Floor plan draft for a 220m² single-family house

So where he is right... By now, people have become so blind to the many similar floor plans that they no longer see all the mistakes. Exceptions, of course, prove the rule. The story is turning into a nerve-wracking ordeal, and even the architects apparently are only half-heartedly involved.

But the architect also says that he only quickly drew my suggestion to coordinate whether it fits. This is not detailed planning in the proper sense!

I have not received any floor plans of the old house. And everyone who has been with me at the house has clearly said it has to go. If you want an individual house, then especially.

The story is turning into a nerve-wracking ordeal and even the architects apparently are only half-heartedly involved.

The first architect was not even half-heartedly (and even less intelligently) involved, and the current one probably communicates better with the structural engineer, but was unfortunately infected with the botched design.

If you lock yourself into a design and only work on it with a nail file where you actually need a machete, then neither numerous discussants and their suggestions nor a (so far only half) architect change due to the dragged-along design can prevent you from going crazy pretty soon. That then becomes inevitable.

The architect also says that he just quickly drew my suggestion to coordinate whether it fits. This is not detailed planning in the proper sense!

That was already clear to me a round before, at the latest at the garage passage door.

I have not received any floor plans of the old house.

Oh, that’s a pity. But at least the building authority should still have them.

And everyone who was with me on that house clearly said, that has to go.

From the photos, nothing looks neglected or botched to me, at most heating and windows need replacement (and roof insulation too, but that is not relevant in case of an extension), tiles are tasteless etcetera. But not dilapidated substance.

If you want an individual house, then anyway.

On the contrary. Nothing has more potential for individuality than a well-integrated old building stock. Basically, you see that yourself as well, otherwise you wouldn’t be working so gently on the botched design – about which I here repeat my doubts that the existing building could have been planned as awkwardly in terms of quality.

I skimmed through the thread and took away the following:

You are building with a high budget and have some specific priorities.

Normally, this results in a customized, high-quality design. Here, high quality means high living value measured by your priorities and not just expensive.

Straight talk: I see an expensive design here that is not high-quality in the above sense. Period.

I agree with 11ants' post #231. There are things that cost a lot but effectively reduce the living quality.

What I additionally see:

- Access to the upper bathroom through the dressing room, which has an open passage to the bedroom? So every child who wants to go to the bathroom at night has to open your bedroom door first and wakes you up?

- Kitchen without access to the garden. You can do that, but why, without a reason?

But seriously: This creaks in so many places, I would urgently advise you to start from scratch. This is not ideal inside or outside and for the amount of money you want to spend, anything less than ideal is unacceptable!

One more comment: What terrible thing happens if you have fewer projections, slightly reduced space ( 18 sqm office is certainly luxurious, but a priority? ) and thereby lower costs and possibly more left for the fittings? A clearly structured design from the outside certainly won’t be more expensive...

And: Not everything that looks great and representative from the outside brings living quality inside. Prioritize urgently here. The panoramic window upstairs is only to impress people on the outside, nothing else, sorry to say so. Does that have priority?

The only reasonable conclusion from all this: New plan.

The panoramic window at the top is just to impress people outside, for nothing else,

No, it is more than useless, it is harmful as well: it emphasizes the width of the room in a way that visually turns the depth into a cramped space. You basically get claustrophobia precisely because of the expanse. This window turns the room into an extreme short box.

With the existing building, I wouldn’t know what to do. There were three general contractors outside, two independent architects, and no one even brought up a variant that includes the existing building. The crawl space was, among other things, one of the reasons. Maybe it was because of the crawl space, maybe it was because of our wishes. No idea – in any case, the general consensus was that even if you do something with the existing building, in the end it’s more expensive than demolition & new construction.

We can’t do anything with the room program in the existing building. There wouldn’t be any room wall left where it is. And there would also be load-bearing walls in there.