Floor plan design for a 175m² single-family house with 3 children

Hello everyone,
currently my wife and I are planning a single-family house on a 600m² plot and are currently working with the architect to complete a design for a building application.

Development plan/restrictions
Size of the plot: about exactly 600m²
Slope: No
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Building window, building line and boundary: open construction method, building boundary
Edge development: -
Number of parking spaces: -
Number of floors: -
Roof shape: -
Style: -
Orientation: -
Maximum heights/limitations: -
Further requirements: -

Requirements of the builders
Style, roof shape, building type: modern, bright and open, gable roof with flat roof tiles, without eaves, slightly rectangular
Basement, floors: no basement, 1.5 floors with higher knee wall (we wanted full floors but the development plan spoils our plans)
Number of people, age: 2 adults, 3 children planning
Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor:
Office: currently home office, more of a study than family use
Guest overnight stays per year: not assessable, average
Open or closed architecture: open architecture
Conservative or modern construction: modern construction
Open kitchen, cooking island: cooking island about 3 meters
Number of dining seats: open dining area
Fireplace: fireplace wall planned
Music/stereo wall: -
Balcony, roof terrace: -
Garage, carport: double garage with storage room
Utility garden, greenhouse: -
Further wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be: The house should be fully equipped with a house control system, a geothermal system is desired (feasibility check must take place) and a high-voltage connection for future electric vehicles should be installed in the garage.

House design
Who created the plan: architect
What do you particularly like? Why?

[*]The staircase from the living area was a special wish with the idea to go directly from one living area to another living area upstairs and to enter it. In classic plans, the living area must be left and the hallway entered to get to the upper floor.
[*]We really like the access from the garage to the utility room and from there to the kitchen and hallway because the utility room is one of the most frequently used rooms and centrally accessible. Especially from the kitchen directly into the storage room under the stairs.
[*]We hope that our planning works out and we manage to implement laundry chutes from the two bathrooms in the upstairs floor leading to the utility room on the ground floor.
[*]We really like the separate parents’ area with its own bathroom so we don’t have to fight over one bathroom with 5 people. Here we have to see how we can sensibly accommodate the walk-in closet/wardrobes.
[*]In the living/dining area a 5-meter window front with sliding doors is planned and this is very important to my wife, as it should supply the entire area with light, especially since the wall in the kitchen is planned to be completely fitted with cupboards.
[*]The partition wall to the living room should be a bit longer but we really like the fireplace planned there because the fireplace can be seen and enjoyed from both the dining area and the living room.
[*]With 20m² the living room is manageable but a media wall with a large TV and a surround system is planned on the wall to the office, so the distance to the wall should not be too large.
[*]In the entrance area it is planned that the cloakroom comes to the right directly on the WC wall and the WC door should be moved from the top wall (the WC should be max. 2.5m² without shower since we already have two bathrooms and the planned children’s bathroom can be used by guests).

What do you not like? Why?
We particularly like the open staircase but have heard different opinions about it so far, which makes us a bit uncertain.
The parents’ bathroom is currently not how we would like it. The bathtub should be placed in front of the window and it is still not entirely clear how to place the toilet, shower and washbasin.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: n.a.
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: €390,000
Preferred heating technology: geothermal with deep drilling

If you had to give up, on which details/extensions
-you can do without: -
-you cannot do without: The 5-meter panorama window front must remain according to my wife.

Why did the design turn out as it is now? e.g.
Standard design from the planner? No
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?

[*]We prepared our ideas with a technical draftsman (classically from Pinterest, magazines, Instagram, etc.) as a draft and had them implemented by the architect according to the development plan and are currently working on some fine adjustments.
[*]The window elements are not final yet and still have to be coordinated.
[*]The same applies to the front door where a side window and a window above the door are currently planned as ideas.

What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes?
We have thought a lot about making the house as practical as possible, to save ourselves trips and at the same time make it modern.

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
What do you think of our ideas and which experiences do you have with some aspects (windows, house control, heating, garage size, utility room routes, kitchen)? Do you have suggestions for the parents’ area upstairs? How would you design the room to incorporate a walk-in closet or wardrobes?

In short:

goes directly to the right along the WC wall and the WC door should be moved from the upper wall

I would do it exactly the same way – I just had the idea and am reading it. Great.

Here we have to see how we can sensibly fit the dressing room/wardrobes

there I would make the partition wall along the slope and a passage door at the top of the plan. That way you can fit good wardrobes with a 150 cm wide closet and it won’t disturb the sleeper when getting ready. Under the closet then a chest of drawers

Especially from the kitchen directly into the pantry under the stairs.

you should mentally play through which direction the kitchen door should open. My parents have it exactly like that and the utility room door opens in the other direction, i.e. towards the storage room. Behind the door at their place is the freezer. However, from a practical point of view they even left out the storage room door. They go there several times a day because cleaning supplies are also stored there.

