Apartment renovation on 2 floors in an old building

Hello everyone,

we are a family of 4 and live on the upper floor of a multi-family house (4 apartments), which we own. Since space is gradually becoming tight and the ground floor apartment is becoming available, we would like to expand and connect the two apartments above each other on the garden side.

In the past, quite a bit has already been renovated and remodeled on the house.
Among other things, the floor plan on the upper floor was changed, underfloor heating was installed everywhere including tiling, all windows were replaced, the roof insulated, balconies renovated, apartment entrance doors, front door, and garage doors replaced.

Basically, we are focusing primarily on the ground floor, where we would like to create more space.
I have attached the floor plans to show how it currently looks (G1). Additionally, I have also included the floor plans of the entire house (ground floor + upper floor), which do not exactly correspond to reality. For example, the open seating area was never realized but built as a kind of "conservatory." These are the two apartments on the right side in the plans.

In the next two posts, I will go into the planned states.

First, the questionnaire:

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 800sqm
Slope no
Site coverage ratio -
Floor area ratio -
Building window, building line and boundary
Edge development no
Number of parking spaces 6
Number of storeys 1.5
Roof shape gable roof
Style
Orientation
Maximum heights/limits
Other requirements

Requirements of the builders
Style, roof shape, building type
Basement, storeys basement, 1.5 storeys
Number of people, age 4 in the apartment, 7 in the whole house
Space requirement on ground floor, upper floor
Office: family use or home office? family use
Overnight guests per year rarely
Open or closed architecture rather open if possible
Conservative or modern construction modern inside
Open kitchen, kitchen island depending on possibility, see floor plans
Number of dining seats 6-8
Fireplace no
Music/stereo wall no
Balcony, roof terrace existing, see floor plans
Garage, carport 4 garages on the street side
Utility garden, greenhouse no
Further wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should not be

House design
By whom is the planning:
initially DIY, preliminary discussion with structural engineer done, civil engineer will be involved
What do you like in particular? Why?
larger, open rooms
What do you not like? Why?
small rooms
Price estimate according to architect/planner:
none so far
Personal price limit for the house, including fittings:
-
Preferred heating technology:
currently oil burner, will be modernized to heat pump if possible, calculation is ongoing

If you have to do without, which details/extensions
-you can do without:
-you cannot do without:

Why is the design the way it is now? E.g.
Structural constraints due to the existing building apply.

What is the most important/basic question regarding the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
see description above or in following posts.

In this post you can see the first option for the renovation (G2).

We are not sure if there is enough space to nicely design the kitchen, living and dining area.
A disadvantage of this solution is that we still have 2 additional rooms downstairs that are not needed this way. Maybe it is not a disadvantage, but one study/guest room on the ground floor would be completely sufficient for us, the bedrooms and children's rooms are then upstairs.

Another disadvantage would be the small/narrow bathroom, which looks the same on the upper floor. But we could manage that as well, since our current bathroom is also quite small.

We are also not sure if there is enough space for the dining table and if the arrangement is okay. The table is to be newly purchased and should accommodate 6-8 people (180cm, possibly extendable).

The advantage of this floor plan would be that the renovation measures would not be so extensive and we would still gain space.

All furniture including the kitchen is inserted only as an example to show how we basically imagine the whole thing.

Our second idea for the floor plan is as follows (G3). Significant remodeling work is required here. Although you won’t have an open kitchen, it does not become smaller, and you gain more space in the living and dining area.

All furniture including the kitchen is inserted only as an example to show how we basically envision the whole thing.

We wonder whether the significant remodeling work is worth it to change the floor plan in this way.

Of course, we are aware that it is also a matter of taste, but maybe you see something that we don't or haven't considered.

Therefore, we would like to hear your opinion.

If I have forgotten anything, I will be happy to provide it later.

Why don't you also open up the kitchen in the second draft and then work with a cooking island?

For my feeling, you are opening very many load-bearing walls. I wonder if the statics can handle that? I’ll throw in the idea of dividing the rooms differently (load-bearing walls could largely be preserved). The very unequal children's rooms are unfortunate.

Ground floor:
- Child 1/2
- Children's bathroom
- Kitchen
- Dining

Upper floor:
- Living (TV, sofa area)
- Sleeping
- Work/Guest
- Bathroom
- Utility room

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Without knowing the ceiling plans, it still seems fundamentally likely to me that this maisonette combination of the ground floor and attic floor will be possible with a reasonable structural effort. The article title is somewhat misleading: this is obviously not an Altbuilding, but merely an existing building (estimated to be from the seventies, so clearly already from the time of the FRG).