First house draft - Your opinions are needed

Hello everyone,

I would like to hear your opinion on my first draft for my planned house.

Since I was getting frustrated with various "house planners" in the Windows 3.11 style, I eventually used "The Sims 4." ;)
It’s certainly not to scale, but I think it’s sufficient for the draft. The first appointment with the architect is next week.

For orientation: The front door and the street are to the north, the garden is on the south side.

Here are some thoughts on why the plan turned out this way:
I am currently single, but since you never know what the future holds, I want to be flexible. The idea is therefore to design the house so that the upper floor can be rented out as a separate apartment. This would also be practical financially, since rental prices of around €10-12/m² are realistic in our region.
I have therefore planned the study/home office on the ground floor. The larger bedroom with walk-in closet and the larger bathroom are located on the upper floor; I would then use the guest room on the ground floor as a bedroom.
-> The current representation shows the walls as if the upper floor is not rented out.

Currently, I still have concerns about the following points:

[*]Size: 12m x 12m seems quite large to me. On the other hand, Sims is not necessarily to scale. Furthermore, I have been told that a cube is the simplest and cheapest building shape.
[*]Terrace / Balcony: The balcony on the upper floor is currently open to the south / west, but that is also the weather-exposed side.
[*]Roof shape: It is important to me that the upper floor has high ceiling heights and that there are not slopes everywhere in the way.

Here are the key data I imagine:

[*]Heating via ground-source heat pump
[*]Reasonable thermal insulation so that the upper floor does not turn into a sauna in summer
[*]Photovoltaic system (at least preparation for it)
[*]Building automation via KNX bus
[*]Laundry chute (I have marked it once towards the chimney)

Here is the form:

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 890m², already owned
Slope: no
-> According to the municipality, there is no development plan
-> The plot is located in an existing residential area with some new but mostly older houses

Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: modern, roof see above, solid construction
Basement, floors: basement, ground floor, upper floor
Number of people, age: 1, 34
Room requirements on ground floor, upper floor: ?
Office: family use or home office? home office
Number of overnight guests per year: 2-3
Open or closed architecture: ?
Conservative or modern construction: modern
Open kitchen, cooking island: yes, yes
Number of dining places: approx. 4-6
Fireplace: yes
Music/stereo wall: see above
Balcony, roof terrace: yes
Garage, carport: yes, double garage
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine: see above

House design
By whom is the planning: by myself
What do you particularly like? see above
What do you not like? see above
Price estimate according to architect/planner: n/a
Personal price limit for the house, incl. equipment: €400,000
Preferred heating technology: ground-source heat pump

I would appreciate your opinions.
Thank you very much.

Stairs? Or how do you get to the [OG]? :-)

Stairs? Or how do you get to the upper floor? :)

:) The open area of 8m² next to the front door. Unfortunately, you can't draw such stairs in The Sims.

I also noticed the missing staircase. At 12m x 12m (so approximately 210m2) you end up at 380k€, but without a basement. The basement could cost you an additional 70k€, depending on the size.

Do yourself a favor and draw your floor plan to scale on millimeter paper. You can reuse this later as a presentable document.

Since I was frustrated with various "house planners" in Windows 3.11 style, I eventually took "The Sims 4". ;) Although it's certainly not to scale, I think it's sufficient for the draft. The first appointment with the architect is next week.

It seems to me a quite sympathetic makeshift, and certainly sufficient for the conversation with the planner. If a grid square represents half a meter, you can orient yourself well enough. For exterior walls, you best calculate a flat 40 cm, and for interior walls 20 cm, then you won’t plan too tight.

I like the roof shape continued over the garage.

Overall, I wouldn’t plan something like this yet in your place. First the bride search, then nest building, at least for a family house. As a single, a bungalow would be enough for me. Or you design a house that can reasonably be temporarily divided for two parties.

I would plan a bungalow with an expandable roof for a possible family foundation in your place.