General criticism of architecture, spatial layout, exterior appearance

Multi-quote of the highest class Not so easy to answer everything here, but I want to appreciate your posts

Are the pieces of furniture placeholders? You can see the sofa here. You don’t feel cozy, not even on the sofa.
We sit at the dining table in the sightline to the door. It takes getting used to, a hard getting used to. But for the dining table it’s still manageable.

I checked and you can indeed see the corner of the sofa slightly, that’s true, but we noticed the difference when we closed the wall. But we will talk about it again. A sliding door might be installed and then the problem can be handled more flexibly.

Depends on where you look at it from. Since the entrance to the pantry is supposed to be hidden, it makes sense to integrate it into the tall cabinets. A view of the tall cabinets is also nicer from the dining table, in my opinion...

True. Thanks for the hint, we will definitely include that in the kitchen planning.

That’s clear. I was only concerned about the tightness in the bathroom. Laundry baskets will have to stand there too and with 3 children one is definitely not enough. So where do you put the dirty laundry in the children’s bathroom? Where do you hang a piece of clothing that shouldn’t go in the dryer? That quickly becomes a laundry dumping ground where no one can move anymore. I have three times more space for my laundry than you and there are only two of us.
How many children are there currently?

We plan to stack washer and dryer. This gains some space. Currently, the machines are in the basement and we don’t need additional space there. It’s true that there are blouses etc. that don’t go in the dryer. These are hung in the apartment. Now that I think about it, not really optimal. Noted and we have to reconsider Thanks!

Huh? What does that have to do with it? It’s your house, isn’t it? He builds what you want, not the other way around.

The design is being realized by a construction office. The gentleman just said that he might plan a window. So he only gave us the same hint as you. Why would you install a window or why no utility room without a window?

Maybe also plan a whirlpool for the roof terrace.

Sauna... whirlpool... Are you serious? I mean, cool idea, but costs...

Laundry upstairs by the children is correct. But I wouldn’t plan it in the bathroom. Hand washing, laundry sorting also needs space.

Every family has its quirks. But one thing is the same: everyone has a relatively large wall unit in the living room filled with whatever. Many children play for years in the living area. It takes until your 3 or 4 children are so big that they want to play upstairs and you don’t worry about leaving them alone.

We still have to take another look at the laundry situation, as I said.
Currently, we don’t have a wall unit in the living room either, so this hasn’t come to our attention or bothered us. But it’s true, we noticed that we don’t have a wall where we can put something. Only the wall to the right of the table would be possible, but then the table would have to move more to the middle...

Climbing 3 floors every time would annoy me!

But it looks very modern and pretty. What is the approximate price?

Yes, that’s a point. Especially in old age, but my sister also has three floors and it “works”. Currently we have about 11m of garden from the house side. If we put the SG completely on the ground floor, for example, we lose 4m. If we split it, we still have 2m. And if you subtract the terrace, the garden is very small. The garden is more important to us for the children than the stairs we have to climb.
530k is budgeted.

I see gray and white, no brown?

Our architect too But I have calibrated monitors and even in Photoshop you can see the brown tone when you select the color.

First of all, big praise from me, I unfortunately read this kind of self-critical thought too rarely. But here, in my opinion, the wrong people are thinking about this aspect: Your design seems pleasantly to fall outside the mainstream, but not unconventional or avant-garde enough to scare off potential future owners. The house makes an impression and the kitchen island and the floor-level shower are there - you won’t get penalized just for omitting a built-in cabinet back wall.

Thanks and thanks for the assessment

However: where is this "Hessen"? - in Homburg or Hofheim such a house sells within five minutes, in Weiterstadt well, and no one would move to Kleinkrotzenburg for such a house, I would share your concerns there.

True, the area is also decisive. The house is supposed to be built in Bruchköbel (north of Hanau).

