Failed Floor Plan Collection Thread - Floor Plans That Nobody Wanted

Thank you. The picture with the green was taken at the beginning of June last year. We had planted 5 weeks before, watered for 3 weeks, and then we were on vacation for 2 weeks and hoped for our luck. When we came back, this photo was taken.

Thank you for starting the thread and I will try to summarize.

After the municipality allocated our preferred plot, we started brainstorming ideas on the internet and in model parks. At the same time, we worked on our own floor plan on paper and on the PC.

Plot
approx. 23x14m, terraced house (a dark wall on the south side and on the north side we connect to the neighboring house with a carport), building height 7.5-8.5m, gable roof 30-35°.

Wishes/Requirements
Basement, shower on the ground floor, a straight staircase is great, a fireplace as a room divider as well, three children's rooms (no specification regarding floors), a regular bedroom, a large wardrobe (3-4m) does not necessarily need to be in a separate room.
One wish was essential: Since we live with children in a maisonette where all rooms are accessed from the open-plan living/dining/kitchen area, it was clear that 1. a quiet area is necessary and 2. cooking should be as separated as possible.

The result is the only “successful” yet individual floor plan. An eat-in kitchen was intended to bring the family together and the living/dining area to include a quiet corner including guests. That idea stayed in my head for a long time because all other floor plans were based on the “standard” L-shaped layout but didn’t really appeal to us.


At that time, I had already registered in the forum but did not want to jump into the floor plan discussion yet. In hindsight, I find some mistakes in it.

After a phase of about 9 months, we tried to find a general contractor who would translate our idea into a floor plan including basement and upper floor and where the chemistry fit. Some conversations went well, others we dismissed immediately. However, no one liked our idea but only suggested modifying standard house types.

So, we went to the local architect after all. What I took to heart was the tip from the forum to leave all drawings at home. And what can I say: the first draft still had to be revised because we deliberately set the budget a bit low.

The now final floor plan is not everyone’s taste and of course a compromise between wishes and the plot in some places.

What has changed or been discarded in the approximately 15-month planning phase?
- The long room for cooking/dining allows us to accommodate many guests on one hand and make the living room quieter on the other.
- We can’t imagine a dining table far away from the kitchen.
- A kitchen separated by a sliding door would annoy us a bit now.
- A bedroom/children’s room in the basement is a bad compromise.
- A well-planned room in the attic also costs quite a bit of money.
- By accident we almost ended up with something like a city villa form and now we’re glad it stayed “almost.”
- The straight staircase was accidentally inserted by the architect and we are very happy about it.
- The partial basement not only saves excavation but also, in our case, trouble with the neighbor’s garage during construction.

In summary, all points I would not want to tackle only in a second house build.

Then I’ll make a start

... and bring myself great joy

We would have had an approximately 25m long driveway with a 10-15% incline, just so we could get out of the car right by the kitchen.

I always try to make it clear: that you can develop the potential of your property much better if you don’t give the pastor’s plot specifically to the tin family members. You got a nice individual house for that, burying the average design. I still find just the TV hanging spot sillier than many others’ entire house. And mind you, I’m not even interested in watching TV

a fireplace as a room divider as well,

... which would have been the final blow to the slalom through the floor plan. Thanks to you too for the additional impulse to this thread. The entrance now reminds me of ’s.

But I would put myself in the other person’s position and think, how does one feel after a failed design?!

It’s neither meant for someone to mock another, nor for someone to send the message about themselves: what a fool with two left hands I am. Rather, the feeling should be: "now I have noticed the slip-up in time, and can let others learn from it if I share the insight."

Whoever misses the moment of insight and actually built their "mash" may well remain a philosopher and keep silent

Then I'll join in here as well.

After we reserved a plot of land in November 2016 (I wasn't quite clear about the slope situation with the 3m back then ), I started looking for a general contractor. Two weeks later, a salesman came for a house visit. He listened to everything and took our ideas with him. Two weeks later, there was a floor plan. As laymen in construction at that time, we were naturally thrilled. But after the second and third look, doubts arose.

- No consideration of the terrain. Embankment/terrain modeling was supposed to cost only 5-7k€ on request. We know what came of that
- Kitchen window under the carport with a view of the garage.
- Living room too small
- Few windows
- The price without a basement was also poor
- At that time, no idea about facades and materials yet. It would have been ETICS then.

GU:



After that, we thought, let's try an architect, our landlord then recommended a friend.

Then this happened in the first draft:


How it continued is well known.
In the end, the office from the first draft was removed and is now a small cloakroom. As a result, the living room is now 55m². Upstairs there is no angle at the children's room entrance and the staircase was moved a bit to the right side of the plan.

Now it looks like this from the outside:

How it continued is already known. In the end, the study was removed from the first draft and is now a small wardrobe. As a result, the living room is now 55m². Upstairs, there is no corner at the children's room entrance and the stairs were moved a bit to the right according to the plan.

I find the floor plan extremely (like really really) good - exactly what I am looking for Above all, the large living area with integrated stairs is very well done - got the maximum possible space out of the ground floor.

exactly what I am looking for

You might even be just lucky because of your knee wall and the roof pitch – otherwise the floor plan would have been ruled out for a one-and-a-half-story house due to the stair location.