House floor plan (access via slope)

I'm doing a "loose" collection of points and thoughts again, what comes to mind quickly without much claim to order or partial completeness.

- Check headroom on the stairs to the upper floor with the low knee wall. Potentially not walkable, larger pieces of furniture also cannot be moved up
- Both bathrooms are not really maintenance-friendly, one washbasin upstairs is extremely narrow, toilet under the slope is cramped, and I wouldn’t want to squeeze into the bathtub under the knee wall at 35 already, in my opinion much too low
- Long way to the entrance was mentioned, that also costs quite a bit to build ;) As soon as it becomes necessary, later the conversion to connect the stairlift in the utility basement with the rest, which could potentially be more expensive.
Hallway in the cellar next to the stairs takes up a lot of space but does not offer storage space, only transit
- Drainage of the upper floor bathroom will be great, either through the bedroom on the ground floor or a heavy floor buildup is necessary and then displaced across the house
- 45° walls do not loosen anything up, they are rather unnecessary.
- Behind the doors usually fit no or only narrow cabinets, ground floor sleeping, upper floor both bedrooms, bathroom with the wall by the door uihuui
- Bedroom directly on the south corner (warmest corner of the house)
- Paving street was chosen instead of a garden, this path brings no added value except the neighbor’s boy shoveling snow in winter, if I interpret it correctly at least the foot entrance upstairs is level directly from the street
- Paths from the bedroom (laundry production) to the washing machine absolutely maximized
- Staircase landing directly behind the front door

The 8.5m max width only comes from the 2 parking spaces as currently arranged with the result that the living spaces followed one behind the other and oriented towards the neighbor, the building line according to the plan is elsewhere entirely. I would also turn things upside down once, give the garden a little more, move the house, rotate it altogether once, the living spaces on the garden side and also the entrance through the basement. Optimize the hallways for that and probably think in the direction of an entrance hall in the basement. Start fresh and choose an architect who can break away from 80s residential construction.

2m by 25m is rather not flat... it makes sense to address the budget here, and gladly also plan/consider what would be possible in this regard.

Here are a few explanations from our side regarding your suggestions/ideas:
> "I wouldn't want to endure this 'hike' from the (too small) garage to the front door going around outside!"
The garage has standard dimensions, so 3m x 6m, why is it then too small?
A cellar for bikes and equipment is already available.

> "Groceries will surely be carried through technology/cellar."
Groceries are partly stored in the cellar anyway, entering through the cellar door is convenient.
Then one stair up to the ground floor ...

> "And if an architect places this closet in the bedroom in front of the bed, I would be concerned."
That is a guest room, a pull-out sofa will go in there and no such large closet!
So at least it "fits." No idea why the architect drew such a huge closet there.

> "Check head clearance at the stairway to the upper floor with that low knee wall. Potentially not walkable."
That should have been checked, the staircase has a "curve at the end."
The knee wall is 120cm, is that really a low knee wall?

> "Paths from the bedroom (laundry production) to the washing machine absolutely maximized"
It looks that way, but the bedroom is upstairs and the laundry room is downstairs, so such paths are inevitable ...
However, we also want to plan so that a 45cm washing machine fits in the guest bathroom (behind the door).

> "Drainage for the upper floor bathroom will be tricky, either through the bedroom on the ground floor or a heavy floor buildup needed, then routed across the house"
We noticed that too, let's see what the builder/architect say about it. But the layout came like that from the architect.

> "Long path to the entrance was mentioned, which also costs quite a bit in construction ;)"
> "If necessary at some point, later the conversion will connect the stair lift in the utility cellar with the rest, which can potentially get more expensive."
The mentioned stair lift is independent from the "long path," I don't understand that now.
To connect the utility cellar with the rest, a stair lift is always necessary then.