Big praise number two. Without the kitchen island I would marry you *just kidding* and there is already my personal bittersweet spot about the mezzanine: the way from the bed to the fridge would be too far for me

hahaha

By the way, as always when I have nothing else to complain about - by the way: big praise number three for the non-double garage with non-wide gate and non-wicket door

Hm, I had to think about whether this was serious because usually everyone tries to build a double garage and so far we always heard "what, no garage?"

Of course it strikes me that there are all kinds of fantasy dimensions in the plan: room and wall openings jump here (with the only exception being the width of the seating window and the storage room) from the nominal dimension; even the interior doors have a special size; and I even found inconsistencies in window sizes: 230 versus 248 cm width on both sides of the bedroom terrace door, likewise 310 / 317 in the children’s rooms, and (though at different heights) 80 cm in the dining area and 75 cm in the dressing area. I would gently remind the planner of the tape measure, otherwise the masons will be patching shoddy spots by the dozen for cheap later on.

We noticed this with the doors and wanted to address it and have them aligned. But thanks for all the info, the windows had not directly caught our attention that way.

Except for a few details, I like the house design.

What does your development plan say about the maximum building height? What does the surrounding development look like, or how does the building fit into its surroundings?

This is a new development area, so no previous buildings. The development plan allows max. 9m for flat roofs and the mezzanine must be recessed 2m from the building edge towards the street.
We are currently a bit too high, but we wanted to lower the mezzanine to 2.5m. This was already mentioned here and confirms our assessment.

I think I would sacrifice a children's room on the upper floor and convert it into a full bathroom. Then remodel the children's bathroom into the utility room and, if needed, convert the office into the 3rd children's room. I haven't figured out the number of children yet. Would that be possible? How important is the office? Could it also be included in the bedroom? Rooms without windows are, in my opinion, poor planning unless there are compelling reasons like a slope or something similar. Light and air are always necessary.

Well, the whirlpool and sauna can come later. Connections and structural stability must be provided. If three floors become too much, one floor can always be moved down later.

I think I would give up a children's room in the upper floor and turn it into a full bathroom. Then remodel the children's bathroom into the utility room and designate the office as a third children's room if needed. I haven’t figured out the number of children yet. Would that be possible? How important is the office? Could it also be included in the bedroom?

Rooms without windows are, in my opinion, a planning mistake unless there are compelling reasons like a slope or similar. It always needs light and air.

That doesn’t add up. The children's bathroom is too small for the utility room and we need 1-2 offices. The current office must remain and child 1 in the drawing is the second office/guest room. If a third child comes, then it will become a children's room and the "small office" will move into the bedroom. The children's bathroom will not have two sinks either. These are only drawn in so you can see that two could fit if necessary.

Well, the whirlpool and sauna can come later. Connections and statics must be planned.

If three floors become too much, one floor down can always be dug later.

Ah okay, we’ll clarify how well that fits.

Here again two pictures of the first version where the windows were floor-to-ceiling.

Hm, I had to think about whether this was meant seriously, because usually everyone tries to build a double garage

Precisely because of that, it is absolutely serious. Firstly, I find this garage gigantism embarrassing. To me, it is clearly visible to the naked eye that the house for people is the main thing and the car house is the secondary thing. And secondly, the panic about robbery murder rape kidnapping monsoon rain – obviously all at the same time, therefore without commas – on four uncovered meters of path between car and front door seems ridiculous to me. Therefore, I inevitably get a fit of sympathy when someone once in a while thinks benevolently about rightsizing such things.

Here again two pictures of the first version, where the windows were floor-to-ceiling.

Yes, although I still do not see brown now, at least eggshell. In post #1, however, I see pure colorful, tintless gray.

We noticed it with the doors

Laymen probably only notice the unusual interior door measurements. For the windows alone, it is negligible. But in the house picture thread, you can regularly admire how actually dry joint gaps are filled with mortar because the planner did not think in terms of stone dimensions.

The facade image of the first version is clearly better: the white masonry looks like an S. It looks harmonious and relaxed. In the new version, the upper floor appears like a block. In my opinion, it should be possible to adopt the facade image of the first version, even with windows that are not floor-to-ceiling.