Alternative for office/home office on the ground floor

Thank you for your explanations.

I couldn’t work like you do because it’s never quiet here. And since I either want to solve complex tasks or make a lot of phone calls, I need, for example, a separate room for that.

Next idea: How about an attic conversion in the new building? Is that cheaper than, for example, giving up 10 sqm on the ground floor? We always assume 2000 €/sqm in the forum – so you save, for example, 20 sqm = 40,000 €. Can you get a properly converted attic for less money? Including insulation, electricity, windows, underfloor heating, and stairs? After all, there is plenty of space available then.

And does the room affect KFW 55? Should the conversion possibly take place after the blower door test?

I couldn't work like you do, since it's never quiet here. And I either want to solve complex tasks or make a lot of phone calls

Everyone is different in this regard. I have several years of open-plan office experience and am hard to distract. That's certainly not everyone's cup of tea. I had set up a study before, and I would then spend entire evenings there even though I only wanted to "quickly do something." Now I am forced into near-complete paperlessness, leave nothing unfinished lying around, and am 100% present for my family and hobbies — without losing my presence at work. Currently, however, I have a long-term assignment off-site and am provided with an office.

We always assume €2000/sqm in the forum

No one can manage without their own contribution at that rate anymore. The sqm construction prices are just as nonsensical as a price per sqm for a car. Complexity can never be mastered by simplification. That only applies to complicated things.

I am also clearly in favor of an office on the ground floor. This way, as put it, I am present for the family (hobbies come after work) and at the same time have a greater separation – stairs – to the sleeping area. The door is important so that one is undisturbed during conference calls and the like.

Converting the attic is also not free, and if you do it properly (insulation, floors, heating, windows, possibly a toilet, different stairs, ...), you probably don’t save anything compared to a few more square meters of floor space.

Since my wife is a teacher, we planned an office for her right from the start. Due to all the GDPR stuff, it has to be lockable and the students' personal data must be secure. Besides, I don't want anything to do with it – we don't have that luxury yet in our apartment, and recently I spilled water over some exams. Fortunately, first, it was only water and not a beer after work, and second, the affected students had written with ballpoint pen and not ink. Phew, lucky.

Because of Corona, we also realized that it simply doesn't work for us to work together in an open room or shared space. I have video conferences and she teaches via Teams, also with video. Sure, I could work at the dining table. But I hate typing on the notebook and always need two monitors to be efficient. That would mean that there are always two screens lying around somewhere – which would drive my wife crazy, as it first looks messy and secondly reminds one of work.

We are now very glad to have planned a "hobby room" in the basement. Since I assume that even in our company we will make home office/mobile work the norm – even after Corona. Then I will partition off an area of the hobby room with a small partition wall and work downstairs, while she still has her office.

If I have the chance today with a new build, I would always plan a room for office use. Even if it is just a multipurpose room, dressing room/office with extendable tables. One should and must think about that.

I mean, even if you are an auto mechanic today. Who says I won’t have severe back problems in 10 years and then have to work in order taking or something like that. Then home office becomes an option again. If I then had to sit at the dining table forever, that would be very unfortunate.

The sqm construction prices are just as nonsensical

Hehe, I have to imagine a hectare-sized house right now