Floor plan of a detached bungalow 150m, 2 carport parking spaces

Your child is growing up. One thing Corona taught me: childcare + work do not work together. How many had Fireman Sam as a babysitter? Children become mobile, children are loud, children want their peace and so do you. I think many things you now see as advantages can quickly turn into disadvantages. Sloping ceilings can be minimized. Care requires space and is not done with wide doors alone. Parents move – if at all – to their children only when there is really no other way, and besides the time resources, you also need space. That is much more than 1m wide doors. You can do it, but you have to plan it properly. No steps (there is a stairlift for that) and wide doors are not enough. Turning circles, people for assistance, supports, etc.

<=150m² total area

The question is from me: where does the restriction of 150sqm total area come from? Is it about the building footprint approved by the building authority? Does your budget allow for "only" 150sqm? Or are there subsidies that only apply up to 150sqm? You currently have a plan with 150sqm on the ground level. However, attic space is also being created, which although unfinished here, would allow for fully usable living space. Arguments for a "1.5-story house": -With a "1.5-story house" you can be smaller downstairs. -Attic space is created anyway. -A 1.5-story house is ultimately cheaper than a bungalow. -It’s good for the family to be able to spread out over two levels and not constantly be on top of each other. -Home office also benefits because you have more quiet for working. -You can plan the home office on the ground floor and the two children upstairs, so no roof slope bothers you. -I don’t really see any issue with care. Visitors can sleep in the office because older generations apparently do not want to and cannot sleep on a sofa. The care situation is only in your head, because older people are no longer relocated.

And secondly, how do you explain to the architect what should be different about the new floor plan?

You tell him that everything is actually very tight and that the children's rooms and the storage room should be planned in the attic. The house then overall somewhat smaller.

Apart from the fact that the house, as repeatedly written, does not meet the requirements described by Dur, I cannot imagine how you want to live. On the one hand, the design gives the impression of a compact holiday home where you make many compromises, such as where to put a stroller, winter clothes, what about storage... On the other hand, there are two dining areas in a very limited space. If it is important that it should be quiet with guests, a retreat room is needed at a reasonable distance from the toilet provided for guests. If you do not think of "the terrace," one terrace can be attached to the house and another further away on the property. There is no law that allows only one terrace. Self-construction makes many things possible.
The idea of reusing an existing heating system is probably neither aimed at saving construction costs nor operating costs. Although I have a lot of imagination, I can think of few other goals for this project.

Good morning and many thanks for all your suggestions! I am glad that the feedback is so unanimous, even if that means for us that we have to start completely from scratch.

I think many people here feel the same. I recently had the first drafts from us in my hands, and can only say: Uff.

That’s why I would first strike the option of care in this house from the wishlist, because it means that we simply cannot afford this "if-then" security.

This is not just a financial matter. So much is connected to it that I want to say: Good decision!

First, I wonder if a bungalow would even be possible (<=150m² total area, 2 adults, 2 children). A bungalow instead of a 1.5-story house would simplify our home office routines so much, whether chopping vegetables quickly between calls or swapping childcare quickly between appointments, you save a lot of time if you can just knock on the other’s home office door and everything happens on one floor. In addition, I find sloping ceilings very disturbing, both visually and physically, since I love to bump my head on them..

Unfortunately, sloping ceilings will hardly be avoidable due to the development plan (unless flat roofs are permitted?).

Regarding the home office, a change of perspective: thinking in terms of room requirements!

Which rooms are needed? How big should they be approximately?

Then you can look at the arrangement to see how to best accommodate them. There are many other factors - position of entrance door, stairs, plot, and much more. I know many floor plans that allow for an office on the ground floor even with ~140m² total area and that work well. (Whether you actually want the office downstairs is another question. It would drive me crazy to be constantly disturbed.)

And second, how do you explain to the architect what should be different in the new floor plan?

"Sorry, we realized that a bungalow doesn’t suit us. We would like to start again from scratch."

(Between our first draft and the final draft, only two things stayed the same: position and type of stairs and entrance door; otherwise, nothing looks like before.)

This is not just a financial question. So much is connected to it that I want to say: Good decision!

Yes, absolutely a good decision. Anyone planning possibly the biggest investment of their life would do well to protect it by considering exactly what purpose this investment is supposed to serve, and not just how it might look and what is currently fashionable. The "what for" comes first. Then comes the "how." That's actually always the case in life. Often the "what for" seems so clear that one doesn't give it any thought, for example when buying toothpaste. In another context, the "what for" is a really complex matter worth examining closely. Imagine a house as a machine for the external framework conditions of your quality of life. What would this machine need to be able to do? (Not how it would need to look).