Floor plan city villa with hipped roof approx. 170 sqm

I think too much space is wasted in the hallway upstairs.
Is there a planned use for it?
Since the upper floor is going to be redesigned anyway, I would take a few square meters from it and add them to the rooms.

That is the issue on the upper floor. We don’t have excessive space for the rooms sleeping including the dressing room, 2x children's rooms and bathroom, so the hallway – as you say – must not be too big. At the same time, we would like to have natural light in the hallway on the upper floor as well. Perhaps the latter will ultimately lead to a compromise. In other words: larger rooms, but hallway without natural light, so that the staircase can be set in the middle.

So the wish would be: as little hallway upstairs as possible, but ideally still natural light for the hallway.

In hindsight, I ask myself whether I should have set more conditions from the start, such as wanting the children's rooms to be oriented southwest towards the garden.

Better not. Put a creative mind in a cage – then it will get stubborn! Wishes expressed in the sense of "it would be nice if..." are welcome.

the wish for more house width than house depth (more garden as a result)

I find this statement borderline: certainly an architect or planner will know that the front yard should not be larger than the garden, but besides the layperson’s ideas there are other aspects that the professional sees more readily than the layman, and this includes, for example, generating storage space and carport alongside the house so that a unit is formed on the property, the house adapts to the property through its position, and there are enough opportunities in the front yard/front court to live everyday situations there. This patching on of the carport to the house mostly comes from the layman, while the professional integrates it more sensibly on the property so that it is uniformly designed.
And it is exactly the case that the design is created in the creative mind by already probing much of the property and the wishes before starting to draw – if a good path is already cut off by "I want it like this and not otherwise," then the optimal design might not be feasible simply because the layperson’s horizon is not broad enough.

whereas our need for a comparatively small upper floor relative to a large ground floor is not so easy to find.

You say that so easily… although it is not true.
For example, the variant with L-shaped downstairs and I-shaped upstairs would be possible… of course not if you definitely want "wider than deep"... the garden remains equally large in both cases but becomes more interesting with the L.

What came out is the design I posted here.

I don’t see a problem now to talk to her, say what doesn’t fit, and wait for a new design from her.
A house design does not come about through one-time drawing, but through continuous collaboration between client and architect. Then several sketches and plans may well end up in the round file.

Better not. Put a creative mind in a cage – then it will get stubborn! Expressing wishes in the sense of "it would be nice if..." is encouraged.

I find this statement already borderline: surely an architect or planner will know that the forecourt should not be bigger than the garden, but besides the layman’s ideas, there are other aspects that the expert perceives rather than the layman. For example, that one generates not only the house but also storage space and a carport in such a way that a unit is formed on the plot, the house adapts to the plot through its location, and enough possibilities are available in the front garden/forecourt to live everyday situations there. This attaching of the carport to the house mostly comes from the layman; the expert integrates it more sensibly on the plot so that it is designed uniformly.
And it is exactly the case that the design is created in the creative mind by already exploring much of the plot and wishes before even starting to draw – if a good path is already cut off by "I want it like this and no other way," then the optimal design is maybe not possible just because the layman’s horizon does not reach that far.

You say that so simply... even though it isn’t true.
For example, the variant below with L and above with I would be possible... of course not if you want "definitely wider than deep"... the garden remains the same size in both cases, it just becomes more interesting with the L.

I don’t see the problem now, to talk to her, say what doesn’t fit, and wait for a new design from her.
A house design does not arise from a single drawing but through continuous cooperation between client and architect. Then several sketches and plans may well end up in the round file.

It may be that we have already said too much and should have left everything even more open. Your definition of a “good” architect also makes sense to a large extent.

Of course, we will tell her again what we don’t like, and we are also aware that a “perfect” floor plan for us will not be created on the first try. I never expected that either.

The reason why I posted the floor plan here was simply that I wanted a) to have bigger blunders like the whole story around the utility room including the walking paths in the kitchen pointed out to me (which worked well ) and b) hoped that one might be able to collect ideas here on how to implement such a not-so-common floor plan as we are aiming for appealingly. There are enough floor plans for gable-roof houses or cube-shaped urban villas from which one can draw inspiration.

For example, I will definitely keep your suggestion with the ground floor as L and the upper floor as I in mind for the next appointment. I probably wouldn’t have come up with that idea on my own.

I would just like to prepare a little more for the next appointment, not to hand over the floor plan to the architect to just copy, but simply to get a feeling for what could still be possible (like your input with the L and the I) and not to immediately approve everything because one is given the feeling "it can’t get better," even though maybe there still are options that are more attractive for us.

The L/I shape can be found here in about every second floor plan discussion - not that they are necessarily good. But they are abundant.
And there will hardly be a rare floor plan because it is probably less good or functional. Everything that is frequent has proven itself.
See you soon

We will search again for floor plans, although our need for a comparatively small upper floor in relation to a large ground floor is not so easy to find. [...] Basically, I took away that [...] one has to look very closely again regarding the static structure.

A staggered floor is not exotic. Timber-framed instead of brickwork, I see the static structure as simpler here. I would start with the upper floor in the next attempt and develop the ground floor underneath instead of the other way around.

The L/I shape appears here in almost every second floor plan discussion - not that they are necessarily good. But they are abundant. And there will hardly be a rare floor plan, because it is probably less good or functional. Everything that is common has proven itself. See you soon

I will take another look at one or two threads here Thank you so far!