goldmarieeeee
2019-06-04 23:23:03
- #1
Hello everyone!
My husband and I are in the initial phase of our house planning. We had to submit a preliminary house plan to our municipality (Salzburg Land/Austria) on relatively short notice due to certain reasons. We designed it together with our planner with very little preparation time.
We have a – as we think – somewhat special floor plan with the planned recess on the ground floor and primarily wanted to know your opinions about it. Our main concern is whether we have got ourselves stuck with an absurd idea or if we can continue to build on this basic concept. Our biggest problem is that until now, we have not seen a single house with this type of floor plan (neither online nor in reality) at least in Salzburg and the surrounding area... and of course, we ask ourselves why? Does it have such significant disadvantages? Does it look somehow strange?
We are very curious about your opinions and already very grateful for your constructive criticism and above all your time to help us.
Now to the questionnaire:
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size 920 m²
Slope Plot elevated, slightly sloping on three sides
Requirements of the builders
Style, roof shape, building type rural-modern, gable roof, two-family house
Basement, floors basement, 2 full floors, attic
Number of persons, age currently three (28, 29 and 8 months) and 1-2 more children planned
Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor
Ground floor: spacious open kitchen with integrated pantry, dining area, living room, WC, bathroom, office (or later bedroom)
Upper floor: 3 children's rooms, family bathroom, WC
Attic: master bedroom with bathroom and another room (additional bedroom/hobby room)
Ground floor + upper floor approx. 200 m² + attic m² not yet finalized
Office family use and later bedroom
Kitchen L-shaped with cooking island and wood stove
Number of dining seats 6-8, possibly with the option to extend the table to create more space
Fireplace yes – planned as a room divider between living room and “common room”
Balcony balcony on the first floor – should later be large enough for the 2nd family
Garage small garage with 1 parking space and large garage with 2 parking spaces
House design
Who designed the plan:
Planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why?
What do you not like? Why?
Cost estimate according to architect/planner not yet available – as this is only a preliminary draft
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment €350,000 (with lots of own work)
Preferred heating technology heat pump
If you have to do without, which details/extensions
- you can do without: possibly initially the attic expansion, but the option should definitely be available for later use
- you cannot do without: a cozy and large kitchen/dining area is very important to us
Why did the design turn out the way it is now?
The most important thing for us in our planning is that the house could become a two-family house if needed (if one of our children needs it in at least 20-25 years). With one living unit on the ground floor and a second on the 1st floor + attic.
The office planned on the ground floor is then to be used as a bedroom. The staircase would be completely separable by a wall (already marked in the plan), but should definitely remain open until then.
The attic should contain the master bedroom including bathroom. The plan shows the biggest weaknesses for us here: the bedroom is too large and the bathroom too small. This definitely needs to be changed.
Why sleep in the attic? There is too little space on the ground floor and we definitely want, looking ahead when our children get older and have friends/partners visiting, to be separated from the children's rooms so that everyone has privacy. Of course, we are aware that this could be impractical when the children are toddlers/babies and that it means additional distances, but since children's rooms 1 and 2 are relatively large, siblings can also sleep together here and children's room 3 could also function as our “emergency bedroom.” Only 2 children are planned anyway, but you never know!
If later children's rooms 1 and 2 become the kitchen/living room, there will then be one bedroom on the 1st floor and two more in the attic.
What we particularly like is the idea of the split-level living room. We are aware there are very controversial opinions about this and most advise against it. However, the height difference is only 36 cm (2 steps) and we believe it is also manageable at an older age.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
We would very much like to know from you:

My husband and I are in the initial phase of our house planning. We had to submit a preliminary house plan to our municipality (Salzburg Land/Austria) on relatively short notice due to certain reasons. We designed it together with our planner with very little preparation time.
We have a – as we think – somewhat special floor plan with the planned recess on the ground floor and primarily wanted to know your opinions about it. Our main concern is whether we have got ourselves stuck with an absurd idea or if we can continue to build on this basic concept. Our biggest problem is that until now, we have not seen a single house with this type of floor plan (neither online nor in reality) at least in Salzburg and the surrounding area... and of course, we ask ourselves why? Does it have such significant disadvantages? Does it look somehow strange?
We are very curious about your opinions and already very grateful for your constructive criticism and above all your time to help us.
