Floor plan discussion: Single-family house, 11.3m x 9.4m, 5 people, hillside location

Hello everyone,

Thank you very much for taking your free time to deal with our construction project!

## Development Plan/Restrictions

Plot: 635m²
Slope: Yes, diagonal gradient approx. 8.5%
Site coverage ratio: 0.3
Floor area ratio: 0.4
For outbuildings (garage, shed) we are allowed to additionally build up to 50m².
Number of parking spaces: 3
Maximum ridge height: 8.7m
Building window, building line and boundary: See ground floor plan (Blue: building window, red dashed: outbuildings)
Contour lines: See floor plan
Roof shape and pitch: 0 to 50 degrees

## Requirements of the Builders

# General
5 persons (2 adults, 3 children (ages: 5, 3, 3))
City villa, hipped roof, 2 full floors with basement

# Rooms
Open all-purpose room (kitchen, dining, living)
Open kitchen (G-shape)
4x bedrooms
3x bathrooms (1 per floor)
1x office: home office
1x technical room
1x utility room
2x garage/carport
1x living basement (for bedroom and office, basement may protrude up to 1.3m above ground)
Optional: walk-in closet
Optional: guest
Optional: pantry
Optional: storage room
Optional: hobby room
Optional: granny flat (due to KFW funding)

# Building Services
Geothermal heat pump with cooling function
Central ventilation system with bypass
Underfloor heating
KFW standard: As low as possible, as high as necessary (cost/benefit ratio)
KNX: Where sensible, yes
Optional: photovoltaic system
Optional: cistern
Optional: greywater use

# Additional Wishes
Wood fireplace (because we like the warmth and the light)
Double carport or 1x garage + 1x carport (for cars, bikes, and garbage bins)
Sustainability if sensible / economical
Optional: home cinema in the living room (hobby)
Optional: terrace roof (luxury: “rainproof” in the garden)
Optional: workshop (there is always something to do)
Optional: kitchen garden (hobby)
Optional: greenhouse (hobby)

# Miscellaneous
Depending on the costs, it may make sense to consider some things during construction that can be added later.
It is more important to us that things fit correctly from the start that cannot or can only be very difficult to change later. (e.g. house size, walls, windows, bus system, ...)
We are also prepared to make compromises initially on some other things. (e.g. cheaper kitchen, furniture, lamps)

## House Design

For overview, the entire area with building limits for house (blue) and outbuildings (red dashed)
Access is at the front via a public street.
Bottom left is a public parking lot with 3 parking spaces between 2 trees.
The 2.5m² in the center bottom are a specification for the street sweeper.
Adjacent to the left side of the plot
The terrace is planned on the west side to be somewhat protected from the direct sun in midsummer and because I want a roof, and the building authority has already noted that with a roof we may only exceed the building limits slightly (1m up to maybe 1.5m)

[ATTACH alt="EG_mit_Garten.png" type="full"]76380[/ATTACH]

Basement:

The basement should protrude about 1.3m above ground toward the north so that we can get enough light for the bedroom and the office. Also, it is a requirement not to level the plot.

[ATTACH alt="KG.png" type="full"]76381[/ATTACH]

Ground floor

[ATTACH alt="EG.png" type="full"]76382[/ATTACH]

Upper floor:

On the upper floor, we will have a beautiful view to the north into the distance/landscape. We look over the northern neighbor’s house there.

[ATTACH alt="OG.png" type="full"]76383[/ATTACH]

# The floor plan is an original creation, currently with the architect from the construction company.
In total, more than 40 different versions with larger or smaller adjustments and different approaches were necessary.
Although much time and brainpower have already gone into the planning, I am looking forward to uncompromisingly honest and constructive criticism!
What we do not consider now will especially annoy me a lot after the construction. Nevertheless, I am aware that not everything will fit perfectly later. ;-)

# Our impression of the floor plan
We like the ground floor very much. Open layout of kitchen, dining, and (small) living.
Additionally, somewhat separated, the (large) living room with TV. Fireplace integrated in the center.

As long as the kids are small, everyone can sleep upstairs.
Later the kids can fight over the room in the basement. ;-)

Initially, we would have liked 4 bedrooms upstairs, but then the rooms become small, and the ground floor and basement disproportionally large.
Therefore, at the moment, we tend toward 3 bedrooms upstairs and 1 bedroom with office in the basement.

I am unsure about the connection on the ground floor between the all-purpose room and the TV room.
How much space should be left so that the rooms are still separate but open?

The floor plan and the southern driveway make planning more difficult from my point of view.
Because of access from the side, we have more view towards the southwest.
However, the (uncovered) path to the front door becomes longer.
Is this a problem?

# What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
What problems and/or suggestions for improvement do you see?

# Further questions:
Between our future house and a daycare center is only one other house. What sound insulation should we pay attention to?

