Floor plan single-family house, approx. 200 sqm - comments welcome

Dear forum,

after my boyfriend and I have spent hours as silent readers of this forum, we are now ready to throw our floor plan to you as food for thought.

First of all, here is the questionnaire:

Development plan/restrictions
Size of the plot: 1322 sqm; approx. 23x56m
Slope: No
Site coverage ratio: no development plan - § 34 Baugesetzbuch
Floor area ratio: no development plan - § 34 Baugesetzbuch
Building window, building line and boundary: no development plan - § 34 Baugesetzbuch
Edge development: No, only carport/garage and garden house or tool shed possible
Number of parking spaces: no development plan - § 34 Baugesetzbuch
Number of floors: no development plan - § 34 Baugesetzbuch
Roof shape: no development plan - § 34 Baugesetzbuch
Style: no development plan - § 34 Baugesetzbuch
Orientation: corner plot approx. 23x56m, streets to the north and west
Maximum heights/limits: no development plan - § 34 Baugesetzbuch
Further requirements: none

Requirements of the builders
Style, roof shape, building type: modern, but not too "clean"; preferably gable roof with shallow pitch (20-25°)
Basement, floors: no basement, if possible 2 full floors
Number of people, age: so far 2 (30 and 31 years), 2 children planned
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor: G/F: entrance hall + wardrobe, guest WC, study/guest room, large utility room + pantry, open living/dining/kitchen area, approx. 100-110 sqm;
U/F: 2 children's rooms, children's bathroom, open "parents' area" with dressing room and master bathroom, small storage room, preferably gallery/atrium, approx. 90 sqm
Office: occasional home office, combination of work and guest room
Overnight guests per year: 10 nights
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: modern, not too "clean"
Open kitchen, kitchen island: open kitchen with freestanding island, slight separation between dining & living area desired
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace: yes
Music/stereo wall: no
Balcony, roof terrace: no
Garage, carport: double carport
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should/should not be: if possible, an open staircase

House design
Who designed it: DIY based on various sources
What do you particularly like? Why?: separation of dining and living area despite open design; direct passage from carport to utility room/pantry to kitchen; atrium with view of the garden; all bedrooms with garden view; rectangular building volume
What do you not like? Why?: -
Price estimate according to architect/planner: floor plans of comparable size were around 450,000€
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 550,000 - 580,000 € incl. carport, excl. exterior facilities (we already own the plot)
Preferred heating technology: geothermal heat pump, KFW 55

If you have to do without, which details/extensions
-can be omitted: open staircase; storage room upstairs, fireplace
-can’t be omitted: all other rooms in some form

Why did the design turn out as it is now? e.g.
A mixture of many examples. The floor plans we have received from planners so far were all less to our liking.

What is the most important/basic question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters? Affordable (in Lower Saxony; urban)? Can the staircase on the upper floor be built over as shown? Does a ventilation system make sense for KFW 55?

Please ignore the window placement, which is currently rather arbitrary. The house is to be positioned in the northeast of the plot maintaining a 3m distance. Thus, the garden would extend to the south (short side, approx. 23m total width) and west (approx. 56 m length).

Suggestions, comments and improvement proposals are expressly welcome.

Thanks in advance and best regards
Carlotta

Without dimensions and a plan of the property, you will hardly get good advice...

What specifications does Par.34 give you? How is the neighboring development? Your house must look like the neighboring ones in terms of construction and style. Par. 34 is by no means a free pass.

Regarding the floor plan: the staircase is estimated to be about 70-100 cm too short. The access to the children's room upstairs won't work because the door won't be possible. Of these conditions, which will have to be changed anyway, several things are not liked. The zigzag path in the utility room: it goes straight through the laundry area from the garage, so twice across the rooms, in a zigzag, if you want to get to the kitchen. The kitchen also seems like an empty corridor on the left side of the plan. The stair approach is a tripping hazard in the hallway. The chimney is not considered at all on the upper floor... it will then stand in front of the other children's room door. The double bed has a lot of unrest due to the two passages next to the headboard. Here, too, there are more passages than "room," as in the kitchen. The shower is too short to be a walk-in shower.

The walls are probably a bit thin. It is only a rectangular floor plan on the upper floor. Don't forget the cadastral map excerpt, because of the often "hidden" actual building windows in it. Regarding Yvonne's contribution, my "Like" is to be understood as a full quote.

So for a house of this size, I would first expect a straight staircase or at least a landing. Everything else is always a compromise in terms of walking. As the staircase is positioned, it’s pretty unsuitable anyway. Downstairs, the change in direction significantly narrows the hallway, upstairs it doesn’t work at all unless you have a floor height of 5 meters – but then the staircase would be too short again.

I also don’t really like the cloakroom niche; when sitting on the couch, you can always see in there. I would probably try to swap the staircase with the WC and cloakroom, so the view is on the (hopefully) beautiful staircase, making it a real eye-catcher.

I would keep the wall in the utility room to separate a “pantry,” as soon as you want to put a drying rack, you won’t get through anymore. In any case, the wish for a cold pantry is not fulfilled. There won’t be more than a shelf for non-perishable food in such a room – especially if the heating is also located there. It will probably be the warmest room alongside the bathrooms. I would also consider whether you need to access the utility room from BOTH the cloakroom AND the kitchen. You have 3 doors in that room, arranged quite unfavorably, so you hardly have any storage space.

It’s an advantage that the bathrooms and sanitary areas in general are located close to each other.

I find the kitchen massively impractical. Where is the storage supposed to be? I also don’t quite understand why you plan such a wide window on the left exterior wall in the kitchen (view towards the shed) and not by the table? There you would have the view of the garden.

If the WC in the master bathroom is separated, it should get a sink ahead of it for hygienic reasons...

The dressing room loses a lot of storage space partly due to the (for me quite impractical) bed arrangement. The window to the gallery can be a great gimmick, but I imagine the line of sight from the couch across the gallery and this window into the bedroom is interesting when the parents want to enjoy some privacy and the daughter with her boyfriend is sitting downstairs on the couch watching you because you forgot to close the curtain or whatever. However, if the privacy screen is closed for “shepherding hour,” everyone knows what’s going on in the bedroom...

Overall, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to start over (at least on the upper floor with the staircase).

Everything that and have said. Plus, the airspace (and I am basically a fan of airspaces!) here is pretty pointless, because underneath it there is literally nothing but air... The entire area below this airspace is dead space in your floor plan - you can't furnish or use it, you can only walk through.