Now to the questionnaire:
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size 920 m²
Slope Plot elevated, slightly sloping on three sides
Requirements of the builders
Style, roof shape, building type rural-modern, gable roof, two-family house
Basement, floors basement, 2 full floors, attic
Number of persons, age currently three (28, 29 and 8 months) and 1-2 more children planned
Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor
Ground floor: spacious open kitchen with integrated pantry, dining area, living room, WC, bathroom, office (or later bedroom)
Upper floor: 3 children's rooms, family bathroom, WC
Attic: master bedroom with bathroom and another room (additional bedroom/hobby room)
Ground floor + upper floor approx. 200 m² + attic m² not yet finalized
Office family use and later bedroom
Kitchen L-shaped with cooking island and wood stove
Number of dining seats 6-8, possibly with the option to extend the table to create more space
Fireplace yes – planned as a room divider between living room and “common room”
Balcony balcony on the first floor – should later be large enough for the 2nd family
Garage small garage with 1 parking space and large garage with 2 parking spaces
House design
Who designed the plan:
Planner from a construction company
What do you particularly like? Why?
[*]“Split-level” living room – in our opinion, it creates a visual separation of kitchen/dining area and is our little “highlight”. The living room remains a living room and is not constantly “cluttered” with toys etc., as the common room still offers enough space here.
[*]“Common room” – this refers to the area between the living room and kitchen in front of the terrace door – there is plenty of space here for the children to play and it creates an open atmosphere while the living room is still somewhat “separated.” Where a sofa is marked here, a fireplace with reading corner as a room divider might also be created.
[*]Recess at the terrace – seating area covered and protected from the wind, privacy screen, the resulting floor plan (the living room is not, as in many other open concepts, in direct proximity to the kitchen and dining area)
What do you not like? Why?
[*]The office should later become our bedroom, but in our opinion it is currently much too small for that?
[*]Main entrance area in the basement – from our point of view, with this floor plan, it is not possible otherwise or the entrance would be on the back of the house which we do not like at all. However, there is definitely another front door planned on the ground floor so that groceries etc. do not have to be carried through the whole basement all the time.
[*]Wardrobe in the basement is still too small – but can easily be expanded – just mentioning in case anyone notices
Cost estimate according to architect/planner not yet available – as this is only a preliminary draft
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment €350,000 (with lots of own work)
Preferred heating technology heat pump
If you have to do without, which details/extensions
- you can do without: possibly initially the attic expansion, but the option should definitely be available for later use
- you cannot do without: a cozy and large kitchen/dining area is very important to us
Why did the design turn out the way it is now?
The most important thing for us in our planning is that the house could become a two-family house if needed (if one of our children needs it in at least 20-25 years). With one living unit on the ground floor and a second on the 1st floor + attic.
The office planned on the ground floor is then to be used as a bedroom. The staircase would be completely separable by a wall (already marked in the plan), but should definitely remain open until then.
The attic should contain the master bedroom including bathroom. The plan shows the biggest weaknesses for us here: the bedroom is too large and the bathroom too small. This definitely needs to be changed.
Why sleep in the attic? There is too little space on the ground floor and we definitely want, looking ahead when our children get older and have friends/partners visiting, to be separated from the children's rooms so that everyone has privacy. Of course, we are aware that this could be impractical when the children are toddlers/babies and that it means additional distances, but since children's rooms 1 and 2 are relatively large, siblings can also sleep together here and children's room 3 could also function as our “emergency bedroom.” Only 2 children are planned anyway, but you never know!
If later children's rooms 1 and 2 become the kitchen/living room, there will then be one bedroom on the 1st floor and two more in the attic.
What we particularly like is the idea of the split-level living room. We are aware there are very controversial opinions about this and most advise against it. However, the height difference is only 36 cm (2 steps) and we believe it is also manageable at an older age.
What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
We would very much like to know from you:
[*]if there is a name for our floor plan (like L-shape, U-shape)?
[*]what do you generally think of the idea with the recess? We like the idea of having a covered terrace spot right away or the floor plan resulting from the recess. Unfortunately, we have not yet found houses or floor plans in this form (if at all only in bungalows) and naturally ask why? Does nobody like it or does it have disadvantages we blindly overlook? Do you have experience with light incidence – will that be a problem since the recess from the balcony front edge to the terrace door is 3.5 m?
[*]even though we are so in love with the idea – gladly experiences and opinions about the split-level living room.
[*]would you extend the wall in the common room to the living room (which is marked at 1.20 m in the plan) up to the ceiling?
[*]suggestions and ideas for the office/bedroom on the ground floor – how could the floor plan be changed so that the room becomes at least 5 m² larger?