Designing hillside property - Earthworks / Retaining wall cost options

We want to build as high as possible. On the one hand, because then we have a better view into the valley, on the other hand because less earth has to be removed.

I see a considerable gap between desire and motivation.

Split level will not work. a) we don't need an exit towards the west and b) that would mean a lot of earth removal with high costs c) with the exit we would even be below street level.

I have now read that three times and not understood it once :-(

Thank you for your response. I am not a construction expert, just someone who would like to have a home of their own :) If I have any errors in my thinking, it would help me if you describe them accordingly. Unfortunately, your statement does not help me.

The higher we go with the single-family house (maximally using the 0.5m tolerance), the less earth has to be removed during the excavation work. If we were to build very deep and want a level garden, then the entire slope at the back would have to be removed. Is that a thinking error?

Split level means that there is a completely free basement, right? (i.e., cellar completely exposed). That would mean that I have to transport significantly more earth away. That would also mean that, given the single-family house, we would have to go significantly deeper into the plot and thus have even greater height differences on the property.

I also did not understand the split-level thing.

Your carport catches the slope in the east. In the north, you have to catch the driveway, as it is higher than the neighbor.
You calculate 100 euros per square meter for the paving. That is the cheap rectangular paving stone.
If you place the driveway closer to the street, you save money.
House connections cost money depending on the supplier, either per meter or a fixed price for x meters.

With the basement, you are not building 140 sqm, but almost 200 sqm.

The view from your terrace into the valley is zero.
Especially since the terrace is located between the house and the slope. You need to catch it towards the southeast.

Split-level would really be a solution.

Carport in the west and as far south as possible.
Shorter driveway and catches the slope. Where you wrote 2 m. The carport roof becomes a terrace.
Sun from the south and the view.

Give the basement more light and attention. Do not consider the basement as an appendix that has to be pushed under a house. Use it. Move necessary rooms there. You can reduce the footprint.

Thanks Haydee for the explanations. I actually had something different in mind for the split level. I hadn’t really considered it before and will look into it. However, the concept probably doesn’t work with "I choose a house provider, sign the contract, and then discuss it with their architects." For this, I would probably have to pay 8-10k upfront, find an independent architect to design the house on the plot, and then look for the right house-building company with the concept. A split-level house clearly involves a significantly higher planning effort and certainly requires competent planners with experience in this type of construction. Does the higher price then balance out with lower earthworks / no basement? Do I understand your layout (roughly sketched) correctly? Then the garden/terrace would mainly be located in the north and west and would therefore be partially shaded by the house and carport (depending on the height of the buildings).

I am not a construction expert

All the more confused I am with four decades of amateur experience, when you come up with lines of thought that I can hardly follow. But by now I am beginning to understand that these are probably rather naive thoughts. "Thinking error" would still be too big a word. Let’s rather say: practice is more complex than all the clever laboratory thoughts. In practice, you will not teleport an excavator to an ideal support point, nor will you cleverly plan the civil engineering work only with reference to the base slab surface area. In theory, you can delicately muse over that while swirling a glass of cognac – but then in practice, the excavator driver just speeds over it before you know it. On the other hand, you have probably thought less about backfills than about minimizing the amount of shoveling away. You will need an experienced professional who is appropriate to the slope (and that is not the draftsman of the prefab house dealer).

Split Level means that there is a completely free basement, right?

The answer "or" is correct. Split Level means "split floor levels." This often allows you to follow the terrain more cleverly in steep (or in your case the nasty dimension is rather the diagonal gradient) slopes than with "rigidly planned" floor levels, which at best can be balanced out on average to a lazy compromise, but are always too low at one corner and too high at the opposite one. Especially from your way of thinking, which relates the heights almost to the absolute lowest point of the property, it would seem more logical to me not to pump up the top edge of the finished floor on the ground floor straight up.

But the concept probably doesn’t work with "I pick a house provider, sign a contract, and then discuss it with their architect."
For this I would probably first have to pay 8-10k in advance, find an independent architect who plans the house on the plot for me, and then look for the right house building company with the concept. A split-level house certainly looks like significantly higher planning effort and definitely requires competent planners experienced in that construction method. Does the higher price then offset through lower earthworks / no basement?

You still have a lot to learn ;-)
An independent architect is indispensable on a slope, but it also pays off fully. The most money can be wasted, especially as a hillside builder, by following the suggestions of a house seller (as you can also see in other slope building threads, not least currently the one by ). And you will also find two architect alternatives through this forum, one of which is me personally (google "Here writes the 11ant", or search the forum here for posts by me with the keyword "Heidelberg," where the other is mentioned). Have you already clicked into the recommended thread by ?

The concept probably doesn’t work with "I choose a house provider, sign a contract, and then discuss it with their architect."

In that variant, the architect doesn’t do much but just places the house in the building application. That then is not really an architect but rather the 11antöse drawing servant. However, as soon as you have special requirements, it is likely worth it to first work out a floor plan with an architect that is adapted to the requirements (e.g., the terrain). And only then look at who will build it or simply build directly with the architect in individual contracting. The higher planning effort in your case does not arise from a split level but from the slope.