Floor plan design: Single-family house; 140 sqm; without basement; 730 sqm plot

This is also how you can plan the staircase.

That would certainly be much better, and the approach worm from the children's room was only used to produce sqm anyway.

approx. 2.75m deep (same as the kitchen).

I find that too small or rather too short as a main wall. That’s just three tall cabinets of 60cm width plus a corner for the countertop. The rest is basically space for assembly. The stove is drawn in, but not the sink anymore, the workspace will be little to none.
The wish for an island is not achievable.

I would like a clear room height of approx. 2.80m on the ground floor and plan a kitchen wall with 4 to 5 as tall as possible kitchen cabinets.

As said above. That only works in a large area. Impractical anyway, as you can’t reach the upper cabinets without a stool. And the workspace simply isn’t there.
Instead, in the compact kitchen you get overwhelmed by the cabinet wall.

In addition, you have to move through the whole ground floor to reach the heart of the house.

I actually have no experience with construction plans and therefore still have difficulties evaluating the architect’s planning for me.

In principle, the staircase is poorly chosen for the house width and also wrongly placed. I wouldn’t plan a kitchen in a single-family house under 3.00/3.60 meters plus assembly space. Ok, if the house should be compact, then 3 meters work. But then I wouldn’t want to do without a window above the sink and would rather think of a U-shaped kitchen.
A compact house rather does not benefit from a straight staircase. It consumes too much hallway space.

I also notice that the architect doesn’t value daylight where it would be needed — that would be behind the countertop and at the side of the washbasin in the bathroom. But what I consider crucial is the entrance problem in the bathroom.

I am skeptical whether we should reduce the number of rooms or slightly increase the floor area (e.g. extend the house about 50-100cm to the south).

The house would probably benefit from an extension. However, that costs more money again.

Ground floor: are 4.37 sqm for the guest WC with shower large enough?

In principle, that fits. You have to reckon that no additional stool fits in there, and there’s not much space for dancing.

Ground floor: are 8.19 sqm for the office enough for 3-4 days home office? Would a sofa bed fit in?

I find that okay as an office. However, the south side could get a bit strenuous because too much light can be dazzling.

I would like to make the doors in the living room door, guest WC and study on the ground floor wheelchair accessible—and hence probably somewhat wider.

Why? The house itself including guest WC and office is not wheelchair accessible at all, so why widen the doors?
Living room door is okay, it can also be glass and inviting—I would, for example, want to look through on the sightline from the entrance door to the garden. Unfortunately, there is no window planned there on the west side.
How is the building envelope? Where is the street? Access? Development? Why is the house set so far back? Why is the carport even further to the rear?

I would probably swap living room and kitchen. Dining and barbecue area in the north, central kitchen location, and living room at the back for privacy when watching TV.
Both children’s rooms could fairly get the western rooms.
I would place the guest WC at the entrance so you can quickly and immediately use the toilet after the garden or daily work.

Wow! Many thanks for the many comments. Unfortunately, we were out over the weekend and I couldn’t respond promptly. I’m still struggling a bit with the comment function – please be a little patient. But I have tried to reply to some.

Brief exec. summary:
- The ground floor does not need to be wheelchair accessible and/or planned for old age with dementia
- Ceiling heights > 2.67m are probably really not suitable for our project.
- Due to the building envelope, we have to build relatively centrally
- The straight staircase could become a real eye-catcher on the ground floor and we basically like it (the unusual step dimensions and the elongated hallways would be acceptable)
- The upper rooms on the 'north side' of the house should not become smaller

And now the attempt to comment on some posts.

Wishing everyone a sunny start to the week,
Numerobis

What made you choose a straight staircase? I find straight staircases nice, but in my opinion, this requires a house with space.

It was the architect’s idea. I like it. The higher steps (19.2cm) would also be okay for us.

I moved the staircase up by 40 cm. This makes the kitchen and office a bit bigger.
(...)
I also extended the staircase by one step. The children’s rooms upstairs will also be a bit larger.
(...)
It should be checked whether the staircase to the attic restricts the headroom of the staircase to the upper floor. In my opinion, that looks very ugly.
(...)
Maybe this can be planned with a pull-out staircase?