(...)
As long as the kids are small, everyone can sleep upstairs.
Later, the kids can fight over the room in the basement. ;-)
(...)

Risky undertaking. Either one of the kids finds a room in the basement with a peephole facing north cool... or you’ll have 10 or more years of war over the rooms at home.

Especially since the room in the basement, as compensation for the lousy location, is even smaller (!) than the rooms upstairs.
If it were at least 25-30m² and bigger, okay. That would be an argument. But like this?

PS:
You will never, ever get enough light into the room through this small window. We have a 1.2m wide floor-to-ceiling window in the child's room facing north and even that is not enough on a cloudy day.

Since you have already dealt with KFW:
How does your war chest look, meaning how much is the house allowed to cost?

That is effectively ~ 240m². Without having calculated everything, I would say at least a 7 at the beginning without any additional costs...

I found it in the green forum: The budget is 650k incl. additional costs... FORGET IT!
As your colleagues in the other forum already wrote to you (before you kindly deleted the original post so that no one can read anything anymore): The project is pure illusion with that budget.

Start over, smaller and significantly (!) more modest.

Hello Diaphon,

first of all, I would ask you to complete the questionnaire in full. It seems that you started it but then lost interest and only answered the following questions very sporadically.

First impressions of the floor plan: Your children’s room concept doesn’t work. Fewer children’s rooms than children - planning to send one child to the basement later? Why don’t you as parents simply move to the basement once the twins no longer want to share a room? This would kill two birds with one stone: All the children remain upstairs in nice rooms - and you as parents are further away, which is very desirable for both sides once the children reach a certain age.
Do I understand correctly that there is no toilet around the bathroom or basement because you want to save the macerator pump? I would rethink that if someone is also supposed to sleep down there.

By the way, the house in this size on the slope costs over €1 million. Is that planned?

Upstairs we will have a beautiful view to the north into the distance / landscape. There we look over the northern neighbor.

But as planned, you will have relatively little of that… The separated corner in the kitchen I find extremely impractical, the door is always in the way, whether you like the corner otherwise is a matter of taste, personally I think it looks old-fashioned, but it’s not for me. 21 sqm is already quite generous for a children's room, is that intentional or did it just happen after you accommodated everything you need/want?

The floor plan is an original creation, currently with the architect from the construction company.

What we are not taking into account now will especially annoy me a lot after the construction.

I think with the requirements an architect should approach freely and develop a design that meets your budget and requirements. For a project that certainly approaches a million, I would not consider my amateur drawing the ultimate wisdom and have it finalized.

Hello everyone,

thank you very much for the numerous feedbacks and previous hints!

Our thoughts on the topic of the bedroom in the basement: The room is indeed smaller than the rooms upstairs, but it has its "own" bathroom. Using the basement bedroom for the parents also crossed our minds. According to feedback from acquaintances, however, we had mostly heard that the kids love it. In case of arguments, we parents would of course have to go to the basement. Regarding sufficient light, we rely on the experience of the architect. Of course, a proper bathroom with a toilet is supposed to go in the basement. I should have drawn it better or left it out. Sorry.

On the topic of budget: The 650k were for the house including fittings. Overall, 750k are planned. That would put us clearly below the million forecast here. If the forecast proves true, which I now unfortunately have to assume based on your experience, then we will have to go back to the drawing board.

On the topic of questionnaire: Actually, I thought I had incorporated the information from the questionnaire into my post, even if the order is somewhat different. Which information is still missing?

On the topic of the view to the north from the upstairs

But as planned, you have relatively little of that…

Any ideas? Or simply bigger windows?

I find the separated corner in the kitchen extremely impractical, the door is always in the way, whether you like the corner otherwise is a matter of taste, personally I find it looks old-fashioned, but it’s not for me.

This hint brought me to an alternative. Thank you!

21sqm is quite generous for a children's room, is that intentional or did it just turn out that way after you accommodated everything you need/want?

That emerged after a longer process. Explanation as follows: To accommodate 4 bedrooms + bathroom upstairs, the built-up floor area would have been significantly larger (~125m²). Due to the floor area ratio, we are limited to about 190m². Due to access, terrace and path to the house, it was - in my view - very tight. The thought was also that in such a large house the children’s rooms looked "small". So the idea was to have larger rooms with less built-up area. Which ultimately mentally led to a basement living area.

I think with these requirements, an architect should freely develop a design that meets your budget and requirements. I wouldn’t take my amateur drawing as the last word and have it drawn up neatly for a project that will probably touch a million.

Very good point. Exactly that is what I addressed in the conversation with the architect. The path to this floor plan was - as it feels - relatively long. But the previous comments already show me a few problems. Not least the budget. Above all, it was important for me to deal with the topic of floor plan and the possibilities for the plot. Only through that did some requirements / wishes arise.