Floor plan of a single-family house, slight slope location, northwest orientation

And you don’t constantly look out of the bedroom window either. With a knee wall of 80 cm, you can also nicely look out of a suitable roof window, by the way.

That’s a good point. I looked at some pictures and indeed, at this height it’s not just a roof window showing a bit of blue (in Germany rather gray) sky.

He would like to have all the windows facing north.

It’s more about the fact that the nice south side would be very close to the neighbor. At least that’s the thought that stuck with me. More on that later.

In the first draft, I recognize a house I could live well in. That is a subjective statement.

Opinions seem to differ, and I think that speaks for the architect’s design. In the end, it’s a subjective feeling which design works better.

As you can basically see, the layout from @ypg in and my adaptation of a standard floor plan in have a few things in common

That’s correct, I looked at both more closely and also developed my own version. I uploaded it as an attachment. The dimensions should be about right. It’s my first draft and a mix of everything kindly provided here or that I could contribute.

It’s hardly believable here that the neighbors stay permanently in the 3, 4 meter distance from the property boundary in summer, as they have a very nice plot to linger on. You can talk yourself into many things...

The neighbors do have a nice large garden, but the terrace is very close to the hedge and is probably the place where they will spend most of their time.

Because you have a limited perspective?

Unfortunately, I do have that. I’m trying to open myself up to ideas.

If you still think in terms of north, then ask the architect for a new upper floor. However, you don’t like the exterior view anymore either. There’s not much left to like.

To be honest, I only like the exterior because of the upper floor. The “setback” of the upper floor doesn’t look very nice and is probably also expensive.

My concern with a complete southern orientation is that the distance between hedge and house is very small (4 m) and could therefore feel like a kind of constricting “airlock.” That’s why there’s a constant effort to open up toward the top of the plan where most of the garden is located.
I had some time today and developed my own design for a ground floor. The garage is now on the right and also wider (we wanted to have space for two cars anyway, possibly there’s also space for a hobby area further back...)
The office is now on the south side because we want to face the living and dining areas toward the garden. We also spend (a lot of) time working from home, so some sun isn’t bad. It certainly has many weaknesses but for me, it’s more about showing what I envision. I think that way enough light comes into the rooms from the southwest, from the dining and living areas you still enjoy a nice view to the right or top of the plan. From the couch, it’s probably nice to be able to look out over the field, so I didn’t want to lose that view. Still, with this room arrangement it wouldn’t be dark anymore. A kitchen island could also be implemented that way.

My concern is with a complete south orientation,

Well, no one here is advising you to go for a complete orientation!

that the distance between the hedge and the house is very small (4m)

For me, the distance is 5 or 8 meters..

The garage is now on the right and is also wider

Of course, if you suddenly make the garage so wide that it gets tight between you and the neighbors, then I do not understand that.
The lever would be to move the house more to the right according to the plan. Moreover, the upper floor would also benefit from the roof orientation, since you generate more living space through a rather deeper house than a wide house.
Regarding your draft:

It certainly has many weaknesses

True. The staircase is (again) a disaster: You come out close to the sloping roof, which will negatively affect the space available there in the north. It is also too short.
An almost square room for kitchen and dining area is difficult to furnish if the kitchen is supposed to be sufficiently large. Here, it is not.

The office is now located in the south because we want to orient the living and dining area towards the garden. We also spend (a lot of) time in the home office, so some sun is not a bad thing.

That reads a bit contradictory.
Actually, you almost land exactly at a standard draft of a general contractor. Only that you placed the staircase where it doesn’t work. The chill area is not really serious, is it? That is not 2.80 meters of back wall for a sofa. I mean: You even measured it.. what makes you leave it like that?

I sign with ... and add that kitchen units with widths of 300 cm, which also absolutely must have the hidden pantry passage, lack ergonomics. And pantries that at most have a depth of 100 cm can't even accommodate a freezer on the long wall, because then the door can't be opened.

As you can see from the statements of about the stairs, the upper floor must always be developed as well, according to even before the ground floor.

What else I noticed, you said that only gable roofs are allowed .. your neighbor has a hip roof

[ATTACH alt="grundriss-einfamilienhaus-leichte-hanglage-nw-ausrichtung-688633-1.png"]91559[/ATTACH]

The neighbors do have a really nice big garden, however the terrace is very close to the hedge and probably the place where one will spend most of the time.

That may be due to the semi-detached house.

What I also noticed was, you said only gable roofs are allowed .. your neighbor has a hipped roof

Oops. I think that won't play such a big role here. However, other incorrect interpretations could make planning difficult here.

I think that way enough light comes into the rooms from the southwest,

Thanks for the aerial photo. That reminds me of the memory that the confusing orange circle doesn’t show south, but rather the point where from E to E roughly the sun sets. Behind the neighbors. That’s why it’s not exactly sunny in the house from E to E now.

Of course, if you suddenly make the garage so wide that it becomes tight between you and the neighbor, then I don't understand that.
The lever would be to move the house more to the right side according to the plan. Additionally, the upper floor would also benefit from the roof orientation, as more living space is generated by a rather deeper house than a wide house.

Thank you very much, that's of course true. I compressed the house a bit. Unfortunately, the sight lines get somewhat lost, but the layout appears more coherent.

And pantries that are if anything 100 cm deep can't even accommodate a freezer along the long wall because then you can't open the door.

I enlarged the pantry.

Thanks @kbt09 for the aerial photo. That reminds me that the confusing orange circle does not show south, but rather the point where from E to E roughly the sun sets. Behind the neighbors. That is why from E to E it isn’t exactly sunny in the house.

The sunset is the red line (top of the plan), the orange circle is the current position of the sun at the moment I took the screenshot, the oval line shows the sun’s path, and the yellow line the sun rays.

I made adjustments and took your input into account. Among other things, also the staircase. The house could be moved further right to the edge of the property and would then have around 7 m distance to the neighbor. I could imagine creating an open space on the upper floor to the right side of the plan that lies above the living room. Just an idea that occurred to me.

The stair exit on the upper floor is still dangerously close to the 2m limit .. since the upper floor is not planned yet.

Airspace above the living room ... is rather uncomfortable.

The sun path is now. Do it in winter, then the sun sets about 90° further forward.