It looks like no answer will come here anymore
Of course, an answer will still come here. A family member had a birthday today, so I couldn’t write earlier.
I am shocked by how much criticism is coming here but also glad that it is coming!
Phew. I seriously doubt the house price. €216,000 for 175 sqm... that’s about €1235/sqm... and that, when for an average standard house you calculate €2000/sqm. Plus incidental costs. Pure house price for an energy saving regulation house. And we’re dealing with a somewhat more expensive segment of a bungalow house. €1600/sqm would be a real bargain price.
And I honestly wonder which general contractor offers these chain measurements where the windows are measured and not the rooms. That usually happens by laymen when they don’t handle the software properly and just apply chain measurement without logic.
No, that doesn’t fit. A bungalow is single-story. But you are allowed both.
Before I write anything freehand, first some answers
The thing with the closed and long hallway: that is not open.
Where do you think it should go? To the terrace?
Sure! Thousands. And most of them probably more thought through anyway, with shorter traffic routes, rectangular children's rooms, and a living as well as private zone.
If you want to plan barrier-free, then it’s not enough to just be able to roll into the shower. WC and washbasin also need space. Just like between bed and wardrobe, as well as the doors. That has to be planned, which also costs more again.
It is very long, yes. One can live with that, but well planned is something else. The dining area can do with that space.
A staircase and its positioning should be planned from the start. I don’t see space for that in this design.
Why should it be made larger?
You have 3! rooms plus hallway, which just don’t have a rectangular shape.
The reason was already given by : the rooms seem to be arranged without a plan, and somehow in the last corner you still have to access 3 rooms.
I see it the same way, by the way.
It’s great that you like the draft.
Personally, it would bother me that the entrance and driveway are planned where you would actually like to sit in the evening. The sun is more in the SW and west in the afternoon till evening. Then you actually want to enjoy the evening there.
Also, the kitchen lacks an outdoor access to a terrace. Unfortunately, the kitchen is not ergonomically laid out. The housewife or -man has a lot of steps when cooking. Also, you can/can’t see the kitchen directly from the sofa. That mostly has disadvantages.
There is no separation of private rooms here. Everything is mixed. A staircase could only be generated in the storage room area here, but then only a space-saving staircase.
Basically, I would park the driveway and the carport in the east.
More floor-to-ceiling windows for access to the garden and daylight as well as more spatial freedom and integration into nature. What is a bungalow for?
Then have a fixed staircase installed right away. Then you can move the workroom upstairs immediately.
Zone the house into everyday area and private rooms. This results in a short hallway. This one in the middle.
You must tell the general contractor your wishes for barrier-free and staircase. And he should plan something smaller with at least about 10 sqm less hallway, which then will not surprise negatively in price.
Have you already looked at other floor plans?
The house price of €216,000 refers to 168 sqm currently planned. I wrote in the forum that we need about 175 sqm. I live in the East, prices are not that high here yet. But I have already had to experience that there are many hidden costs in that price. We have received an offer, and the prices for tiles are a joke. What is meant by chain measurements?
Regarding the open architecture, you are right. I thought too briefly... Regarding the parking space, I would like to have one at the house entrance as well.
I have already searched several floor plans on the internet, but none really fit. We have also received several proposals from the planner, but mostly my wife or I had something to complain about. I would be grateful for suggestions!
I would make the floor plan larger because then the whole house could be made bigger. The living room and kitchen would get a bit more space plus the study as well as bathroom and storage room.
The children's rooms are southeast-facing because my wife does not want them at the front of the property.
Regarding the kitchen, you are right. Many steps and you can quickly see the (messy) kitchen from the sofa.
How should the separation of private rooms occur?
This price estimate suggests that much of what you need for a house is not included. Ask this planner what is included and what is missing. For construction starting at the slab without interior finishing, the estimate would correspond more to usual levels. For a move-in ready house, the price would be quite unusual. I am a big fan of innovative solutions - if this should be one. I am curious what lies behind this price estimate. Self-performance?
You can also see that from the draft. Sometimes it’s worth thinking new and from the inside out.
On this plot I would much rather see a long building with maximized garden access and light as well as street-side parking possibility, rather than the compact, dark-in-many-rooms proposal with parking in the best plot location practically on the terrace.
We have already received an offer where you can see that many hidden costs are included. For example, tile price at €20 per sqm. The house is offered turnkey for that price. Overall, we should stay below €1500 per sqm. As already mentioned, we live in the East.
The first proposal from the planner was also a long but narrow building where the garage was at the street. I didn’t find the look of the house very nice due to the dimensions of 18m x 11.5m.
Are you sure that the north arrow in the floor plan from is correct? Then the site plan in the same post is definitely not oriented north. Some care would be appropriate here.
Otherwise, I can only agree and also say again if the north arrow of the floor plan is correct, the terrace place and driveway are more than suboptimal. Why even such a long driveway?
I did not check the north arrow; I just trust the planner. The driveway is too long; we would still correct that. The garage is currently just a placeholder.
I now also see that the terrace is not optimally planned.
I don’t get it, since you can at least recognize
which means nothing else than that the entrance is in the wrong place: that makes the hallway long. That a) it is also folded in an insulation manner and b) the rooms have messed up proportions is due to the clumsy arrangement of the rooms combined with their fitting anyway into a rectangular frame (including the terrace). Overall, it becomes clear that the planner is a technical draftsman: architectural dyslexia in the highest degree, the floor plan looks like a window profile: the interior walls subdivide it into compartments as for stiffening purposes. You might as well deliberately mess your diaper as long as you wobble with a walker from bed to bathroom here. The planner clearly lacks any sense of space, which continues outside: the orientation line for the layout of the floor plan is parallelism with the east border of the plot, the garage is aside there and serves as an eyesore for the terrace user, the almost screaming need of the plot for an L-floor plan is ignored.
What self-purpose is actually pursued by the single-story design of the floor plan, and how "on ground level" is the house actually (zero slopes to the terrace, but three to the front door)?
For an L floor plan, the garage would have to be directly part of the house. That would have advantages but would probably make the whole thing significantly more expensive. If you have a good L floor plan, bring it on...
Regarding the single-story design, I grew up in an apartment and just find it nice when everything is on one level.