Initial Planning - Land Division / House Construction

Hello everyone,

we have already read quite a bit in the forum and are excited about your ideas. It prompted us to take the planning into our own hands for now and to create a few drawings. After several planning attempts, we now have a version that we want to show you :-)
Currently, we do not have an architect and do not yet know if we will possibly build with a prefabricated house company or a general contractor.

Development plan/restrictions

-> It is a 1270 sqm plot, which we do not own alone. We would like to divide it and then build with two families. For this, we have created a first draft plan. This contains our considerations regarding the plot size, the boundary demarcation (preferably a real division), the surrounding environment, and the rough room orientation.
The plot is sloping, the height difference is also included in the plan. Since it is located in the old village center, there is no development plan. Therefore, we have relatively few requirements.
The plot is located in a dead-end street which offers hardly any parking spaces. For this reason, cars must be accommodated on the property.

Requirements of the builders

Regarding the roof shape, there was consideration to choose a flat gable roof or hipped roof. Currently, a basement is not planned due to cost reasons. The house planning was based on a total of 4 residents (2 children, 2 adults). Initially, however, the house will only be inhabited by two people, aged late twenties.

Space requirements on the ground floor: open kitchen, large living and dining area, pantry, shower bathroom, study, utility room, spacious hallway

Space requirements on the upper floor: master bedroom with dressing room, bathroom, storage room, 2 rooms

It is important on the ground floor to create a workspace for home office possibilities. The hallway should be inviting and spacious and offer enough storage options.
The living and dining area should be as bright and spacious as possible (preferably with a fireplace option) and integrate the kitchen. An additional pantry provides the possibility to store food. The utility room also serves as a laundry room. It was important for us to create a shower option in the guest bathroom. Additionally, there was an idea to be able to separate the floors in order to then occupy them individually. Structural modifications would be necessary for this.

The upper floor should include a master bedroom with dressing room, as well as 2 additional rooms. The bathroom should have enough space for a bathtub, 2 sinks, toilet, and shower. A storage room in the upper floor for storage is important to us! The current planning is for 2 full stories.

We have planned the garage in the rear corner of the property to also accommodate garden tools in it.

Building technology:
- Controlled residential ventilation
- Gas heating
- Fireplace still unclear
- Underfloor heating
- Electric shutters everywhere
- KFW70

Open points - Plot:
- Effort for earthworks
- Long distances for house connections
- Long driveway on the plot
- Clarification of plot division – is this even possible?
…

The exact room planning is included in another plan. However, this is not yet really finished.
- Little light in the upper floor hallway?
- Staircase – straight staircase better?
- Staircase directly in the entrance area -> too narrow?
- Kitchen garden
- Is the utility room size sufficient?
- Study on the ground floor - space between desk and wall too small?
- Window distribution

What do you think?

We look forward to your comments / assessments / ideas.

Many thanks & best regards
Thomas

Hello Thomas,

-> It is a 1270 sqm plot, which we do not own alone. We would like to divide it and then build on it with two families

what does that mean?
What is the floor area ratio, what minimum size must an independent plot have with you?
2 or 3 families?

A very quick look at the ground floor told me that the door under the stairs does not work. The size of the WC is probably also due to the faulty layout?
Questionable slopes of the pantry... The hallway can certainly be tidied up...

My colleagues here have to write more ;) No time...

Regards Yvonne

I like the other house on the ground floor better. Except that I would rotate it 90 degrees so that the kitchen and dining area are no longer on the north side.

Regarding your floor plan:
You have a large room program for the ground floor. With our 10.8 x 10.2 m, that didn’t fit. We couldn’t fit the office on the ground floor.
Your shower toilet on the ground floor is very large (which I think is great because nothing is worse for me than 3 sqm shower bathrooms), but of course that takes up quite a bit of space!
The entrance area would actually be too tight for me. Also, the stairway is located in the dirt area, so you always track dirt upstairs. What about the stroller and car seat? Do you already have both children or are they planned?
In my opinion, the utility room is too small. It might work, but since that is your only storage room on the ground floor: where should sports gear, spare shoes/jackets, household/cleaning supplies, and vacuum cleaner etc. be stored?
We have almost 12 sqm utility/technical room and it definitely gets full! We had hoped for more remaining space, but with every appliance it got less (air-water heat pump, water tank, water connections, electrical box, house connections, controlled residential ventilation, washing machine, dryer…). You only have half!
I also basically don’t like the slanted walls and recesses. That looks like a makeshift solution.
I would try planning the stairs differently. That would also change the whole floor plan. The other house really solved the location of the stairs nicely.

...
what does that mean?
What is the floor area ratio, what minimum size must an independent plot have with you?
2 or 3 families?
...

Since there is no zoning plan, we do not know the floor area ratio (floor area ratio). Where can I get this? I will try the building authority next week.

We (currently 2 people) plus a second family.

...
You have a large room program for the ground floor. For us, 10.8x10.2m did not fit. We couldn’t fit the office on the ground floor.
Your shower toilet on the ground floor is very large (which I think is great, because nothing is worse for me than 3 sqm shower baths), but of course, that takes up quite some space!
The entrance area would actually be too tight for me. Also, the staircase is in the dirty area, so you always carry dirt upstairs. What about stroller and car seat? Do you already have both children or are they planned?
In my opinion, the utility room is too small. It may work, but since that’s your only storage room on the ground floor: where should sports gear, spare shoes/jackets, household/cleaning supplies, and vacuum cleaner etc. be stored?
We have almost 12 sqm utility/technical room and it definitely gets full!! We hoped for more remaining space, but with each device, it got less (air-to-water heat pump, water tank, water connections, electrical box, house connections, controlled residential ventilation, washing machine, dryer...). You only have half!
I also generally don’t like the slanted walls and recesses. It looks like an emergency solution.
I would try to plan the staircase differently. That also changes the whole floor plan. The other house really solved the staircase location nicely.

-Currently only two of us!
-Yes, correct; we are quite stuck with the staircase location/layout. Maybe we should rethink it again. Our previous attempts – with the staircase – didn’t really get us anywhere. The bathroom could be smaller, but then the door is problematic. Utility room should be bigger. Storage room could be changed, maybe together with the study. The reason why the kitchen was placed there is because it gives a good view of the entrance area. But that is not necessarily mandatory. Stroller etc. is a good point! It doesn’t really fit well at the moment.

The reason why the kitchen was placed there is that you have a good view of the entrance area.

Maybe consider whether you would rather have a view of the children playing in the garden from the kitchen instead of the entrance ;)

Regarding the entrance: Especially since you pass by the staircase directly with the possibly dirty stroller to then park it somewhere at the back. Try to separate the hallway from the staircase as your neighbors have done, because: first come in, unload stroller, infant car seat, shoes, jackets, bags, and then enter the living area or go upstairs. Maybe you can place the entrance on the north side, the utility room on the northeast, the staircase on the east, and arrange the other rooms in the remaining space. Or consider placing the entrance on the east and the staircase on the north to find a better room layout.

Above all, one thing is clear: the staircase will not work like this, the space requirement is planned far too small. As an example

and there the tread width is sufficient, but not generous.