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

an old school buddy (who is now an architect) asked me over a beer

Demian described the right approach from his own experience. This is how it’s done and not otherwise.

You want to plan the investment of your life based on a conversation with a beer-laden buddy who is supposedly an architect. That’s okay, but that’s what the planning looks like as well.

If that person were actually an architect and truly wanted to help you, he would have told you that a design requires a thorough consideration of the client’s wishes, the situation on site, and the legal possibilities of the property.

Just by eliminating the inefficiency of the sleeping and dressing area, you would already have covered the costs for commissioning service phases 1–4, plus a professional, sober planning of the entire building.

In this sense, cheers!

WD

And I can only recommend this approach again and again! We are on the second draft and are currently only discussing minor details, like moving windows one meter to the left or right. We are done with the design and will enter the approval phase in the new year.

What I see in the discussion is that you have similar ideas to us, which were very quickly and well refuted by our architect with good reasons. An example is the fireplace; no one can sit at the dining table when it is on, and the cozy, calming effect is gone because it is not really visible from a cozy seating area. Also, the layout with living upstairs and sleeping downstairs is bad because you can always look into your love nest from the terrace. I assume the two armchairs upstairs in front of the window are meant to offer some kind of view. Why not place them downstairs directly in the garden, or else you are looking at the neighbors.

What does the plot look like overall in terms of slope? Can you provide a natural and planned terrain profile? I assume you have surveyed it or at least asked your drinking buddy to do so! Otherwise, as a layman, I find it difficult to imagine building on a slope. Can you also provide sections with terrain? Exterior views are more important for a house on a slope than on flat land.

From my own experience, only when we had all this could we imagine whether this could be our house!

I can only repeat my tip: open Word, find an architect who has experience with slopes or the ambition to plan one? Our experienced and ambitious architect, who is looking for challenges, admitted at the last appointment that this project really pushed her. But the result is really amazing for us!

demian

Hey,

it's been a while. But are there any results, Pit?
And can you show some of your floor plans, Demian?