New single-family house - Join us on this journey!

I have now gained access to the 3D rendering. Therefore, I can now also present the proportions between the house and the property using a screenshot.

Before I address individual points, I would like to put things into perspective once again:

[*
The architect had to complete this planning phase under pressure (in about 2.5 weeks including absences due to vacation).
[*]The plan is a first draft and can be adjusted.
[*]The design is independent of building materials. We can decide on solid wood or stone on stone.
[LIST]
[*]To be honest, I am still somewhat skeptical about wood. I like the look, but weather and such also concern me. The color is also a suggestion but by no means approved by us.

I had already given a recommendation for the realization of a terrace.

I like the idea too. It would be possible to open the granny flat further north again with a terrace door. The terrace itself could be separated with a privacy screen – that would be sufficient.

The kitchen is fully on the south side and is not shady with this large window front. Trees can be pruned so that they do not darken the rooms. There are also small trees.

That is how I understood it as well.

I clearly see a gallery here.

-> here I already agree with you. There is currently a gallery, but at the moment it can only be used as a passage. The upper area could be enlarged somewhat to make it more "livable." I really like your example picture with the shelf!

[*]The architect had to complete this planning phase under pressure (in about 2.5 weeks including vacation absences).
[*]The plan is a first draft and can be adjusted

Planning under time pressure is unprofessional, good planners reject that, and at the same time wasting time on a fun draft does not fit together.

The design is independent of building materials. We can decide on solid wood or stone on stone

[*]To be honest, I am still somewhat skeptical towards wood. I like the look, but weather and such also worry me.

Then I do not understand your anxious question about the material. I see no reason for skepticism towards wood, and the appearance has nothing to do with it. If the visible surface is also wood, that is rather coincidental in the sense of being independent from the structural building material. I do not understand the restriction to these two construction methods - why exclude other panel construction methods?

It seems to me overall, you are visual people, but with little spatial imagination and too little practice in conceptual procedures and allow yourselves to be (mis)led by renderings. I recommend you proceed more methodically. If we are still talking about a preliminary design here and you have not yet decided on the construction method, I would at this point follow either my recommendation ("construction pilot Hoffmann", now with the preliminary design request offers from a handful of general contractors and continue with the architect up to and including performance phase 5) or that of colleague Beuler ("prefabricated house expert", go with the architect up to and including performance phase 3 and then request offers from the general contractors) These two approaches can also be combined. My "classic" way, consistently implemented, keeps the architect mandated up to and including performance phase 8; the way of the "prefabricated house expert" makes the most sense if you then go through the whole further path including final acceptance with him.

So far I have not gotten the impression that this architect would also recommend himself for performance phase 8 :-(

So far, I have not gotten the impression that this architect would also recommend himself for service phase 8 :-(

It was excluded from the beginning that the architect would accompany us through service phase 8 due to the distance to the site. So he only carries out the planning with us and builds the bridge to the other service providers (e.g. general contractor).

still little spatial imagination and too little practice in conceptual approach and let yourselves be (mis)led by renderings.

I had to smile about that. Where are we supposed to have that experience from? We are neither civil engineers nor architects, nor have we built 37 houses before.
That's why I'm asking the community here for advice.

The overall planning is initially not bad and meets your requirements, but I would have the following points to consider that, in my opinion, need to be changed. But first something positive. We also have an open space and when the bedroom door is closed, you cannot hear anything from the living room, even though the walls are not particularly thick. So sleep is completely undisturbed possible, unless you are one of the most sensitive sleepers. Personally, I find an open space to be an enrichment and, as you do, simply nice.

1.) The room height seems very low to me. With such a budget, you should have ceiling heights of 2.8m and more. How oppressive must a 60 m2 living room with only 2.6m room height feel with a length of 9m? I would not feel comfortable there.

2.) The living room of the granny flat is already very small. You should plan at least 25m2 here (remove your bathroom, put the kitchen on the bathroom wall and the guest toilet under the stairs). And the granny flat should have a nice terrace.

3.) Missing setback distance of the garage: Is that really an average height of 3m to the neighbor? I hardly believe that.

4.) Urgently change the facade. It now looks like an architect’s house from the 60s (sorry). This dark, unfriendly-looking wood would definitely not be my taste. Therefore, rather clinker brick. It looks visually nicer and bright clinker bricks look much better right away. And definitely, with this budget, a durable, low-maintenance solid construction. You never have to paint or repair clinker bricks. With wood, after a few years without cleaning, it already looks like an old house.

5.) And dormer windows are also missing here. I wouldn’t feel comfortable in my house without nice dormers that bring a lot of light and storage space. Without dormers, you have the living quality of a Town & Country house at the price of a million villa.

Otherwise, the floor plan already fits your needs and the kitchen at the entrance would not bother me at all.