Explanation of the hype

Hello,

my wife and I were yesterday in a model home park for prefabricated houses, and we noticed that every house has various features/floor plans whose purpose I don't understand. Therefore, I am now opening this thread and hope you can explain the advantages of these or tell me what I am overlooking and why it still makes sense to design a house this way:

1. Actually, in every house there were floor-to-ceiling windows installed, what is the point of these? I imagine it would be terrible to have such windows both in summer and in winter. In summer, it must get extremely hot? And in winter, you always have to keep the blinds down, otherwise anyone can look into my living room or into my house? In addition, the effort to clean these must be huge?! Am I missing something here? Do they still have advantages that I do not see?

2. There was no house that had kitchen and dining area separated from the living area, at most the kitchen was separated from the dining area. I understand that if everything is openly accessible, everything looks bigger and, for example, you can better party with many people, but isn’t it very impractical? If I fry or cook something in the kitchen, doesn’t the whole living room smell of the food? Also, it would bother me that as soon as my wife or I have visitors, the other one couldn't sit in the living room and, for example, watch TV in peace. It might sound a bit picky now, but I would find it important that everyone can invite their friends without the other always being within hearing distance or having to get out of the way somehow? Why do all ground floors have such open layouts? What are the real advantages?

3. The balconies on the upper floor are always accessible from a child’s room and the parents’ bedroom. Doesn’t this absolutely disturb privacy? I imagine it would be pretty uncool if my child can constantly knock on our bedroom through the balcony etc. Furthermore, if you have 2 children, isn't it predetermined that the one without a balcony is disadvantaged?

I do not want to influence you with my opinion here, I am also absolutely open to your opinions as I would like to be convinced by the advantages. Therefore, I would like to know from you what your reasons were for planning things like these. Or conversely, maybe someone has built in an “old-fashioned” way and can say something about the meaningfulness?

Regards

to 1) You get more light because of more glass. However, in an unfavorable format, since rooms are wider than they are tall, i.e. horizontal windows would actually be smarter. Also, floor-to-ceiling windows only make sense if you don’t block them. But this also means you lose space. In 10 sqm children's rooms, in my opinion, they are completely wrong, they only make sense in rooms of a corresponding size. Children sit there like hypnotized and look outside, it’s really funny to watch. Keep in mind, with a normal sill height of 90, a small child can’t see out; as soon as it can look outside standing up, it can no longer do so when sitting, e.g. at the desk. So children do enjoy them.
to 2) yes, open living spaces are currently fashionable. You save walls and doors, can plan islands, etc. However, they lead to expensive extractor hoods, especially if it is to be a recirculation system and also function properly. Appliances should generally be bought as quietly as possible = expensive. But about the smell: why does it stink when you cook? It’s just more sociable and you don’t cook for hours every day. Even 10 minutes of frying will be survived by those currently enjoying the high-caliber TV program in this country. For private conversations, other rooms are needed.
to 3) I fully agree. But I generally find balconies extremely dispensable in single-family homes – you have the garden for that.

Model home providers just show you what is possible, and what is supposedly "in" gets built.

I think there is no provider who cannot offer you BRH90 and a closed kitchen. But both are like an 80s style.

And the balcony issue takes care of itself if you skip the eating niche on the ground floor for cost reasons.

Regarding the floor-to-ceiling windows .. see Alex85

Regarding cooking/eating/living .. I am a fan of combining cooking and eating ... rather one nice big dining table than 2 seats and living as a retreat area properly separated. Then one can watch TV or read and the other has visitors in the kitchen, can chat, can go straight to the coffee machine or prepare something to eat, etc.

And regarding smells, everything stays in the room where you cook and eat. Because the food still smells/aromas after cooking when served on the dining table.

Regarding balconies .. you just have to ask yourself, do you even need a balcony?

And otherwise, what applies is what you personally like. So always question everything, observe yourself very closely, analyze your wishes, and ask yourself whether you are just following a trend or if you really want something yourself.

In the show home park, it is also about making the house appear as good as possible. This includes an open living/dining area (airiness, size) and floor-to-ceiling windows (light, light, light). In the show home, no cooking or living takes place, it doesn't have to be practical

I don't even want to talk about such a balcony ...

I agree with the OP on everything, support the 80s style. Building separate kitchen, no floor-to-ceiling windows, no balcony. There is 1 door in front of each room. Karsten