House planning 135m2 in Austria

Hello everyone!

Although we are from Austria and also building here, we have been following various posts in this forum for quite some time. There are many creative minds here, and I really like your advice in the other posts.

We ourselves have been in the house planning phase for quite a while now. In the meantime, we have purchased a plot south of Vienna and are planning to start construction in 2020. It should be built solidly, but we are still undecided between brick (which is simply very common here) and Ytong (we really like Ytong kit houses based on what we have heard so far, but they are very rare in the area). Particularly important to us in our new house is the topic of efficiency in living space usage (no unnecessary gimmicks, no long distances, no balconies or bay windows) but also in building technology (heat pump, controlled residential ventilation, etc.)

I assume that there is relatively little experience here with Austrian building regulations, so I will try to answer any questions that arise as quickly and competently as possible.

Here is the completed questionnaire:

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 604 m²
Slope: no, completely flat
Floor area ratio: (does not exist here) - 32% buildable area
Floor space index: (does not exist here)
Building window, building line and boundary: front building setback 3m, lateral building setback 3m or half the eave height of the facing house front whichever is greater, rear building setback 3m
Edge development: within the building setback up to max. 3m height
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: no specification according to development plan
Roof shape: no restriction according to development plan
Style: no restriction
Orientation: no restriction
Maximum heights/limits: max. building height 6.8 m (eave height)
Additional requirements: none

Requirements of the builders
Style, roof shape, building type: classic rectangular, gable roof or staggered shed roof, preferably a simple building shape without bay windows or dormers, no balcony!
Basement, floors: basement (fitness, workshop, laundry room and especially storage), ground floor (living rooms + guest toilet), upper floor (bedrooms)
Number of persons, age: man 28, woman 34, 1x child 0.5 years, 1x child 11 years (every 2nd weekend + holidays)
Space requirements on ground floor, upper floor: ground floor (shower bathroom, guest/home office/play/multipurpose room, living room, kitchen, pantry) upper floor (bedroom including wardrobe, 2x children’s rooms, bathroom) basement (fitness room, laundry, storage, workshop)
Office: family use or home office?: 80% family use as playroom, 10% home office, 10% guests
Overnight guests per year: approx. 5, currently mostly relatives who travel from far away for various celebrations
Open or closed architecture: open
Conservative or modern construction: rather conservative but we are open to “craziness”
Open kitchen, cooking island: open kitchen with counter
Number of dining seats: permanently 6, for various family celebrations min. 12 seats short-term, >16 seats long-term
Fireplace: no
Music/stereo wall: no - but large TV which is often used
Balcony, roof terrace: definitely no!
Garage, carport: carport in the building setback (to the north?)
Utility garden, greenhouse: definite yes! Gardening is a big wish and the reason for the whole project
Other wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should not be included: The house should be as efficient as possible (in construction and especially in operation), therefore no winding bay windows etc. (A/V ratio)
Further wishes: controlled residential ventilation, laundry chute, partition wall between the children’s rooms “non-load bearing” so that it can be removed in a few years when the older one maybe no longer comes.
The most important thing to us is a garden as large as possible, which is also why the wish for the basement comes, so that as little space as possible is built upon.
The kitchen should definitely be large enough for at least 2 people to cook at the same time - this is currently a problem in the apartment.

House design
Planning by: do-it-yourself with a lot of input from planners
What do you especially like? Why?: virtually all wishes implemented
What don’t you like? Why?: pantry is relatively small, upper floor somehow not quite mature yet, niche in the hallway as a storage room substitute for vacuum cleaner etc.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: 430,000 € turnkey, 350,000 € “turnkey with owner’s assistance”
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 350,000 € ready for flooring is the goal, there is still a sufficient buffer, but that would be our ideal vision
Preferred heating technology: heat pump with geothermal collector (ring trench collector)
Note: We are not under any time pressure with planning and construction. We are very willing and capable of building / finishing a lot of the house ourselves. Corresponding “own performance certificates” for the bank are also no problem. This way we can keep construction costs low.

If you have to do without, which details/extensions
-can you do without: almost everything except the pantry and the open kitchen
-can you not do without: pantry, open kitchen, reluctantly without the controlled residential ventilation

Why did the design turn out as it is now?
A mixture of many examples from model parks, magazines and many conversations with planners/architects etc.
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion?
All rooms we imagine are present, relatively short transport routes, hardly any wasted space

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
What do you think of the design? Where do you still see optimization potential? Placement of laundry chute?

I look forward to your opinions and comments!

