First of all, thank you very much for your honest opinion/criticism.
Nice house from the outside ... but not even a broom closet on the ground floor – let alone a cloakroom
Thanks. Yes, the point about the broom closet on the ground floor and the cloakroom is justified and still needs to be incorporated. This is initially only a rough concept and not a finalized plan.
Dressing room and master bedroom facing south ... hmm, especially the bedroom... bed position? Dressing room, there are the window widths with wall sections on the right and left, which look to be less than 65 cm.
Where should a garden pool go? Wouldn't it be good if it was accessible from the fitness room?
In general, I miss the intended furnishing.
In the brief for the architect, the dressing room and bedroom were swapped. The architect drew it like this because he thought it would be better since you leave the bedroom through the dressing room, so if people get up at different times, the person staying in bed is not disturbed multiple times by the person getting up. I’m also not happy that the nicest room (with the large dormer) is supposed to be used as a dressing room. Therefore, these two rooms will probably be swapped again. That would also make it easier to answer the question about the bed position.
The garden pool should (if it comes) presumably be placed outside in front of the fitness/wellness basement.
Here the question/consideration would be whether to plan an external door in the fitness room to allow direct access.
The intended furnishing has not yet been planned and depends on the final floor plan.
In the garage, the door could hit the support pillar (which at least stands where the drive is most conveniently placed). I’m picking up the mantra of my suggestion to consider single doors benevolently.
In my opinion, the dining area is also dimensioned too spaciously. On the ground floor, it might make sense to swap kitchen and living room. Then a broom closet or a pantry could also be planned on the north side “behind” the kitchen. Then the living room with south/east orientation could be a bit more generous and separated from the dining area (with a room divider).
The note about the support pillar is justified and still needs to be clarified.
I also don’t quite understand the entrance.
Guests would probably park first in front of your garage. Then they have to go back on the street and go upstairs to the entrance? I find that unfortunate.
I find the entrance area generous, but because of the doors near the walls (front door and dining room access), it’s not so easy to place a cloakroom without problems.
I wanted to say you could put it under the stairs, but that doesn’t work because of the basement either.
So either a cloakroom goes into the stairwell, then you could save the inviting entrance area, or it goes on the wall towards the living area, but somehow it doesn’t fit there either.
I would move the door to the guest room down, flush with the stairs.
The small square anteroom is of no use to the hallway at all, if you add it to the guest room, the door is at least no longer in the way when furnishing the room.
I also miss a broom closet/storage room or similar in the huge ground floor. Overall it’s just big for me.
The kitchen is as far as possible from the entrance (regardless of whether the entrance is in the basement or the front door on the ground floor).
Also from the terrace.
I would seriously consider swapping living and kitchen here.
Then, upfront you could put a storage room north of the kitchen. Then a door from the kitchen into the hallway, as well as a door to the terrace.
The criticism regarding the entrance is justified. However, there will also be parking spaces in the street area, and visitors will not necessarily park in front of the garage. You have to accept some compromise, and I consider a front door in the basement less convenient than visitors having to walk around the house if they park in front of the garage.
The idea of shifting the guest room door is great. Thank you!
I also like the idea of swapping living area and kitchen. The note about the broom closet behind the kitchen on the north side is also great!
Such a hillside location would be perfect to have the entrance next to the garage in the basement. There is enough space for generous cloakroom cabinets; should the fitness room eventually become the teenager’s room, it’s right at the entrance, and you have to cover the height difference anyway. This way, you gain space on the ground floor and have more design freedom with the stair position.
I already wrote something about this. For me, the front door belongs classically on the ground floor and not in the basement.
Perhaps an additional external door could be considered in the basement.
Our hillside is very similar. I don’t find the entrance situation successful. Why do you prefer an external staircase and a very long path around the house instead of simply having the house entrance next to the garage in the basement? Can you explain your considerations? Or is it just one of those “house entrance is always on the living level” things?
As said, for me the front door belongs on the ground floor and not in the basement. We would almost always enter and leave the house through the garage anyway. And relocating the main entrance to the basement just so visitors don’t have to walk around the house if they park in front of the garage (instead of on the street) is not a sufficient argument for me.
I also think that’s a great idea; kids are very grateful at that age, and you probably will be too... presumably it wouldn’t be bad to also have a shower/WC in the basement (then a WC on the ground floor would be enough). The broom closet can become the fitness room.
I also find the bedroom very small; it’s really hard to walk around the bed properly. That could also go well in the north since it doesn’t heat up as much there.
There is a shower/WC planned on the basement floor according to the floor plan. The fitness/wellness room is meant to be somewhat generous. Nevertheless, it’s worth considering.
- Overall, I perceive the floor plan as little creative, rather as if someone just enlarged a standard design. With so many square meters, I would have expected something more clever.
- Budget: I can’t imagine that will be enough. I can’t assess building costs in your region, but looking at your wish list... pool, sauna, fitness room with whirlpool, open fireplace... plus the construction type, hillside, three (!) dormers, double garage on and into the hillside, terrace on the garage, balcony.
Furthermore, with such wishes you usually have corresponding material and equipment demands. If you built the house with your wishes here in our area, I would say double the price, about 1.2 million.
Basically, I agree with you. What would be smarter for you? Which region are you from if I may ask about the building costs?
...have you actually looked at the sound insulation report? I would reconsider the positioning of the terrace if not done yet. Acoustically you are sitting on a silver platter there. Not directly at the street but next to you is open field, right?
South and west there is open field and north is forest. North and south are nature reserves. So, future development in the near term is unlikely here.
To the west there is already a land-use plan, and building land will presumably arise there soon. However, the agricultural road to the west will definitely remain according to the building authority since it is the only access to the agricultural areas to the north. The remark about noise protection is justified; however, this building type saves floor space ratio. An additional terrace would no longer be approved under the floor space ratio of 0.4 without exceptions. Besides, this way the terrace has sun all day and a great view. The garden definitely needs to be fenced since the plot is located on the main access road to the development area. Thus, with a terrace in the garden you would probably be sitting more in the shade compared to this option.
Hats off to the design.
The idea with the built-over garages has its charm and is justified by the plot size.
However: you hardly get a quiet zone in the garden. Access from two sides – the terrace lies on a silver platter. You can’t even put a hedge in front because that’s where the driveway is. Cozy is different. Do you want that?
Therefore, I’m not addressing the floor plan at first but would rather want to shake up the concept.
Yes, I am aware of that. But as written… you have to accept some compromises, and the thought of the view and all-day sun compensates for a lot. And the fact that there are roads on two sides is also negligible. It is a new development with 50 plots and no main roads.
Yesterday I only briefly commented on an obviously constructively strange detail. On closer inspection, I have to agree: the building is nicely conceived, but the floor plans are no good.
It seems to me this is due to the approach I suspect as follows: start on the “ground floor” within a dimensional framework either dictated by the plot or a found floor plan pattern; then drawing in the “nice” rooms planned there; and finally deriving the basement and attic from that.
“Guest” and the area appear to be leftover spaces, as does “Fitness” (cf. the basement classic “hobby”) as well; and the attic is the mess that was possible in combination with the “foundation walls” and the roof slope.
I therefore recommend a relaunch with benevolent consideration of the suggestion already given by to put the (main) entrance in the basement.
I think that will happen as well.
In conclusion, I think it can be said that the exterior concept fits and is coherent in itself, but the floor plans still need to be revised.