Floor plan design of a semi-detached house for large families

Hello everyone,

Currently, we are planning to build a semi-detached house together with my brother's family. A plot on the edge of town is available, see attachment.
The plan is a house in timber frame construction. Before we consult an architect for the detailed planning, we would first like to design a preferred floor plan ourselves and thus also clarify our own wishes.
Since this is our first house, we hope to get some inspiration for our ideas here.

The two halves of the house should be mirror-symmetrical in terms of floor area in the first draft to keep the building simple. The room layout can basically differ, but due to comparable requirements, it is also planned to be mirror-symmetrical. The floor plan of one of the two halves is sketched in the attachment.

But now to the conditions:
1. Development plan/restrictions

[*]Plot: approx. 23 ares
[*]No slope, "flat as a pancake"
[*]No development plan available, neighboring buildings mostly 2-storey buildings of similar size to the shown design. Plot on the edge of town.

2. Requirements of the builders

[*]Roof shape: gable roof, roof pitch ~45° (this is customary here)

[*]Style: conservative, based on the local traditional farmhouses
[*]Planned orientation of the building: east-west
[*]Floors: basement, two finished full floors, cold roof
[*]People: per family or half of the house 2 adults and 4 children
[*]Space requirements: see planning
[*]Office: one home office room per half of the house
[*]Overnight guests: 20/year
[*]Tend to rather closed architecture with semi-open living/dining area

[*]Construction method: conservative, with modern elements
[*]Kitchen should be separable from the dining area
[*]Seats at dining table: 8
[*]Fireplace: masonry heater in the living room

[*]No stereo wall
[*]Balcony on the upper floor
[*]No garage, no carport
[*]_Large_ utility garden behind the house
[*]Upper and ground floors should be divisible and basically independent; the master bedroom together with the bathroom can then be converted into the kitchen. Wall where the water pipes run is planned as a walk-in shaft.

3. House design

[*]Do-it-yourself planning
[*]Living area: approx. ~90 sqm/floor and half of the house

[*]What is particularly liked: simple floor plan, simple exterior shape. Even room distribution of children’s rooms, balcony access for three of the four children’s rooms
[*]Price estimate: none available
[*]Personal price limit for the house: ~400,000 € per half of the house excluding the plot

[*]Preferred heating technology: own solar system with heat pump

4. If you have to do without, which details/extensions:
-you can do without: wood stove in the living room, smaller floor area

5. What is the most important question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
What do you think of the shown floor plans, especially the chosen room layout?

Draw in your existing or desired furnishings.

The bedroom doesn’t work. No bed fits in.

The living room also feels very small.

Where is the building services installed?

There is no large wardrobe for 6 people in front of the staircase.

This way, the staircase lies in the dirty area of the entrance.

A house in timber frame construction is planned.

Explain the motives, maybe there are misunderstandings among them. A "grid dimension of 1.25 m" for example – 62.5 cm was more common – is no longer "required" by any prefab house supplier today. Made to Measure has become the norm.

.. probably technology in the basement .. bedroom I see like you.

.. where is east in this floor plan?

I always see the kitchen oriented more towards the terrace, especially with 4 children. So rather swap kitchen/living, fireplace shaft then closer to the pipe shaft.

And then, if the semi-detached house is divided into 2 residential units, which room should become the bedroom? I think the rooms are also all rather not so favorably laid out for that.

Wall in which the water pipes run is planned as a walkable shaft.

This might also make an explanation more understandable. This is more common in multi-family houses (> 10 apartments).

I find it funny. I once drew it into the program. I can't quite get on with the wall thicknesses. Apparently, you planned thicker interior walls than 20cm?



I ignored this walk-in shaft. I think it's complete nonsense.

In the living room, I placed the smallest sofa the program offers. It works. The fireplace is probably supposed to go in the dining room, if I understand correctly.

The crucial question will be about the "jump" bed in the bedroom. I marked it. Plus a 2.5m wardrobe – which seems small to me. I almost need that just for towels and bed linen. But that's individually different.

The whole parent area with the bathroom and the tiny little bedroom is a nightmare. Who wants to live like that? You wake up early and are immediately pissed off. Then you crawl from the bed to the front and come into this bathroom. *Gag*. I'd hang myself on the shower hose right away.

I much more see the parents sleeping on the ground floor and also using the bathroom here. Upstairs then the office, unless there's supposed to be customer traffic or something.



The utility room is quite large. Since there’s supposed to be a basement too, maybe it's too big. Not that you don't need it, with 4 kids it’s surely full quickly. But a good planner could perhaps still manage a small parent shower bathroom with a slimmed-down utility room.