Floor plan of a single-family house just before final design - Please provide tips and advice

Hello dear forum members,

we are about to start the factory planning for our new house.
When we planned the house last year, we couldn't focus much on the floor plan because of our two small children.
Now the factory planning is getting closer and we are wondering if and what we could still improve in the floor plan.
Therefore, we want to put our house floor plan up for discussion and ask for tips and advice.
The building permit has been applied for. Luckily, we still received a KFW funding commitment. However, this means that we should not change the dimensions of the exterior walls anymore, as otherwise there is a risk of losing the funding.
A second residential unit is planned on the ground floor, but it will not be implemented initially. (Possibly later for parents)

Since the storage room has no window, we want to do without it and thereby create a greater sense of space at the stairway to the upper floor. In return, high cabinets with pull-outs will be placed on the wall between the kitchen and dining room. We might separate the kitchen with a double sliding glass door.

The kitchen is planned at the top left because the main access to the terrace is planned there (west/north around the corner of the house).

Many thanks in advance!

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 1000 sqm
Slope: no
Floor area ratio: oriented to neighboring buildings
Building line: oriented to neighboring buildings
Number of parking spaces: 4
Number of floors: 2 full floors
Roof type: gable roof
Orientation:
Maximum heights/limits: no specifications (there is no development plan)

Client requirements
Style: unadorned
Basement, floors: basement yes, 2 full floors
Number of people, age: 4 people (2 adults + 2 small children)
Space needed on ground floor: office, shower, large living/dining area
Space needed on upper floor: small office/storage room, 2 normally sized children's rooms, large bathroom, bedroom
Office: since we both work from home we need 2 offices
Guest sleepers per year: regularly 1 person
Open or closed architecture: ideally the kitchen should be separable by a (sliding) door; the hallway should be separable from the living/dining area
Conservative or modern construction: rather conservative
Open kitchen, cooking island: no cooking island, a work island with 2 small seating options
Number of dining seats: 6 seats
Fireplace: planned
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double garage (prefabricated), possibly a third prefabricated garage as tool shed/bicycle room
Utility garden, greenhouse: no
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be: -

House design
Who designed it:
- planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why?
- large living/dining area, large office with garden access, size of children’s rooms
What do you not like? Why?
- kitchen, despite its size of 16 sqm, is not really easy to plan
- layout of the bathroom on the upper floor
- small entrance area
Price estimate according to architect/planner:
- approx. 600k
Personal price limit for the house including equipment:
- approx. 650k
Preferred heating technology:
- air heat pump

If you had to do without, which details/extensions
- could you do without: smaller bedroom, smaller living/dining area
- cannot do without: 2 offices, size of children’s rooms

Why is the design the way it is now? e.g.
Standard design from the planner?
- no
Which wishes were implemented by the architect?
- office, 2 residential units, 2 bathrooms, size of children’s rooms

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
We would appreciate tips, suggestions for improvement, and general feedback. Many thanks!

How long is the staircase? It seems a bit short to me. But that can be misleading. Please tell me the exact dimensions of the steps (because they are hard to read), the floor height you have, and how large the staircase opening is planned to be. Then the staircase can be accurately assessed.

I'll ask heretically: Which KFW funding did you still receive when you write about last year? Including the additional funding for the second residential unit? Then the "non-implementation" becomes somewhat very dark gray.

I'll ask heretically: Which KFW funding did you still receive if you are talking about last year? Including the additional funding for the second residential unit? Then the "non-implementation" becomes somewhat very dark gray.

Hello Sol, it is the regular KfW funding for KfW55, which expired at the end of last year. All connections are being installed and the door to the 2nd residential unit is also present. Our builder said that it is sufficient.

Sorry, if I put it bluntly like this, but I completely miss the orientation towards the garden here. Even though this is the north side, you don't have any access from the living areas at all. If the children want to play in the sandbox, everyone has to go through the office or the guest track. Or you first have to walk around the house – how stupid. It will be an endless running around the house.

At the moment, the staircase orientation, entrance area, etc. are still designed to implement a second separate residential unit. Is that even still current or is it now just being forced because of the funding? How much is it and is it really worth it if it’s not needed and the floor plan suffers because of it?

Is the ridge direction predetermined?

How long is the staircase? It seems a bit short to me. But that could be misleading. Please tell me the exact dimensions of the steps (because they are hard to read), the floor height you have, and how big the stairwell is planned to be. Then one can properly assess the staircase.

Hello hanse997, there are 15 steps at 26 cm each (the plan says 16 steps, no idea how it was measured). The staircase is 3.9m long (measured on the ground floor plan from the small circle to the end of the arrow). The staircase is exactly 1m wide. The floor height from ground floor to upper floor in the shell construction is 2.75m. How do I best measure the stairwell? In the upper floor layout?