Floor plan of a single-family house with a living basement on the slope

Now just between us: Why don't you find a freelance architect who creates a design based on your wishes, the surroundings, and the legal requirements? And please do so without influencing him with your floor plan.

I am sure you won't regret it.

When I read words like hillside property, building window width 15m, etc., I think of an exciting building that integrates the residents into the landscape and offers a great view.
In your design, a corner sofa stands in front of the window, those who are lucky see the TV, the others look at a wall corner or into the building. But for that, you don't need a hillside property...

WD

Now just between us: Why don’t you find a freelance architect who, based on your wishes, the surroundings, and the legal requirements, creates a design? And please do this without influencing him through your floor plan.

I’m sure you won’t regret it.

When I read words like hillside property, building window width 15m, etc., I think of an exciting building that integrates the residents into the landscape and offers a great view.
In your design, there is a corner sofa in front of the window; if you’re lucky, you see the TV, the others look at a corner of the wall or into the building. But you don’t need a hillside property for that...

WD

First of all, thanks in general for the feedback!

@WD, of course I fully agree with you and that’s what we intend to do; unfortunately, it will still take almost two weeks until we have an appointment with an architect who will also take a look at the property on site.

Just a brief note on your comments: why the sofa is placed there is also a mystery to me; the bay is actually intended as a kind of conservatory with two loungers... The bay is located at this point because to the left of it (about 10m away) stands the neighbor’s house with the balcony at the same height. This "bay window" is supposed to serve as a privacy screen for our balcony. The view is generally very important to me, so we also plan to install large window fronts with floor-to-ceiling windows on the top and bottom. Just a small note on that; overall, it feels like I’m only slowly getting clearer about what I actually want... and I find this discussion very helpful in that regard...

Regards, Pit

Hello Pit,

How much slope do you have from where to where? What is the current natural terrain gradient and how is the house positioned in relation to it?

A hillside property is a cool thing if you’re confident about it, and you can definitely stand out from the ordinary in terms of architecture. But not as a layperson; for this, you need an architect who is excited about this challenge. It is also quite a challenge even for a professional to bring together the components of slope, surrounding buildings, and the inhabitants’ requirements.

We also have a hillside property with a 3.30m slope diagonally and facing southwest. We presented our wishes and requirements to four architects and discussed our project. Number 1 talked everything down because it was too expensive, number 2 was completely clueless regarding the slope, number 3 showed us 5 hillside projects of their own, and number 4 sketched out their ideas on several 5x5cm papers in 2 hours, showing what possibilities there are on a slope. She was also the only one who immediately recognized how steep the slope really is.

We will get the second draft on Monday, and the first one already fit 90% and especially had really cool ideas for the slope. We will build a split-level house and place the living level downwards, practically level with the gardens.

My advice is also two pages of notes and then start searching for an architect; not everyone wants to or can design on a slope...

Ddx

Hello Demian,

we have about 20% slope, less at the top towards the street and somewhat more at the bottom. We also have a southwest orientation, the property is quite large at around 1000m2 but it is "only" 21-23 m wide, so rather long...

I understand the thing with architects as well, we have already spoken to some, but the spark hasn't jumped yet. I will now try to speak with smaller offices, I think they are also more straightforward...

Best regards

Pit

Hello again,

I was able to tidy up some points and, as I think, improve the draft after I reached out to an old school buddy (who is now an architect) over a beer (then I transferred the drawing from paper to the computer at home).

Maybe someone will have mercy and give some general feedback

Pit


OG:

What immediately strikes me: the windows are a bit asymmetrical at the top and bottom. When you create a view, it will be interesting to see how the house looks from the outside.