Floor Plan Discussion - Single-Family House "Constraint Point Dilemma"

Phew, nice but not really, right? Ok, the neighboring houses aren’t exactly castles either. But no reason not to do better. Using this existing structure seems way too dominant for the planning. If I understand correctly, you’re tearing down mega-gigantic barns and buildings (what does that actually cost?) and then leaving this worm-like appendix standing, which is neither fish nor fowl and spoils the soup for you. I’m usually really an advocate for making sensible use of existing structures. But here, in my opinion, it’s disproportionate. Basically, I think the approach of shielding oneself from the neighbor is not wrong. In that respect, you can definitely use parts of the ground floor as a basis. But I would hack away that garage-with-kids’-room-on-top thing and replace it with an airy and more spacious carport with bike storage. That would of course change everything and you would be much freer in the planning right away. Stair position, house shape – everything then becomes easier and probably nicer.

For me, the outer shell was already in place; the house is about 6.30m wide inside (the property did not allow for more than 7m external width) and the children's rooms are finally 2.80m. They are 4.50/5.00m long. This is not ideal, but at least rectangular and the space is usable.

A room fits reasonably well above the garage. Or the children's level would have to be widened – would that be possible? How old are the kids, because the own area is basically a good idea, but only for somewhat older children.

Otherwise: I would try to make the airspace usable to generate space.
The dressing room has no window, would a skylight be possible? Then the space could also serve as an office.

Our current townhouse has 3 rooms on the first floor with about 2.7m width. They are all poorly usable and unusable for teenagers who like to have visitors. Of course, the children are not worse off because they have narrow rooms – you have to keep things in perspective and look at the world. I would not build something like this if I had any design freedom.

The design is perfect for people with sun allergies. People who like daylight will not feel comfortable in this house. In the living rooms, you will have to turn on the lights during the day even in summer to be able to read comfortably and avoid a basement atmosphere.

What to do?

[*]Think of light not only from the side (e.g. windows) but also from above (e.g. light well). Something creative can certainly be done there. Consider shadow casting, use reflection.
[*]Consider what kind of space you can create if you place the master bedroom above the garage.
[*]Include garden design / botany / terrace roofing for protection from the "viewing platform".
[*]Switch the perspective from "number of rooms" to "living quality of the rooms". Depending on what the "study" is used for, it can also be outsourced to a garden house. Does the living quality improve if you give up the dressing room?

This is a task for a really good architect.

Otherwise: I would try to make use of the airspace to generate area.

Something like that is of course possible. A layperson rarely has that in mind. Or the architect does not plan it, the childless person does not notice the poor use of the rooms. If you consider, over two/three meters the space at the door is a hallway... ...And let light through the south and west windows.... the dining area as well as rooms where it could be are dark... and that only because there are neighbors in the world.

Hey, first of all, thank you very much for your answers and effort.

You actually hit many of our concerns right on point. Unfortunately, the thread title with the forced points doesn't come from nowhere. I also started the thread with the thought of hearing a different opinion here and there. I have the feeling that we are getting too tense about some points.

Maybe for those interested, now a longer text with our thoughts that we had during the planning:

-We really travel a lot, but unfortunately there is nothing here worth preserving, except for the planned garage, even remotely. The garage is an extension (1 story/flat roof) that was added significantly later to the old house. It is made of 30cm Poroton blocks (T12-14), a solid ceiling and was already planned for an additional floor (foundations etc.) It has a window front facing the street in the width of the planned garage door, meaning that only the parapet would have to be removed for the garage door. The neighboring house on the right is two stories high in this area with a gable roof, gable facing the street, so adapting the height here and adding a floor makes sense. Otherwise, we would be looking at the not really nice, very high facade of the neighbor. The entire orientation of the building is therefore away from the neighbor due to the neighboring boundary development on both sides. Ultimately, it's also a cost factor, saving demolition and with manageable effort gaining a good 40m² of living space. Allow me a sharp remark here, I think for what the additional floor costs me, many do not place a double prefabricated garage next to their city villa.

