Arrangement house and parking spaces - small plot - house with a granny flat

Hello everyone,

first of all, thanks to the forum, it’s fun to read along!

Here are the preliminary information if available regarding my project:

Development Plan/Restrictions

Size of the plot - 342sqm
Slope - no
Floor area ratio - 0.4
Plot ratio - 0.6
Building window, building line and boundary - see picture
Edge development - 3m distance to the street
Number of parking spaces - 3 (due to the granny flat, regulations of § 19 para.4 Federal Land Utilization Ordinance will have to be applied here)
Number of storeys - 2
- free
Style - tbd
Orientation - see picture
Maximum heights/limits - tbd
Further specifications - 5.5m driveway to the garage must be kept clear from the plot boundary

Requirements of the builders

Style, roof shape, building type - Flat roof and loggia currently still interesting. Solid construction
Basement, floors - Basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of persons, age - 2 adults 30 years + 2 small children plus the parents-in-law in the granny flat each 60 years
Room requirements on GF, UF - Currently still the idea/pipe dream to keep bedrooms downstairs and living and dining area upstairs
Office: family use or home office? - Extra home office room optional
Overnight guests per year - should be possible but solutions can be found
Open or closed architecture - tbd
Conservative or modern construction - tbd
Open kitchen, kitchen island - Open kitchen, kitchen island not necessary
Number of dining seats - 6 regularly, for guests 10-12 gladly also improvised
Fireplace - no
Music/stereo wall - no priority
Balcony, roof terrace - Loggia interesting but not a must
Garage, carport - 1 garage, 2 carports/parking spaces
Utility garden, greenhouse - no

Further wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be - We were inspired by the Artis 301 from Fingerhaus as inspiration for the loggia and the idea of living and dining area upstairs.

The plan for the house will be tackled in the next days and weeks. Since no rooms are planned yet, I would first like to focus on the surroundings, i.e. integration of garage/parking spaces.

For this, you will find first options provided here with pictures as a basis for discussion. The house dimensions are of course still flexible. One idea is to combine a carport and the roof over the front door, therefore directly in front of the garage. However, this carport would not be an official parking space, so the other two (if approved by the municipality) could also be used for turning on the property.

How would you sensibly arrange/design parking spaces/house?

Thanks already for your feedback. If anything is unclear, please just let me know briefly!

Best regards

First of all, thank you for the visual differentiation of the answers in the questionnaire. I read several contradictions: no slope, but the living floor above; "solid construction" but the inspirational design (without the desired granny flat) from the timber frame panel builder. The parking spaces will require about 8m driveway width in option 1, and short cars with four-wheel steering in option 2.

Thanks for the quick feedback! Valid point regarding no slope but living area on the upper floor. Apart from it not being common, is there anything specific against it? Carrying groceries upstairs etc. is of course clear. The house floor plan will be discussed/created with the house building company starting next week. Regarding parking spaces in option 1, I am less critical about the driveway width at first glance, your objection to option 2 is justified. Would you arrange the parking spaces differently here or plan the house dimensions more elongated or wider?

The house cannot have much more floor space than already indicated. And that roughly corresponds to the shown floor plan of the Artis 301 ... and that clearly shows that space for a granny flat is more than tight. A granny flat for a couple of about 60 years old will not be a tiny place with 25 sqm, but rather about 50-60 sqm. So ... where is that supposed to come from? To get a feel for the areas, just google Ytong MGH 232

The plot is already small anyway, and if you then put the living area on the upper floor, you actually also need a staircase from the loggia to the garden. If you apparently like having visitors, it is also very practical, especially with still smaller children, to be able to open the living/dining area towards the terrace/garden and thus also be able to comfortably have visitors with children.

That is a lot of house on a small area. In my opinion, the plot is completely unsuitable for your project. But let's see:

I also think option 2 is rubbish, as already pointed out. For option 1, the question is whether the driveway is already too close to the curve area. I would check this with the building authority before the building application, either as a short preliminary request or best with a sketch in hand. That the driveway would then be at least 8m wide is not a problem for me at first. What I don’t see is carport and garage one behind the other, because that quickly exceeds 9m of boundary construction. That is the generally accepted maximum size for one boundary - unless your development plan says otherwise?

Otherwise, I see the parents completely on the ground floor including the utility room and stairway, bedrooms + bathrooms on the first floor, common room + roof terrace as desired in the attic. If the budget still allows, a basement can be added. But the budget was once again kept secret. Therefore, I assume for now that nothing more is possible.

I would try to avoid placing the front door in the driveway to the garage. Even the smallest step platform for the front door would be completely in the way. Also, the car is often parked right in front of the door, which is annoying too.

What you ultimately cannot expect is space to play for the children in any "garden" or even to sit on the lawn yourself, unless the parents invite you onto their (probably) built-over terrace. Because as we can clearly see: there is no room left even for a terrace. By the way, it counts towards the floor area ratio and is usually not allowed in the boundary area (unless your development plan or state building code says otherwise).

Addition: Whether the parking spaces may be located directly on the street at all is also yet to be clarified.