Driveway planning for large sloped property - 25% gradient

Hello and thank you very much for reading my post!

We are now also at the beginning of our planning. The house is already somewhat advanced and we are in the process of obtaining quotes for the earthworks and landscaping work.

About our plot: It is more than 2000sqm in size and is located on a slope. The slope itself has (street to forest path above the property) an elevation difference of about 19 meters. In the middle of the plot there are already some plateaus and also a small existing building. This is currently only accessible via a footpath and a few stairs. The house will be located fairly centrally on the slope – about 9-9.5m above street level.

In the planning of the house, our architect has also drawn in a driveway to the planned new building. However, the driveway would currently have a 25% incline at the steepest section. With a car that is probably still drivable, but walking up would be difficult, right? We also face the question of the surface. Gravel with grid pavers will probably also be a challenge at 25% incline and even pavement would have to be laid almost entirely “wet”, right? With snow and ice this might also become tricky.

The driveway is currently planned as follows:

Section - Slope - Height (above sea level)

[*] 0m - 0% - 295m
[*] 5m - 10% (295.5m)
[*] 10m - 20% (297.5m)
[*] 10m - 25% (300m)
[*] 10m - 25% (302.5m)
[*] 5m - 20% (303.5m)
[*] 3m - 10% (303.8m)
[*] 6m - 10% (304.4m)

So the driveway is currently 49m long and has a linear gradient of 19.4%.

The current plan is also attached (somewhat simplified). Two different versions are shown in it, but they do not change the slope.



I have been tinkering for days now on how to maybe lay out the driveway differently to get a less steep slope. If you place the beginning lower on the property, you would of course have to remove much more soil there and the garden would become smaller. If you place the driveway higher up, closer towards the street (no longer parallel to it), the driveway would also become longer, but then you would have to add and secure a lot more soil there.

Maybe it would be enough to make the curves a bit tighter and make the driveway rise faster? Or would that again cause problems with drivability?

The garage/parking space could of course also be placed a bit lower, but the carport/garage must be within the building envelope (dotted line). Then it would be difficult to get to the construction site or to bring deliveries to the house later on. When we are older this will of course also be difficult if we have more stairs here.

Does anyone perhaps have a good idea what could be done?

Does anyone here perhaps have a good idea of what could be done?

I think you can be helped there, has a similar situation and is here quite often.

Is accessible on foot and by vehicle as planned. However, not comfortable and best with flat shoes. In winter it could become difficult. Regardless of the garage location, you need a driveway to the house for deliveries.

I would leave the garage there. Bite the bullet and model the slope a bit more evenly. Plan a parking space at the bottom, for ice and snow, driveway only gravel, not too fine. This way it stays grippy on ice.

but walking up will be difficult, right?

Anything over 15% will be difficult.

two different versions

The red dashed line is supposed to be a version? If the margin is that tight, there’s nothing to discuss.

however, the carport/garage must be within the building window (dotted line)

It isn’t now either, and even the house significantly exceeds the building limit.

As you get older, it will of course become difficult if we had more stairs here.

Then you move into a senior-friendly apartment with an elevator.

Does anyone here maybe have a good idea what could be done?

Then you’d have to tell the forum more about how this plan came about in the first place. What are the requirements? Where were the constraints? Without knowing the details, I would have spontaneously done it like this:

Everything over 15% becomes difficult.

Is the red dashed line supposed to be a version? If the margin is that tight, there is nothing to discuss.

It isn’t either now and even the house significantly exceeds the building boundary.

Then you move into a senior-friendly apartment with an elevator.

Then you have to reveal more to the forum about how this planning came about in the first place. What are the requirements? Where were the fixed points? Without knowing the details, I would have done it spontaneously like this:

Thank you very much for the answers!

Yes, the current carport and storage room (which most likely will not be implemented like this), as well as the house, are currently outside the building boundary. The building boundary has a strange offset on the property because it was probably once divided. We want to try to pull the house more into the middle to gain more space from the neighbor and generally space for the garage/carport. It would also make more sense due to the topography of the property (the current building window, closer to the street, is practically directly on a steeper slope). We hope that we can discuss this with the municipality and the building authority as well.

Thank you for the plan. Placing the garage down there would be an idea, but it would then be very, very deep underground (4-5 meters below ground) if you want to make it accessible directly from the street (without a steep incline). Unfortunately, this would not solve the accessibility problem of the house. Everything would then have to be brought up to the house via stairs.

Regarding the question of how the plan came about:

At the location where the new house is supposed to be, there is still an old building. The view from there is really fantastic, so the architect wanted to place the house there. There is already an offset in the slope. The house itself will have a garden floor (northeast side touching the slope) and a ground floor, thus fitting in perfectly. Placing the house further down would also not make much sense since we would then have more garden uphill towards the forest and northeast, which would be difficult to use.

I don't know anyone with such a long driveway, we have plenty of slopes here. Flat plots are scarce.
We have 15%, that's more than okay.
Parents have almost 30% in some cases and parents-in-law a little over 30%. Short and sweet. In winter, it's best to sit down and slide down, high heels are hell.
Maybe consider separating the garage access. Car stays downstairs, you take the stairs, and for transports there's a driveway, whether for a hand truck, wheelbarrow, or car, that's up to you.
didn't you even think about a freight elevator?