But of course, we subsequently create the forced points regarding the exterior dimensions of this area.

-Children/children’s rooms
At the moment there are no children yet, but they are definitely planned. Whether it will be 0,1,2 or 3 will show in the future. I actually have a problem with this forced planning of 2 children’s rooms directly next to the parents’ bedroom. Children also grow older, this thought, I have to admit, had a bigger influence on the floor plan than the needs of the children in the first years of life. In some standard floor plans, I wouldn't want to be a teenager again.

With one child, the drywall between the rooms could be omitted => all good. Also in the case of no child, or the children have left the house, I find the large room then very usable. Even though it was not a planning principle for us, if in old age you depend on a caregiver, this slightly separated area with its own small bathroom is well suited.

With 2 children we would have the shown variant, certainly unfortunately not optimal.

With 3 children, one could easily separate and halve the planned office and thus get a 3-room layout. This would still largely fit the concept of the children's area in the front part of the house.

For me these thought processes were quite important, since without a basement or attic there is no extension or conversion potential.

-Light was a big topic, unfortunately no window possible to the east, to the south is the street and entrance area, we deliberately tried to arrange individual rooms according to their use. Rooms with no light requirement, or where it is most tolerable, are placed in the darker areas. Living/dining and kitchen area consciously open to the back of the house towards the garden etc. Unfortunately, the large window front then faces north and west. I know some houses with this orientation and never found them too dark. So far, I was rather e.g. an opponent of strict southern orientation. I know it rather that about half of the time some kind of shading is used. Skylights were also already a topic. The attic is quite important to us as storage space, plus the ventilation system is installed there. Also, there was an idea to keep the roof surface of the gable roof facing the street completely homogeneous. (Even something like putting the bathroom vent tiles on the back side) => The gable roof area should, due to its simplicity, better adapt to the Bauhaus-style extension. We also already considered the variant of equipping the roof surface in the hallway area completely from eave to gable with a light strip, but cost/benefit stopped us above all.

Maybe all this sounds a bit like justification, but that is really not the intention.
I have to say this forum is great and we are grateful for every answer, some of which are really helpful.

These thought processes were quite important to me

Certainly, thought processes are important, but they do not have to be correct. Often you only see your own line of thought and don’t even deviate in the sense of "what if," tunnel vision and operational blindness. One should try to adopt other aspects and perspectives. This is done, for example, through a forum – to see it through a different lens.
It’s not about "being right" or "thinking nonsense"... nor about seeing something in a positive light...
Even I, as someone without children, don’t see any real joy in these rooms here. And since I.... *see below

Here I know it rather that about half of the time it is darkened in some way.

Where is here???? With us many windows are open without curtains or other frills... and then it depends on what one wants oneself. Ok, you don’t like sun...

The large window front unfortunately faces north and west.

... but I only see 2 or 3 small window holes to the west to... WC? Office? The living area and especially the dining area have nothing from that. The living room needs the west location the least, since the chill area is an evening place with TV watching and such.... the dining area gets nothing at all. No sunbeam streams even nearly three meters into the house... just into the living room, and there it will glare. The air space with the panoramic window can’t be used by anyone.

*see below... here the extension.
... And since I would open the living and recreation rooms to the west anyway with such a house shape (this is a semi-detached house facing west here), the ancillary rooms could, if necessary, be without windows on the closed east side, then the location of the children’s room or a small living unit with usable rooms would also be feasible for me.
I would cleverly place many windows on the west side, especially the staircase, which divides roughly everything in 2/3 1/3, completely open in the west, possibly also again where the living room is now.... you have to see how tall one will be and whether there can still be a passage between dining and living room, etc....
Tell me: is it allowed to build over the technical lines at your place? Here that would not be allowed!!!

Could it be that half of the questionnaire is missing and/or not filled out at all????
Is this a plan by an architect?