Best regards,
your Gugelhupf

Hello,

1. Anyone who wants to go upstairs has to pass by the sofa. That would destroy my living room relaxation area.
2. Draw in the kitchen. Preferably with original dimensions.
3. Many dimensions are missing. For example, OG band toilet. It looks like you couldn't fall off the seat anymore because you are wedged in (but I don't know, since dimensions are missing. There should be at least 1m, rather 1.1m here).
4. What is the dimension for getting out of the shower? (0.65m is an absolute minimum)
5. How "tiny" exactly is the bathtub? And how little space is there exactly between the bathtub and the sink?
6. Gable roof? Then enter 2 height lines: 1.5m and 2m. Because the shower currently looks like you’d bump your head.
7. Stair dimensions 3.2m x 2.2m with a landing staircase
8. Dining table at least 1.2m away from the wall and please use REAL dimensions again. Google: Ikea: Dining table: 210x80 for example.
9. Consider whether the shower on the ground floor can be omitted.

10. €80,000 "muscle mortgage" Please no! Not even with "yes but my grandpa was once a mason"... no please not! Over €15,000 can be negotiated.

Costs:
160 sqm:

160*2000 = 320k
+ 50k incidental construction costs = 370k
+ 60k basement = 430k
+ 30k ceiling floors exterior buffer = 460k
+ 10k carport =

470,000€

Land: Available? Cost?

Please no discussions "it can be cheaper" etc.
For that, please use the "search": "Why building a house always becomes more expensive than planned".

Best regards

Hello Willhelm,

Thank you for your reply.
I would like to address some points right away.

2. Draw in the kitchen. Preferably with original dimensions.
3. Many measurements are missing. For example, upstairs toilet band. It looks like you can’t fall off the bowl anymore because you get wedged in it (I don’t know for sure as measurements are missing. There should be at least 1m here, rather 1.1m)
4. What is the dimension to get out of the shower? (0.65m is an absolute minimum)
5. How "tiny" exactly is the bathtub? And how little space is there exactly between the bathtub and the sink?

I have added some measurements, see attached picture.
Original kitchen dimensions are difficult as there is no kitchen yet?

6. Gable roof? Then mark 2 height lines: 1.5m and 2m. Because the shower looks like you could bump your head so far.

With a max. building height of 6.8m (eaves) or 8.5m ridge, roof slopes are not necessarily required. I can try to create a section, but I have to play around with the program to figure out how that works...

7. Stair dimensions 3.2m x 2.2m for a landing staircase

A landing staircase is definitely not mandatory, that was just the "example staircase" that fit best at first glance... A spiral staircase is also possible.

8. Dining table at least 1.2m away from the wall and please use REAL dimensions again. Google: IKEA: Dining table: 210x80 for example.

The dining table dimensions are original from our available table which we want to move (already in the "extended" position)

9. Consider whether the shower on the ground floor is dispensable.

It is basically dispensable, but we would like to keep it for guests and also for exceptions.

10. €80,000 "muscle mortgage" Please no! Not even with "yeah but my grandpa was once a mason"... no please not! You can talk about over €15,000.

Costs:
160sqm:

160*2000 = 320k
+ 50k ancillary building costs = 370k
+ 60k basement = 430k
+ 30k ceiling floors exterior buffer = 460k
+ 10k carport =

€470,000

I can’t fully understand the calculation now, since we already have an offer for the mentioned €430k TURNKEY including basement. As already mentioned in the initial post, that would also be fine and with sufficient cushion still okay. At this point I don’t want to discuss finances in detail. It should simply be mentioned that the price in the offer would be okay for us and the own work we want to put in would then simply be a saving potential, which is nice. We calculate with the turnkey price (of course + cushion), and whatever becomes cheaper is good.
Please focus here on the floor plan and not on financing. That is secured even without own work with a sufficient equity ratio...

Plot: Available? Costs

As mentioned in the initial post, plot available and purchased.

Why the shower on the ground floor? With your 135m², you don’t really have ample space. If you definitely need a second shower, it’s worth considering integrating it in the basement with the [Fitnessraum]?

Avoid doors opening into the hallway, as in your upper floor. The front door should also open inward.

Just for understanding:
- Where is the parking space?
- The yellow area is supposed to be the garden - does the rest also belong to the property? Or is the black square the neighbor? Please define the property boundaries precisely.
- The wall thicknesses seem to be somewhat out of control. What wall thickness should the exterior wall have?
For sketches, 40cm (36.5 + plaster) is common. If higher energy classes are to be achieved, please explain. Interior walls are well represented as load-bearing with 20cm (17.5 + plaster), non-load-bearing with 15cm (11.5 + paneling).