Floor plan 160 m² with a request for your opinions

Hello everyone,

after seeing many honest feedbacks here, I kindly ask you to give me one as well. We have already purchased a building gap in the village center and are now planning a prefabricated house.

Development Plan/Restrictions

The development plan restricts us according to §34, although everything is present in the immediate vicinity: both gable orientations, 2.0 storeys, pitched roofs from approx. 25° to approx. 40°. In addition, the direct neighbors have built over the building window towards the north, so we should also be approved to do the same.

Plot Size
530 m²

Slope
none

Number of Storeys
2.0

Roof Shape
pitched roof from approx. 25° to approx. 40°

Style
pitched roof

Orientation
According to §34 both orientations possible.

Client Requirements

Style, Roof Shape, Building Type
open, modern, pitched roof, high kneewall

Basement, Storeys
basement, ground floor, upper floor

Number of People, Age
4 people
3, 5, 37 and 42 years

Room Requirements on Ground Floor and Upper Floor
Ground floor: living room, dining room, kitchen, study, guest bathroom, cloakroom
Upper floor: child 1, child 2, parents, dressing room, laundry room, bathroom including sauna

Occasional Overnight Guests
rarely

Architecture
+ open architecture
+ modern construction
+ open kitchen, optional cooking island

Number of Dining Seats
6

Fireplace
yes

Music/Stereo Wall
no

Balcony, Roof Terrace
no

Garage
single garage, garden shed behind for bicycles, lawnmower, etc.

Utility Garden, Greenhouse
no

Additional Wishes/Special Features/Daily Routine
Planned is a prefabricated house in timber frame construction with Kfw 70 standard (gas heating + solar) with 2.10 m kneewall height and 160 m² living area.

House Design
Who planned it?
Architect according to our wishes

What do you not like?
Kitchen: We would like to have your input here on how you would position windows/door and the functions stove/fridge/sink/oven.
Upper floor corridor: Is it too "narrow"?

Window Planning
How would you plan the windows, how do you see the lighting conditions?
+ kneewall windows additionally (yes/no),
+ floor-to-ceiling frosted glass window in the upper floor bathroom useful?

Best regards
checker79

First, what I notice negatively:
1. For a two-line kitchen, it is actually almost too wide, 300cm minus 2x60cm cabinets leaves 180cm. Even if you make one side extra deep (e.g. 70cm or 75cm), you certainly won’t get below 1.5m row spacing.
2. Personally, I don’t like it when the staircase is so close to the entrance (dirt area).
3. I would give the laundry room a few more centimeters of width so that you can also hang up the laundry well there and still have access to the washing machine (possibly from the bathroom).
4. The hallway on the upper floor seems very narrow to me, with four people you’ll bump into each other there. Keep in mind that from the 1.10m you still have to deduct plaster. I wouldn’t go below 1.2m.
5. Is the staircase planned as 18.8/25? I think it won’t be very comfortable to walk on, 25cm tread is really quite short. Have you ever climbed such a staircase?
6. What happens with the room under and behind the staircase?
7. I would reconsider the bathroom layout. The sauna as a direct eye-catcher when you enter? I don’t know, it surely can be done differently.
8. The bedroom: 2.69m raw construction minus plaster minus 2.1m bed (including frame) leaves about 55cm passage width. Marginal, in my opinion, I now have 40cm and find it annoying.

Positives:
1. Spacious living area and dining area
2. The kitchen itself is not really small (depending on personal preferences and routines, I would prefer the kitchen in the south/eastern area, though).
3. Study room size is fine.
4. Children’s rooms are a nice size and shape.
5. Walk-in closet well dimensioned.

6. what happens to the space under and behind the stairs?

Do you mean in the basement?

oh of course *facepalm* the basement, I totally forgot about it :D

I find the wardrobe for 4 people too small.

How about the following: No laundry room on the upper floor, but a reasonably large bedroom that is accessed directly from the hallway (walk-in closet not as a passage room). The sauna (great, I would like that too) goes in the basement, with the washing machine/dryer moved to the bathroom on the upper floor. Alternatively: laundry room in the basement.