reason for at least 7.5sqm (80.7 sq ft) for a guest room on the ground floor is that the room is needed year-round for health reasons – hence the shower as well. I didn’t want to go into detail – it’s a strict requirement and the room will also be used for guests. It should definitely be around 7.5sqm (80.7 sq ft).

I’m still struggling with the rest of the criticism and wondering why?
Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up in a house but in apartments. 7sqm (75.3 sq ft) rooms per child were quite a lot.

Today, rooms of 11-12.5sqm (118-134.5 sq ft) for children sound good! Back then, 6sqm (64.6 sq ft) was still better than one room for both! And yes, it was small. But it was my own space and retreat as a child.

And now about the storage room: in the apartment, we have 80x110cm (31.5x43.3 inches) with a 61cm (24 inches) door. It’s really tight, but besides food supplies, tools, spare parts, toilet paper, cleaning buckets, and so on, surprisingly much fits in. If you don’t have a basement, you need this. Given the choice, giving each child 1sqm (10.8 sq ft) less is better than the family losing a 2sqm (21.5 sq ft) storage room. If necessary, and as a compromise, a household closet in the upper-floor hallway. On the ground floor, give up the pantry and only have a storage room under the stairs.

I don’t like the upper floor of V4 at all. Too many corners, difficult to furnish.
I prefer V3 on both the ground floor and the upper floor. I would also remove that small pantry.

Could a technical solution be an option so that the small bedroom can be eliminated? For example, a stairlift.
The ground floor would benefit a lot if that whole area was removed.
Where should the building services go?

Hello,

the development plan specifies a depth of 10 m (33 feet) for the main building. You have planned 11 m (36 feet). I interpret this requirement as a fixed dimension, not a minimum measurement.

Best regards