Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Especially since the situation is good at the moment... I still have contact with my house seller. He has nothing to do at the moment... there are simply no more interested parties.

I wouldn't be surprised if many architects or GCs now simply follow the maxim: whoever wants to afford many sqm also has the money, so I add a markup first.

If I have to save, surely many start with the sqm, as you might calculate more tightly right away because "the competition" for 120 sqm houses is perhaps even higher than for 170-200 sqm single-family houses.

Quite possible. Whoever walks purposefully towards the 7 Series in the BMW dealership... the new car salesperson does not necessarily assume that they can only afford a 1 Series.

I will probably also ask 1 or 2 GCs. I just fear that if I go to the GCs now, they will quickly question what the architect has done so far. Then it's the typical architect thing, everything is complicated, it can be done much easier. And then usually the planning is adjusted towards pragmatism for the construction company (I am thinking, for example, of a ground-level balcony exit). And the position of the client is then weakened if you stand there without an architect. But of course, you have to question all of that with the costs nowadays. I basically do that nonstop ;)

I wouldn't be surprised if many architects or GCs now simply follow the maxim: whoever wants to afford many sqm also has the money, so I'll add a surcharge first

If I have to save, many would surely start with the sqm, calculating more tightly because "the competition" for 120sqm houses might be even higher than for 170-200sqm single-family houses

I have obtained five GC offers in the last three months. Of course, there were partly large price differences, but none of them even remotely came close to your amount. The only difference with us is the almost 180 m² spread over two floors, with a garage included. I do not have the feeling that I live in an economically weak region that would justify such price differences...

Why then with an architect? What in the end a general contractor (GU) can do just as well, or even cheaper.

I’m starting to ask myself the same question. In the coming weeks we will visit two general contractors (GUs) and cross-check this. Just looking at the price list of Viebrockhaus it seems like you might be able to get a bit more for that money (fully aware that there are still additional building overhead costs and extra requests).