> "- both bathrooms are not really maintenance-compatible, the washbasin upstairs is extremely narrow,"
That can still be changed.
> "Toilet under the slope is cramped and bathtub under the knee wall at 35cm I wouldn’t want to wrestle into, in my opinion far too low."
The toilet starts at h=180cm, then it goes higher ... possibly another 15cm to the right, then you have 195cm height directly.
Left beside the bathtub will be 25cm shelves (shelf space), so the bathtub entrance has a height of 190cm (knee wall 120cm plus 70cm on 1m width (tan)).
Is that really a "wrestling in"?

> "45° walls don’t loosen anything up, they are rather unnecessary."
Do others see it that way too? We think it enlarges the upper hallway area and interrupts the otherwise always straight lines/walls ...

> "Start over and choose an architect who can break away from 80s apartment construction."
This is a young architecture office ;-), average age 40 years.
Because of the existing slope, the 20m width of the property, the requirement that a garage and space for a camper must fit on it, and that the driveway can only be placed in one corner of the property:
That results in quite a few things ...

Thanks for the feedback so far, it helps us a lot to reconsider some things (within the scope of the possibilities, of course) ...

The floor construction extends from the knee wall, nowadays at least 12 to often 20 cm. I am 1.92 m tall myself and did not find knee walls of about 1 m very high in the prefab house parks.

At least the route to the washing machine could be optimized, for example a chute, a utility room upstairs would also be a possibility.

Regarding the lift... If it is necessary, it would be in the utility basement, thus outside the thermal envelope (the door to the basement must be planned and considered accordingly with regard to insulation; I fear that the insulation has been somewhat insufficiently considered in the design so far). Currently, with the lift you can only go to the upper steps from the basement to the ground floor and then have to get off sideways on the last two steps. I could imagine that such a setup would not even be installed by a decent company. The likely outcome will be that the door upstairs is removed and one has to retrofit in order to get the hallway area into the thermal envelope.

Regarding the bathtub, I really don't find it that great; at the back you have 120 cm knee wall, minus 15 cm floor construction, 40 cm is at least how far the bathtub protrudes. That leaves 65 cm "headroom", plus whatever you gain with the slope. One consideration could be a large roof window. However, in order to really be able to help someone get in and out, the person should be able to stand completely free in the tub.
Very similar in front of the sink, the door does not open if the sink stays there and someone is sitting in a wheelchair; overall it is too cramped. The same applies to the toilet as to the knee wall... I find it honestly cramped under the slope at 1.8 m and not really worthy of a new build, as it is unnecessary.

45° - Why enlarge the hallway, a transit area, i.e., the usual purpose of connecting 2 rooms, even further? The problems in the rooms with the necessary larger door openings are visible in the drawings.

I did not speak about age but the style of the architects ;) - fun fact to lighten things up, just google "the oldest 25 year old"

Overall, you have already summarized the style well: "On the ground floor everything is 'accommodated' in 65 sqm." Unfortunately, this is exactly how it looks overall. The idea of having everything on one level later is also recognizable but really difficult in practice with the ground floor bathroom and possibly care needs. "Everything is possible," but I think that is not the standard I want when building new with the associated costs, but when moving into a rented apartment - my personal opinion.

The stairs could both be turned at the start, then you would have another room next to/behind the basement. The front door should be moved anyway on the ground floor.

I picked out quite a few things:

Check headroom on the stairs to the upper floor with that low knee wall. Potentially not walkable,

No, that won’t work. Ideally, you need 2.50 m of headroom everywhere. You don’t even have that at the exit.

Groceries are partly stored in the basement anyway; entering through the basement door makes sense. Then one stair up to the ground floor...

That contradicts the idea of why you don’t want an entrance on the basement level. You store all the motorhome stuff downstairs anyway, so you’re constantly going outside through the basement...

The toilet starts at h=180cm, then it goes up... maybe another 15 cm to the right, then you have directly 195cm height

I do see the 2 meters... but if so, anything below 2 meters in the toilet is a planning mistake and shouldn’t be done by a professional.

> "45° walls don’t loosen anything up; they are rather unnecessary."
Do others see that the same way?

