Floor plan single-family house ~165m² plus basement

I’m afraid your thread has lost a bit of momentum. In my opinion, the reason lies in the somewhat unclear situation regarding the terrain design. Before you continue struggling with the floor plan, you should first thoroughly deal with the options for the exterior design in terms of the slope. I would recommend that you don’t just say, “we’re building a basement and then we’ll see.” Grab your sketch of the property and make an exact plan for the arrangement of the elevations. This mainly concerns the parking spaces, paths, the house itself, as well as paths and stairs beside the house. You can see what your neighbor has piled up. That needs to be well planned, as so much material plus work costs a lot of money. Yes, you need to invest a bit of brainpower here. It’s best to draw a cross-section of the property and place your house on it. Here is a fellow sufferer, where showed how to do it (this is not your slope but just an example of how you should proceed):

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With the terrain planning hopefully comes the realization that you can use a basement on a slope much more than without. You can consider putting individual rooms like an office into the basement, since natural light is possible. But that depends on the steepness of the slope in the building area, which is still not really clear. Your oversized hobby rooms are expensive and so far poorly explained. You want to heat 35 sqm, why? What is going to go in there? Have you thought about what height the basement should have? Should it have residential quality with 2.40 m ceiling height or really just be a basement? That is a significant difference also for the general contractor in terms of money. Living spaces are much more expensive.

With 5 people, I’m a bit skeptical about this office/bedroom on the ground floor. I understand the desire to maybe use it as a bedroom “later.” But the space is lost to you now in the living area, and 5 people need space. I would rather plan so that later you can fairly easily separate a room from the living room with drywall, but for now have a large living room.

We would also help you with suggestions, but the problem lies with the elevation details. As soon as you provide more info about your property, the “cookies” will come, as so nicely says.

form follows function was yesterday.
If the appearance is more important, only this arrangement works, I understand.

I don’t have that impression. There is no conflict here between function and form. The function (stairwell lighting without relevance to the enjoyment of the view) is fulfilled, and a secondary function (to show the observer through the form which windows serve the stairwell) does not exist. The observer would also not be a legitimate claimant when drawing up the specifications for the façade – nonetheless, they are spared from having to imagine any Frankenstein monstrosities here. In this respect, function and form are smoothly united, almost on equal footing, nothing follows.

Drainage shall be exclusively into the sewer system in the street area.

Also concerning surface water – is the mayor who hopefully was chased out of the city by now employed in your town hall as the head of road construction and wastewater? – then I am increasingly in favor of reintroducing the scapegoat violin for incompetent city leaders.

That depends, however, on the strength of the slope in the construction area, which still isn’t really clear.

Because one simply (here as a fellow discussant, the OP themselves will hopefully be less left in the dark) does not know what the municipality envisions. I stick to this: the terrain does not have a “slope” at all, but merely a height difference street vs. property. One has to deal with this and also coordinate it with the neighbors. For this, the municipality must also express itself clearly. One must know what is planned and permitted and from where the heights are calculated. It mustn’t be that in the end the cellar counts as a full storey and all planning was for nothing.

I do not have that impression. There is no tension here between function and form. The function (staircase lighting without relevance to the enjoyment of the view) is fulfilled, and there is no secondary function (to show the viewer through the form which windows serve the staircase). The viewer would also not be an entitled claimant when setting up the specifications for the façade – nevertheless, they are spared from having to invent any Frankenstein monstrosities here. In this respect, function and form are seamlessly united, practically on equal footing, as nothing follows.

Also regarding surface water – is the mayor, hopefully chased out of the city by , now employed in your town hall as the head of road construction and sewage? – then I am increasingly in favor of reinstating the pillory for incompetent city officials.

Because one (here as a participant in the discussion, the original poster hopefully being less left in the dark) does not know what the municipality envisions. I maintain: the site has no “slope” but merely a height difference between street and property. One has to deal with that and coordinate with the neighbors. The municipality must also clearly state its position. You have to know what is planned and permitted and from where the heights are measured. Not that in the end the basement counts as a full floor and all planning was for nothing.

Then I want to put it this way: “I” would have the following demands for a staircase window: “I” want to be able to look outside. “I” would like daylight to come in where it seems “sensible” to “me.” “My” wife wants windows that are easy to clean. Since it will not be my house, “my” demands are irrelevant.

I am still in the decision phase regarding which general contractor (GU) to choose, so nothing is progressing at the moment. So far, I have done a soil survey and many lists, sketches, thought experiments, read a lot, looked at model houses, and much more.

I have made a sketch of the property showing where the parking spaces and garage will be, but the paths and also how I envision the slope are still missing. I think I won’t be able to avoid filling in the front. On the side, it depends on what one wants, and the neighboring buildings also play a role. My neighbor to the west is filling in, so I will probably do the same here. The property to the east is still available. We don’t want a residential basement but only utility rooms or possibly hobby rooms. The fact that heating was registered in the basement was because the two rooms were connected to an air-to-air heat pump. It is enough if the basement has a height of, for example, 2.25 m. It doesn’t bother me if the basement is “filled in” and lighting options are lost.

I have also considered putting the office in the basement. However, I would only do this if we put one of the children's rooms on the ground floor, thus making the whole house smaller (to save costs). We don’t really need a larger living room. On the other hand, I could imagine a larger kitchen with a separate dining table as a second option. Basically, I am quite satisfied with the floor plan but hope that my future general contractor or you here in the forum might find something better. If the office is placed in the basement, one must think about “filling in” and the lighting options.

Also regarding surface water – hopefully the mayor who was chased out of the city is now employed in your town hall as the department head for road construction and sewage? – then I am increasingly in favor of bringing back the stocks for incompetent city officials.

I meant the roof drainage should be connected to the sewer system in the street area.

I am still in the decision phase about which general contractor I will choose, [...] Basically, I am quite satisfied with the floor plan, but I hope that my future general contractor will find something better or you here in the forum.

Then tell us the floor plans of the construction proposals of the potential general contractors. [/QUOTE]

I meant the roof drainage should be connected to the sewer system in the street area.

The Rechtsanwältin in Spain falls mainly in the plains, but the rain in Germany does not only fall on the roof. The surface water always flows downhill; I do not see your municipality having wiser attitudes than "not my problem" in this regard.

Hello everyone,

we have made some progress.

1. We have mentally decided on a house construction company. That means I have informed the companies involved and given a confirmation or rejection. On Thursday, we will sign a planning contract with one company and then it will really get started.

2. The documents from the surveyor have arrived. The small blue numbers are probably the elevations, right? According to that, the basement should be in a construction pit about 1.5m deep, and I will have the front and sides filled up. Behind the terrace, there would then be a small slope + stairs to get to the rest of the property. See also pictures.

3. One of the general contractors has further developed the floor plan with the bay window and eliminated a few weak points. For example, it is about 170m2, a bit bigger. As already said, I am quite satisfied with this floor plan, but I hope that my future general contractor or you here on the forum will find something even better.

4. I have done a rudimentary site planning. However, this still needs to be adapted to the respective house.

Regarding the use of the basement, I can also say something:
- a room for my wife so that she has a little corner in the house
- a larger room for various things, e.g. foosball, table tennis, playroom for the children, or also as a party room
- small storage room / storage space
- utility room

I would be very grateful if you could help me with the floor plan.