City villa with office - Feedback & smart optimization ideas requested

I only said what the room was intended for, as it was presented by the architect and it used to be much bigger. And yes, if I invest so much money in a house, then I don’t want to just follow a standard formula and the usual 0815, I also want to treat myself to my own little oasis. Some think and act very practically and only need a roof over their heads, others want a bathroom for snorers.

but it’s not enough to just allocate 1-2 sqm per room if the space eaters are these additional rooms that you don’t really need. Just imagine mentally what a toilet in a garage is doing, while food and liquor are stored in the kitchen. Maybe I just can’t imagine it anymore, since garage parties were only celebrated before I finished school. With us, the parties are held in the living room. Anyway: you have over 25 sqm corridor space downstairs, but the utility room is far from the kitchen. If the parent unit is firmly planned, place the garage toilet in the shortened corridor, make the utility room somewhat more central and shorten corridor and kitchen. It will result in a different floor plan. I would start by omitting the elongated dressing room and shift the right-hand side of the house to the left. Also downstairs. There should still be enough space left for the rest.

downsizing and streamlining the same house will, as so often, not work. A simpler, newly designed floor plan, however, will. Paper is patient! In this phase, I would take advantage of that to obtain various fundamentally different options

So you want to stick to this design and optimize/shrink it? I would have the architect take another look with clear instructions. Max. 230 sqm. Fewer protrusions and recesses/balconies. 15 sqm office is enough ... etc. For me, there are too many inappropriate corners here (excessively large master area and office, child 1 is fragmented and too small for the size of the house, the balcony in the sauna area is nice but especially with a roof this costs a lot, huge balcony at the study) That’s what she’s paid for. But I also don’t see why such a house necessarily has to have SmartHome. Everyone can set their own priorities (and I say that even though we install SmartHome ourselves) and decide what to spend their money on. For some, space and a representative exterior are important. For others, SmartHome, controlled ventilation, and other technical gimmicks. But I admit that I consider architects who cannot plan according to budget incapable.

I agree with you, it shouldn’t be flashy on the outside and shabby on the inside. But it won’t be a Mercedes Benz either, just solid within normal limits.

We also talked to an architect four years ago before we finally decided on a condominium. He gave us a similar fantasy with the statement “We can do that for X EUR per sqm...”

One should keep in mind that architects’ cost estimates can easily deviate significantly in the end. I think 20% is not uncommon. That would be 110,000 EUR more for you. Can and do you want to afford that?

No one here in the forum wants to spoil or discourage your planning. But as Yvonne already said, you should really start all over again and think about what is truly important to you and how much you want to spend at most.

It gets bitter in the end if it turns out that your wishes cannot be realized for 2,000 €/sqm and you have to spend rather 2,800 €/sqm.

I don’t know where everyone always gets the 2,000 €/sqm figure as a rough guideline. That is really outdated and absolutely no longer current. I claim that at present, you cannot get normal execution for less than 2,100–2,200 €/sqm. And that would be very far from the standard you want.

Even if your father-in-law builds the shell for free or at material cost, you should consider that the shell only accounts for about 30% of the total costs.

I don’t know where everyone always gets the €2,000/sqm from as a rough guide. That is really outdated and absolutely no longer relevant.

The €2000/sqm refers on average to a standard cookie-cutter house from a general contractor (or another builder) compliant with the energy saving ordinance, plastered and without floor coverings. And without a garage. Lower prices are found in Lower Saxony, higher in NRW and/or Bavaria.

Additional costs apply for bay windows and more complicated roofs, as well as of course technology, balconies, and additional energy features. Not to mention window design and expensive facing bricks. With the price of garage doors and the necessary technology here, others buy a simple prefabricated garage. And it’s not as if they only have the demand for this simple garage, just as little as their only demand is an 8sqm home office room. No, they just know they can’t afford more. And then they end up with their plastered 170sqm standard villa with some small extras in the equipment and a double carport with garden shed also costing over €400,000.
So unfortunately I don’t see the balance here between wish, reality and calculation.
I’m not blaming anyone (architect?), but it is just the way it is: the budget does not match the wishes.
I roughly estimated the kitchen once and looked for potential savings:
I count 6 60cm high cabinets there, 3-4 would also do. One third of the work surface could be taken away, there would still be enough space left to satisfy. The distance from the sink to the island is too large anyway… so: there is potential for reduction there, if allowed.

Enlarging or reducing rooms basically does not work by pushing out or pulling in outer walls. You should stay within limited bounds. Fundamentally, an architect works that way, even when it comes to individuality.

Himmel Smart Home does not mean that every room is crammed with sensors and stuff. Is everything here only black and white?
How many houses do not have controlled residential ventilation?

I just wanted to say: a million-dollar villa on the outside and flair on the inside. If that's what someone wants, okay.

A platform stair or straight stair, outside the dirt area, which can also be found in many smaller houses, is possible with fewer square meters.
Even positioning the stair differently would be better. Who wants to walk through snow mud puddles on socks?

Every forward and backward offset causes costs due to thermal insulation and/or thermal bridges; for you, it even leads to costs in the attic.
Why does the bicycle section of the garage have only a flat roof and this small recess?

Kitchen smaller and more ergonomic. has made suggestions. If the square meters remain, maybe generate a small storage room here for cleaning cloths, freezer, and water crate.
Then the technical room could possibly be somewhat reduced and would then only serve as storage space for tools. This way, the extension could be omitted.