The staircase from the living area was a special wish with the idea of going from one living area to another living area upstairs and entering.

We have it similarly, also a staircase from the living/dining area upstairs. We don’t have children. With children, especially 3!!!, I definitely wouldn’t do that.
Without children, I also wouldn’t arrange a staircase next to the sofa. Well, you write that the TV will be on the lower wall of the plan. But how do you ever want to watch TV in peace? Have privacy on the sofa? The children will grow older and mostly also more annoying...

What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion?

Exactly this circumstance, but the latter.

I don’t read through the development plan. You’ll have to send it to us and fill out the questions!

Thank you for the feedback YPG. :)

I do not read through the development plan. You have to provide it to us and fill out the questions!

Regarding the development plan, at least as far as I can read, the following information:
Development plan/restrictions
Size of the plot: almost exactly 600m²
Slope: No
Floor area ratio: 0.3
Floor space index: 0.4
Building window, building line and boundary: open construction, building boundary
Edge development: No specifications
Number of parking spaces: No specifications
Number of floors: 1 full floor
Roof shape: Roof surfaces must be covered with non-reflective roofing. This does not apply to systems for the generation of solar energy.
Style: No specifications
Orientation: No specifications
Maximum heights/limits: -
Further specifications: Maximum of 2 apartments per residential building

I don't like the situation at the entrance to the Allraum, also because the door directly hits the stairs. Additionally, you walk straight into the room divider/TV or to the right against the lower edge of the stair step. In my opinion, this situation there is not smooth. If you hire an architect, why didn’t you first let them design freely and only presented your textual ideas; I would see that as a missed opportunity and a pity, because they have learned that and can think differently. The utility room has three doors, which makes it more difficult. The small hallway is therefore full of doors. Probably also due to the staircase positioned this way, I don't like the layout of the dining/living area so much. Large windows are great, but my dining table would then also have to be placed directly in front of the window. Furthermore, despite the large windows, I would still create a "normal" door to the outside and not only sliding lift doors, because in my opinion these are more difficult to operate or will become so. From a movement perspective, a normal door opens more easily. The house style itself meets my taste but, as often mentioned, I would go more towards a rectangular shape because that certainly offers more possibilities. Upstairs, again the culprit staircase causes unnecessary hallway space; does this mini storage room really have to be there? If another door goes in there, it probably won't be very useful, right? From the bed, you look directly at the bathroom door, the bathroom itself still needs planning, because the washbasin directly behind the door is not well placed; furthermore, the doors collide with the shower door. We have a similar floor plan on the ground floor and went back and forth endlessly, so I think a bit more width would do you better than depth in the room. Our staircase in the end was also not completely straight, although intended that way, and it subordinated itself to other conditions.

The 5 meter panorama window front must remain according to my wife.

Large windows absolutely yes, but sticking rigidly to a certain size brings unnecessary limitations. Both in the kitchen and in the living room, you have "unnecessary" depth and empty space that would be needed elsewhere.

I see some parallels in principle to a draft whose drawings were unfortunately removed here by its OP (but its implementation can still be seen in the house pictures thread, and the original thread here as well, only unfortunately mostly cleared of drawings) - maybe could contribute here with comments "as a substitute"?

As far as I know, the drawings were deleted at his request (if not the entire thread) at his request. So let's drop the mention of old threads. Everyone also has a right to be forgotten.

I would try to further define the living room. I am just surprised, as mentions, that 5 meters are planned as 2 elements. Do you know how heavy 5 sqm of glass are? Does that even exist? I don't see that the dining table has to be exactly in the middle, but you should definitely combine the kitchen island and table with the windows so that it also looks skillful. But I would also give the kitchen a simple patio door. Outside, the patio door should also be aligned with the window above. The facades already look a bit shifted with the windows anyway. I would probably limit the living room with a wall towards the outer wall, then the fireplace at the end of the wall, and between the outer wall and the fireplace a passage. Without a frame. Possibly a sliding door. I would completely omit a partition wall and door in the area of the hallway/dining/stairs at the start of the stairs. Unlike , I see the floor plan as rather narrower: the table crosswise, the kitchen less than 5 meters wide, and the offset of office/living room removed. But both changes, whether wider or narrower, promise improvements. Basically, I would see a counterclockwise rotation of the house and then a mirror so that the kitchen and utility room are at the front. At least try it out. But then you wouldn't have access to the garage. And you definitely want that...