Floor plan of a single-family house with basement, 150 sqm, only single-story allowed

Well, every draft - no matter how bad - includes the wishes of the original poster. In that respect, one almost never starts from scratch here. Your version of the preliminary draft with days of consultation and a monthly maturation phase remains, in my opinion, a utopia for the average building owner. Yes, it would certainly be nice, but most building owners can be glad if they are advised at all. 99% of the drafts come from the bottom left drawer with three lines and something glued on and are senselessly bloated without really creating their own concept. The consultation with the architect as we dream of it is only realistic from a budget >1Mio.

Well, every draft – no matter how bad – includes the wishes of the TE. In that respect, you almost never start from scratch here.

Of course, you don’t start from "scratch," but a second attempt at a preliminary draft crucially begins with "zero residual burden from vaccination with remnants of a failed predecessor." You don’t try to further process a collapsed soufflé, you don’t make stock from oversalted soup, and moldy bread has no place in a meatball dough. You begin phase 2 of the service with the insights from phase 1 (and the financing advice) about the framework conditions and the space program as well as a list in which needs and wishes are separated like egg whites and yolks. After all, house planning is not a party game like lead pouring, and most prospective builders depend on a methodical approach for budget reasons.

Yes, it sure would be nice, but most builders can be glad if anyone advises them at all. 99% of drafts come from the bottom left drawer with three lines and something glued on and are senselessly bloated without really creating their own concept. The kind of advice from an architect that we dream of is only realistic from a budget >1 million onward.

99% of prospective builders can’t afford senseless bloating at all; a concept-free approach (especially self-award of contracts as first-time builders) is a surefire way to spiraling construction costs. A clear three quarters don’t need an individual draft in the sense of a unique ball gown, which is why I prefer to go hunting for suitable realizations with preliminary drafts for my advisees (unfortunately, some already come with drafts).

Your version of the preliminary draft with days of consultations and monthly maturation phase remains, in my opinion, a utopia for the average builder.

The architect meetings for a single-family home for an average family (2 adults, 2 children) of 130 to 160 sqm in total last a maximum of half a working day throughout the entire phase 2; larger or with a granny flat correspondingly longer. The dough resting time of ideally about six weeks is a period, not working time. It is a mourning period for letting go of surplus ideas and a reflection phase on how well one evaluates, among other things, the “chemistry” between the building family and the planner. The architect is the witness and godparent of the own home. During the dough resting time, the independent building consultant makes the key decisions, the results of which are then taken back to the architect to develop either phase 3 or the entire “Module B.” The result of the dough resting time with key decision-making consists not only of the building method decision (aid) but also alternative building proposals. The architect therefore does not necessarily have to automatically further develop the individual preliminary draft, but the basis of their further work is often an alternative building proposal (type house, catalog draft), which is then adapted by knowledgeable and client-partisan hands (i.e., not by the contractor interested in getting the contract).

I describe here my approach as a building-method-neutral advisor. I regularly mention several colleagues with a focus on "prefab" houses or even specialization in that. In their case, the element of “key decision-making” naturally falls away; otherwise, you must inquire about their usual procedure directly from them.

Speaking purely in terms of house prices / construction costs plus outdoor facilities, those in the 400k group dominate among my advisees over those in the 500k group. Millionaires are also among them, but especially they do not want to spend any money on planning failures at all. “My” architects are therefore not least cast according to budget adherence, “ warns” that blowhards are none of them. After all, prospective builders could also look in the industry directory themselves.

House planning is after all not a party fun like lead pouring, and most prospective builders are even dependent on a methodical approach for budget reasons.

I would like to ask "most prospective builders" sometime; they should describe the methodology and time expenditure that was invested by the developer of their choice for planning their house. Maybe I’m just too pessimistic, but my experience is rather that many builders create their floor plans themselves out of ignorance and that serious advice is nearly zero as long as it is buildable.

99% of prospective builders simply cannot afford pointless bloating, ...

Yes, shrinking down with minimal furniture is also a popular method to mock the future builders. Either way, an unfavorable cost/benefit ratio.

The dough resting time of ideally about six weeks is a period, not working time. It is a mourning phase for the farewell of superfluous ideas and a reflection phase on the question of how well, among other things, the "chemistry" between the building family and the planner is rated. The architect is the witness and godparent of the home. During the dough resting time, the independent building consultant makes the key decisions, with the result of which one then goes back to the architect and accordingly works out performance phase 3 or the entire "Module B". The result of the dough resting time with key decisions consists not only of the building method decision (aid) but also alternative building proposals. The architect must therefore by no means automatically continue to mature the individual preliminary draft, but the basis of his further work is not infrequently an alternative building proposal (standard house, catalog draft), which is now adjusted by expert and builder-partisan hands (i.e. not by the interested contracting builder).

You are describing only your recommendation and your method. That’s okay if you want to promote your approach here. But if suddenly all prospective builders would come knocking at your door, you would have a problem. I am talking about the mass of builders. That doesn’t exist there – at least not with an advisory function at their side. They mull it over alone and stay in their apartment wondering whether and how to proceed with the architect or general contractor.

Hi, thanks again. So far, there is nothing new from the planner; he is probably still digesting it. The originally shown plan was actually the third iteration, although there were only two days between the second and third, and we had not discussed the second. The first proposal came three weeks ago, so not a lot of energy has gone into it from our side yet. I will get in touch as soon as the planner contacts me. Until then, I have nevertheless made a small rescue attempt for the upper floor to bridge the waiting time. Just moved walls back and forth in Paint, so not really pretty. I think it’s better, although I don’t know what to do with the extra room now :D

Could it be that you mixed up north and south? I'm not really getting it right now. I find it questionable to place the bed directly under the slope. How high is the knee wall? Of course, it depends on the bed, but a headboard is often about 1.20m high or even 1.30m. You can also specifically look for beds without headboards. Even when considering the 2m line, it often causes headaches. That's why I would either lower the ceiling or attach a board behind the bed so that the bed comes further into the room away from the wall. But then it gets tight again with the door, and let's be honest, do you really want to spend your money on this makeshift solution?

Yes, you are absolutely right about the rotation. I rotated the plan so that the entrance is at the bottom. My wife couldn’t handle that at the moment, so I spontaneously rotated it back again, but I really only rotated the house and not the entire plan. Our bed (bought this year, one of the few pieces of furniture we’re taking with us next to the table) is 1.10m high. At the moment, the (finished) knee wall is calculated at 1.3m. The bay window at the bottom is designed specifically so that we can have the knee wall relatively high.

As I said, I was bored and waiting for the planner. I have to fight on three fronts now (the planner (to whom I showed with your plan that it can be done better), the internet (which advises me to approach things even more freely), and my wife (who is already disappointed that the house looks different than she wants and now doesn’t feel like comparing floor plans anymore) :D ). At least I found my version better than the planner’s last version, yours is still better. But of course, he can also try a version with a different staircase. I had also hinted at the staircase in the bay window about a week ago (because of the hallway and the room layout on the upper floor, my imagination didn’t go further without a planning program) when I talked to him on the phone to ask how many iterations and attempts one usually makes before deciding to build a house.