Hi,
I find the house quite interesting, but somewhat "unfinished" in some aspects. Of course, everyone builds for themselves, and it is always difficult when others "criticize" your own ideas, I know that from my own experience - we have just built as well.
But I would like to share my opinion with you, make of it what you think is right.
If you are thinking about extra-large doors for wheelchair access, I would – especially with the size of the house – definitely consider the possibility of an elevator shaft. It hardly costs anything more nowadays, but you have to allow space in a location where an elevator can later be properly integrated into the floor plan. Of course, in the worst case, you can still only sleep on the ground floor, but with a house of this size, only using the ground floor (would you be able to)? Renting out would also not be possible because of the stairs to the upper floor.
I think the best view is from the top, right? ...
Since I don't see a sensible way to place an elevator in this floor plan (it must, of course, also go to the basement), I would reconsider the stair placement. Especially with a house of this size, in any case.
For example, I could imagine an entrance area spanning the width of the central part of the house, and from there, located on the south side, a staircase that somehow "separates" the entrance and the rear central part of the house. This might provide the possibility to sacrifice the huge hallway on the upper floor in favor of better room division for bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. The topic of the basement stairs could possibly be tricky – do you want them to be visible, how could you arrange them, etc. I think the architect should take another look at that.
For example, we experienced that the stair location is absolutely key to a good floor plan and ultimately discarded a design completely because of it, although we were already almost ready to submit a building application. But as a result – with the second attempt – we got a totally different and much better house (for us). That was financially painful, and you really have to overcome yourself to start the whole topic over again – but we did not regret it and should have done it already in LPH 2 and not only shortly before LPH 4. That was a big mistake on our part that we recognized it too late.
Your basement has huge rooms – 50 m2 and 40 m2 for the two largest alone, and all have relatively little light. I would use the largest room for a home theater – it has ideal room proportions in length and width to avoid standing waves (bass modes). Ceiling height – did I miss that? How high are the rooms on the ground floor, upper floor, and basement? Two rows of seats in the cinema room, preferably with a podium. That would be really awesome.
Otherwise/in general, I think the basement will feel very huge and quite dark – how do you intend to use these rooms?
I would definitely place the sauna on the upper floor near the bathroom or in the bathroom, make the bathroom bigger with a beautiful freestanding tub with a view outside, you have so much space also upstairs to create a wellness temple there. Ideally with a balcony on the upper floor – for cooling off outside, a library with access to it, a bedroom nearby to enjoy the cool forest air in the morning, that would be fantastic. A relaxation room with a library, an area for exercise equipment – that should all fit upstairs with smart planning. I have so many ideas.
Laundry with a chute to the basement. The space down there is simply so generous, why sacrifice the precious space upstairs for it?
On the upper floor, I would in principle plan a "parents’ wing" and a "children’s wing" – therefore the children’s bathroom accessible from the two children’s rooms with a separate door to the hallway upstairs. Something like that.
I would also consider with a house of this size whether and how I could basically separate the house into two residential units with manageable effort. Even if that seems very far away now – if you can include considerations in that direction, I think that, for a house of this size, it is not wrong at all. (Keyword stair location – possibly also straight staircase, second entry option, etc.)
Honestly – I would completely redesign it, given the amount of space, I think you can get much more out of it.
If I were you, I would simply have the architect show you several (!) alternatives – if necessary, even from another architect. With such an investment, planning is crucial.
Well, this just came to mind spontaneously, and I thought I should write something about it. Please don’t be offended by the suggestions and my opinion, everyone is different and has different needs, but I simply think you could get much more out of the upper floor.
Best regards