Moving the staircase further up would come at the expense of other rooms. In my opinion, the utility room and bathroom cannot become smaller. So the idea is to extend the house about 0.6m to the south.

This is another way to plan the staircase.

We would like a fixed staircase to the attic and not a pull-out staircase. Therefore, the wall is probably needed for mounting.

I find this too small or too short as a main wall. That is just 3 tall cabinets at 60cm width plus a countertop corner. The rest is basically assembly space. The stove is drawn in, the sink not at all, worktop will be little to none. The desire for an island is not achievable.

[QUOTE="ypg, post: 657440, member: 12491"]
As already said above. That only works on large areas. Impractical anyway, because you cannot reach the upper cabinets without a stool. And there is just no worktop. Instead, in the compact kitchen, one will be overwhelmed by the cabinet wall.

In addition, you have to move through the entire ground floor to reach the heart of the house.

[/QUOTE]
Ok. Ceilings >2.70m are probably really nothing for compact houses – I understand that :/ Storage compartments in airy heights for things you use once a year I still find okay (e.g., Easter, Christmas stuff, ...). I have also considered the idea of swapping living room and kitchen. But the space for the living room is too small for me.

A compact house does not really benefit from a straight staircase. It consumes too much hallway space.
(...)
I also notice that the architect does not value daylight where it would be needed – that would be behind the countertop and beside the bathroom sink. But the biggest issue, I think, is the entry problem in the bathroom.

Why? The house itself including the guest WC and office is not wheelchair accessible anyway, so why widen the doors?

I rather fear that everything has been optimized for room size and the hallways could be very small and somehow 'hotel-like’.

Upstairs, there are three skylights planned on the north side, also one in the bathroom. Daylight should therefore be sufficient. We are still not sure in the kitchen whether the window should/must be floor-to-ceiling. Although we have been getting along well without a window behind the countertop for almost 5 years.

The wide doors are planned for guests. Therefore, the living room and WC are important; office unnecessary. We would probably rather move if we wanted/had to live on one level in old age.

The living room door is okay, it may also be glass and inviting – therefore, I would want to see through along the sightline from the front door to the garden. Unfortunately, there is no window planned in the west there.
What about the building envelope? Where is the street? Driveway? Access? Why is the house set so far back? Why is the carport even further back?

I like the idea of the sightline.
The building envelope is pretty central on the almost 40m long plot. We have about 6m leeway north/south. Currently, the house is planned fairly far to the north in the building envelope. That way, we would have about 10m north garden for midsummer and about 20m south garden for the rest of the year – and the nice view.
We would like the carport next to the house. In the southeast it would block view and light.

If you can make the house slightly bigger like this? 12 m2 * 3 k = 36 k additional costs.

I did draw the utility room and the bathroom after all. The 40 cm don’t stand out there. The bathroom doesn’t work anyway, that should be looked at more critically again.

I also immediately provided the solution for the stairs to the attic.

If you can make the house just a bit bigger? 12 m2 * 3 k = 36 k additional costs.

I did draw the utility room and the bathroom after all. The 40 cm are not noticeable there. The bathroom doesn't really work anyway, that should be looked at critically again.

I also immediately provided the solution for the stairs to the attic.

The utility room and the living room on the ground floor are currently 3m deep. In my opinion, that's already borderline (in the living room we would like to put our sofa against the wall to the right of the living room door and 10 sqm utility room already sounds like Tetris).

We have already decided against a bathtub for the bathroom. Otherwise, it would really be very small with little space for storage surfaces.

Let's see what the extension would cost in the end. I hope it will be somewhat less than €3k / sqm. We have also decided against a few other cost drivers (room height > 2.67m, bathtub, satellite system, blinds on the roof windows facing north, sophisticated smart home equipment, ...).

In the end, we would not decide against building a house because of €20k or €30k. But we would if we were not convinced by the room concept.

Oh yes. For the attic, as I said, we do not want a folding ladder - that was your suggestion, right?