A first draft of our architect... Your opinion please

painted:
Several lines that are crossed out: Cloakroom symbol
Small solid square: Drain
Dressing room: Dressing table
Line, dashed: Wall

Hello everyone,

We have just received new drafts from our architect, which partially incorporate your ideas. I would be happy if many of you could provide feedback.

A few brief notes:

- the small bathroom on the upper floor will become a storage room
- the dressing room will be slightly widened towards the bedroom
- bathroom fixtures are not final

Additionally, the following questions:

- would you place a window strip above the sink on the west side in the large bathroom?
- is a wider window advisable in the second children's room?
- do you have any other ideas?

Looking forward to your feedback.

Best regards
Grobi

I'll start with the upper floor:

You can see your email address.

The purpose of the storage room – but especially the access only through the parent area – does not really make sense to me, nor does the very generous seating area by the stairs. Such areas always look very nice, but are rarely used. For me, it would be a waste of space, but if you like it, that's okay.

The house size easily allows for 2 large children's rooms + children's bathroom + parent area. So why give that up?
Children's rooms arranged on the left side of the plan, parent area on the right.
It is often desired that the parent area faces east because of the morning sun, but you don’t benefit from that since there is no window.
So I somehow assume you don’t prefer a specific direction for the children's rooms/bedrooms.
Especially considering that you place child 2 with a small window facing northwest.

Attached is a redraw of the upper floor with a different room layout (2 versions):

- Bathroom planning completely set aside.

- A long hallway with windows on both sides would still exist, if desired. I would probably at least cut off the hallway on the north side (bottom of the plan) and assign it to the storage room. 24m² of hallway alone on the upper floor is already insane.

- The children's bathroom can also be reduced into the niche "behind" the stairs, leaving the window for the stairs intact, but then you would have to somehow get onto this ledge with a small ladder from the stairs to clean it since it is no longer accessible.

Ground floor:

I don’t quite understand the division of the 2 hallways. It makes the entrance area unnecessarily small.
The shared staircase from hallway and kitchen in the living area will certainly look great.
However, you would have to think about how to furnish the room. If you don’t have a TV, that’s not an issue; with a TV, it becomes difficult because the couch would almost have to stand somewhere in the room; otherwise, the distance from the couch to the TV is really very far.

The purpose of the storage room – but especially the access only through the parents’ area – doesn’t quite make sense to me, likewise the extremely generous seating area by the stairs. Such areas always look very nice, but are rarely used. For me, it would be a waste of space, if you like it, ok.

The lady of the house really likes this open area on the upper floor, so I don’t need to argue about waste of space. I do understand your point, of course. The storage room is supposed to be somewhat enlarged (see your version 1) and in any case accessible from the hallway.

The house easily allows for 2 large children’s rooms + children’s bathroom + parents’ area in terms of size. So why give that up?

If we swap the dressing room and bedroom with the children’s rooms, it no longer fits with the rear facade appearance. The window in the hallway (south side) is exactly above a window element in the living room. Direct access through the dressing room to the bathroom would of course be nice, but the second door reduces the freedom of furnishing (note also the fireplace, which runs through the bathroom). Another bathroom certainly has its advantages, but we are not entirely convinced.

It is often desired that the parents’ area is oriented to the east because of the morning sun, but you don’t have that since there is no window. So I somehow assume you don’t prefer a specific direction for the children’s rooms/bedrooms. Especially considering that you place child 2 with a small window facing northwest

We are still considering whether to install a window on the east side in the bedroom. That would then be above the bed, which I don’t find so favorable. The small window in the children’s room should definitely be enlarged by one element.

I don’t quite understand the division of the two hallways. It makes the entrance area unnecessarily small

I would also like this area to be open, but the architect says that the (unheated) area should somehow be separated. Would there be another alternative for that?

However, one should consider how the room is furnished. If you don’t have a TV, that’s not an issue, but with a TV it becomes difficult, because then the couch almost has to stand somewhere in the room, otherwise the distance from couch to TV becomes really very far.

We definitely have a TV and don’t want to do without it. We’re still thinking about how to arrange it, but hanging the TV on the opposite north wall wouldn’t be an option somehow. Letting the couch extend with a corner into the room and hanging the TV on the south wall of the living room would still be a possibility...

The staircase is simply placed so poorly that no matter what floor plan you use, you always lose space or create awkward long rooms... I would put it somewhere else so that it makes more sense...

The staircase is just placed so poorly that no matter what floor plan you use, you always lose space or create weirdly long rooms... I would put it somewhere else so that it makes more sense...

Since we are building on an existing basement, the poor location of the staircase to the upper floor was unfortunately fixed. The original plan (the former builder could no longer continue construction after the basement) envisioned a recessed upper floor, which we did not like in terms of space. Therefore, we now have to work with the given conditions.

Maybe one more question about the hallway area on the ground floor... Do you see any other possibilities to create a thermal separation of the unheated basement? As has already pointed out, this makes the hallway area unnecessarily narrow.