Floor plan of our dream house

The balcony is very deep, indeed. That has only advantages: When you sit on it, unlike a "normal" balcony, you have a real outdoor seat just at 2.5m height. Setting up a large banquet table, chairs around it—that all works on the balcony. Only our general contractor (GU) initially said: "That won't work. You can't build a balcony deeper than 1.5m." We were like: "Well, we've definitely seen balconies deeper than 1.5m and I thought you are a construction company?" GU: "Well, yes, you can build it, but then you need supports at the corners below." We said: "Then just put them there, you are a construction company after all." And that's what they built. So it did work after all.

The angle of the sun was just an estimate from me, about how the sun stands in summer. In the calculation, I made some mistakes, which luckily balanced each other out — in summer the sun now shines exactly up to 5cm before the outer edge of the terrace door, meaning no direct (!) sun on the glass. And thanks to 4m width of the glass surface facing south, it's definitely anything but dark.

In summer, the seats under the balcony are always the most popular because there is simply real sun protection. The outer seats (the terrace extends far beyond the balcony) also have sun protection through the usual shading devices mentioned here — the reality at parties shows simply that the seats under the balcony are clearly more popular than those under awnings/sun sails.

In winter, the sun shines all the way through the living room into the kitchen. In storms, the balcony protects everything on the terrace very well. The balcony railing attachments are perfect for quickly mounting sun sails, light strings, rain protection, etc. So the balcony is not the end of sun protection but just the beginning.

Since the area of the balcony is significant, a lot of rainwater goes into the cistern because of it. Possibly photovoltaic panels will be mounted all around the balcony railing on the upper and top floors, as they can be screwed to the railing quickly and stably. In the optimally weather-protected corner between the house wall and the underside of the balcony is an electrical distribution for power, network, cameras, speakers, etc.—everything you need for a party on the terrace.

One special feature with me is that I built the house so that it can be divided into two halves within limits. Then the balcony on the upper floor is the terrace, just without garden access.

Oh yes: Both the move of bulky goods and just now the delivery of a large tabletop only went through the balconies. There was no chance via the stairs (and they are larger than those in this floor plan proposal). So from the terrace to the upper floor balcony and further to the attic balcony. So for me, the balcony is very often very practical, especially because I often sit on the terrace.

The balcony is very deep, true. That only has advantages: when you sit on it, unlike a "normal" balcony, you have a real outdoor seating area, just at 2.5m height. Setting up a large banquet table, chairs around it, all that works on the balcony. Only our general contractor initially said: "It’s not possible. You can’t build a balcony deeper than 1.5m." We were like: "Well, we’ve definitely seen balconies deeper than 1.5m and I thought you’re a construction company?" GC: "Well, you can build it, but then you need supports at the corners underneath." Us: "Then just put them in, you are a construction company after all." And that’s what they built. So it worked after all.

The sun angle was just an estimate from me, how the sun is positioned in summer. I made some mistakes in the calculation, which luckily balanced out – in summer the sun now shines exactly up to 5cm before the outer edge of the terrace door, meaning no direct (!) sun on the glass. And thanks to the 4m width of the glass surface facing south, it’s definitely anything but dark.

In summer, the seats under the balcony are always the most popular because there is really sun protection there. The outer seats (the terrace extends far beyond the balcony) also have sun protection through the usual shade providers mentioned here – but the reality at parties simply shows that the seats under the balcony are clearly more popular than those under the awning/sun sail.

In winter, the sun shines through the whole living room up to the kitchen. In bad weather, the balcony protects everything on the terrace very well. The balcony railing mounts are ideal to quickly install awnings, string lights, rain protection, etc. So the balcony is not the end of sun protection but just the beginning.

Since the area of the balcony is significant, a lot of rainwater also goes into the cistern. Possibly photovoltaic panels will be installed all around the balcony railing on the upper and top floors, as they can be quickly and securely screwed onto the railing. In the optimally weather-protected corner between the house wall and balcony underside there is an electrical distribution for power, network, camera, speakers, etc., everything you need for a party on the terrace.

A special feature for me is that I built the house so that it can be divided roughly into two halves. Then the balcony on the upper floor is the terrace, just without garden access.

would you show some photos?

I am currently traveling at the other end of the republic, so as a rough description:

Floor-to-ceiling glass doors without thresholds to the terrace, floor to ceiling, four pieces side by side each 1m wide. Exactly facing south. Above, centered, an approximately 6m wide, approximately 3m deep balcony, i.e., the balcony is about 1m wider on each side than the doors. At the outer balcony corners, a steel column each. Balcony railing screwed onto the front edge of the balcony concrete slab. So already when the sun slowly rises over the east, the sun is shaded by the lateral overhang.

The entire terrace is 8m wide and 4m deep, thus larger than the balcony.

Oh yes: Because the balcony is so large, hardly any rain reaches the glass panes. That’s why we also skipped the Aco channel and at the water threshold we only have very few millimeters due to the slight slope of the "window sills" under the doors as well as the few millimeters of the lower sealing threshold. Since we have been living there, we have had many storms but never any problems with water, we also always leave all shoes simply next to the door, they never get wet.

That's why we also skipped the Aco channel

Of course, this is no recommendation to do the same and any decent professional will rightly ask why at least a slot drain wasn't installed there. Or of course an Aco channel specifically designed for this purpose. Sure, you can do all that - and you MUST, if you don't have this extreme rain protection. Considering the balcony, we refrained from it and the rain marks confirm that in this case it works without. As a result, cleaning agents from window panes (rarely, as mentioned hardly any rain hits them) or terrace (even more so, since no rain washes anything away) do not enter the cistern.