Yes, that’s stodgy 70s style and is used in very small houses when space is tight.

That results in quite a bit, after all.

Well, you have to like that.

I ask you: Why build three floors if there are only two of you? Why build three! staircases for everyday life in a house when you don’t need that with 500 sqm and just the two of you?
What are you doing with three floors? I can’t recognize a room plan, nor can I, even with a lot of imagination and the info given, see the individual rooms being utilized.
A utility basement facing southwest ruins the whole house. Ideally, there should be a terrace there. The prime spot on the plot belongs to the cars.
In my opinion, the plot is for a two-terrace house and should be planned accordingly. Placeholder rooms, so two bedrooms, child... and all in minimum dimensions. Yes, you don’t have to plan or build lavishly, but a little generosity, at least in one corner, could be allowed. I also wouldn’t orient myself on the 1950s. Although that is a matter of taste, you should at least adapt somewhat to today’s times. Not only are there modern houses, but also contemporary ones. What do I mean by that? A tiny kitchen-living-dining area: you have to push a chair to get through the terrace door. Then to do what? Sit on a 3 x 6 garage on a display table and look at a motorhome. The entrance area, i.e., the stairs, look like a fortress gate. Ultimately, railings will be added anyway, making it even more restrictive.

Are the rooms (living room, dining room, kitchen) large enough or too "tight"?

Too tight.

Is the bathroom with shower (90 cm) sufficient?

Sufficient for an 80 cm shower. And that is, for some, a reason to build so they can finally shower in a good shower.

Also for later if care is needed?

I don’t see that. You on the ground floor in a too-small bedroom with shower bathroom, and the caregiver upstairs in the family bathroom...

To be constructive:
Parking spaces in the northwest, nicely worked out to the north by the slope, and a roof would already provide a wall.
Basement as living space, utility area at the back, recreation rooms to the south, perhaps later a granny flat for care. As long as that is not needed, the granny flat can be used for guests, office, and motorhome storage.
Ground floor for you with a southeast terrace so it also gets west sun.

I vote for a thorough sorting out of what you want to do with the house. And then build accordingly. -> Later care, barrier-free, age-appropriate.
Instead of a laundry room, for example, washing machine near the kitchen or bathroom,

That contradicts the idea of why you don’t want an entrance in the basement. You store all the motorhome stuff in the cellar anyway, then you constantly go outside through the basement… I don’t think the main entrance with hallway is upstairs, downstairs is "our" entrance for unloading etc. .. "Motorhome stuff," what do you mean by that?

Yes, that is plain 70s style and is used in very small houses when space is limited. OK, maybe we’ll reconsider the plan.

I ask you: why are three floors being built if there are only two of you? Why build 3! stairs for everyday use in a house with 500 sqm when you don’t really need it with just two people? This plot lies on a slope, the price difference between a necessary (large and high) slab foundation with an appropriate retaining wall and a basement with usable space is no longer so huge, hence the idea for a basement. And then increasing the footprint to avoid an upper floor makes the basement expensive again (a partial basement might save a little, but …)

Therefore, according to two independent architects, a basement makes sense here.

I don’t see it. You in the ground floor in a too small bedroom with shower bathroom, the caregiver then upstairs in the family bathroom… OK, it’s not about caring for two people in need of care here! Only if ONE person has problems and you don’t want to leave the house. For that, the bedroom on the ground floor and the shower on the ground floor should be sufficient.

Regarding garage/carport: The only driveway to the plot is in the southwest, 450 cm wide. Here is a short sketch if this spot were moved northwards. But how then to design or reach the house entrance (on the ground floor)? (I’m also unsure if it would even be feasible because of the slope/bank towards the neighbor …)

The 5.20m for kitchen and table is tight even with fewer people.

Kitchen wall unit 60cm
Distance between units 110cm
Island 100cm

Table with the short side against the living room wall, 180cm long, and you can hardly get through anymore.