Own floor plan design city villa 180 sqm with double garage feedback

180 m2 are hardly feasible with the budget.

As for the fourth common misconception among builders: if you were to go to another general contractor with a basically only moderately modified Viebrockhaus, it would automatically already be noticeably more budget-friendly just by that alone. No, not without a downgrade in features.

Regarding the orientation, I would personally solve it like this (quickly thrown together by me, without paying attention to details)
Bathroom downpipe hidden, private areas in the north, where there are no neighbors, children's rooms sunny. (I played around a bit here because I find 18sqm absolutely inflated for children's rooms. However, you could work flexibly with lightweight walls, so that you can possibly zone the children or assign them a small living hallway. Or not. Now the children's rooms are 14sqm)

Living room in SW/W, work and dining area bright. The rest to the north, where you have a view from the office for reflection, just like the toilet ;)

Well, the draftsman has quite accurately traced your design. Even though the whole thing comes across as loveless and unoriginal, it is exactly what you want. In my opinion, he was a bit too generous with the hallway. I would expect it to be that wide only from 250sqm upwards. You can still gain a lot of square meters there. 3.44m depth for the living room is almost ridiculously little for 180sqm total. The same applies to the artificially extended storage room under the stairs. Get rid of it and pull the wall back down to the upper stair exit. I would leave it out completely and place the wardrobe underneath instead.
The monster kitchen will cost quite a bit. A bit less would probably do as well.
I would definitely swap the office and the bathroom, otherwise child 2 will constantly wake up whenever someone showers or uses the toilet.

Overall, I don't see a big drama now, but also no dream house.

The ruthless honesty here is actually very refreshing.

My overall verdict is: "loveless to the core." In the inclusive "planning," the general contractors are "fast f***ers," as you can see impressively here once again. Do yourselves two big favors: go to an architect and be prepared not to "work ahead" for them. I see two essential popular misconceptions here: first, waiving an architect is equivalent to saving their entire fee; and second, symmetry is the recipe for the result to surely look neat. Both are 90% disappointed hopes each. The necessary "safety margin" on the room areas alone to make an unprofessional design furnishable more than compensates for the supposed fee savings. However, the extra size then gives the freedom to leave window positioning to symmetry.

My fear with a freelance architect is that not every great professional necessarily has creativity and logic in abundance. That is why we tried to adopt a proven design (Maxime 710 II on the ground floor and Rötzer Ziegel Stadtvilla 150 on the upper floor) without possibly burning huge sums beforehand for a floor plan that is totally nonsensical.

The north arrow is initially not correct. It should be rotated by 45 degrees according to the site plan. West would be the lower left corner of the house on the plan. There, from SW to NW, is the beautiful evening sun in summer. This benefits the guest WC as well as the bathroom upstairs, and incidentally the guest room or office, but not the main living areas. The office/home office simply does not need intensive sunlight. The children's rooms are well oriented, as is the utility room. ... you have to know what you want. It wouldn’t be mine.

Correct, the floor plan is not properly oriented and must be rotated by about 45 degrees so that the lower corner of the entrance side faces west. Regarding the rooms, we thought: utility room/parents’ bedroom need no sun at all. We only sleep in our bedroom. We do not have a TV or anything else there. The rest of the day is spent in the other rooms. Regarding the offices, I do quite like to be able to look out onto the street during my home office time and see who is coming home, whether the postman is ringing the doorbell, etc. Only looking out onto the field to the east is a bit dull.

Then you probably plan to set the house further forward. I would then stay away from having the family bathroom facing the street. If you swap kitchen/living area, the bathroom would also be above the living room... you can do that, though I would rather want the downpipe in a more hidden location. Possibly also with a laundry chute straight into the utility room, but not necessarily needed with stairs.

Family bathroom facing the street? We plan the terrace on the south side. SW did not come to mind so far because it faces the street. That’s why the house is set forward. But I agree with you. We are giving away a lot of space on a nice side of the plot.

Was the topic actually discussed why you want to set the house forward? I would create a nice SW garden and move the kitchen/dining into this area, the living area into the more private zone in the north.

I will discuss this topic again with my wife. The fence on the street side is only allowed to be 1m high. That’s why we initially decided to have the terrace only on the south side.

And many thanks for your idea in the next post. The ground floor strongly reminds me of the Fingerhaus Juno 500 / 501. It was indeed discussed by us. But we decided against the floor plan. Everything seems a bit convoluted, so I would like to see the plan live, but there is no show house. Also, the guest WC is not directly at the entrance. If the kids come home completely dirty, they would have to run through half the house first. In your proposal, this is better implemented and the guest WC is in front of the living room. I really, really like the living/dining room and kitchen with SW orientation. I won’t (yet maybe) warm up to the children’s corridor on the upper floor. Doesn’t that waste a lot of space? Then the rooms could just be a bit bigger, even if it is unnecessary.

180 m2 are hardly feasible with the budget.

I have an offer for the house with the shown dimensions including plumbing, tiled bathrooms, and tiled utility room, remaining walls and floors as DIY– just under €380k. Another €120k for the garage, ancillary construction costs (partly included in the offer) and a kitchen I consider realistic. Even if we completely overhaul our floor plan, the built-up area remains unchanged, so the price will not change either. Yes, exterior works are not yet included here. And I know the forum opinion is different. The house costs per square meter cost / MUST cost €3,000 and far beyond. It may be like that in Munich or Hamburg – but not here with us. Therefore, I will not respond to hints like “budget €500k is not enough” or “plan with a million” again.

Well, the draftsman has drawn your design quite nicely. Even if the whole thing comes across as loveless and unoriginal, it is exactly what you want. He was, in my humble opinion, a bit too generous with the hallway. I would only expect that width from 250 sqm upwards. You can still gain a lot of sqm there. 3.44 m depth for the living room is almost ridiculously little given 180 sqm in total. The same applies to the artificially extended storage room under the stairs. Get rid of it and pull the wall back down to the upper stair exit. I would omit it entirely and place the wardrobe under there.
The monster kitchen will cost a lot of money. Slightly less will probably suffice, though.
I would definitely swap the office and bathroom; otherwise child 2 will constantly wake up whenever someone showers or uses the toilet.

Too wide hallway, extended stairs, narrow living room I already mentioned above – all definitely worth improving. Swapping office and bathroom: in our apartment it is currently like this, that the bathroom directly adjoins the bedroom. This has never bothered us so far. Here, only the bathtub is next to the children’s room. WC and shower are on the other side. In our opinion, this should not be a problem. The office is in a secluded corner.

Overall, you have convinced me/us that the way to the architect is probably unavoidable so that we hopefully get a perfect floor plan for our plot. I wrote that to 11ant last year but did not stick to it because we wanted to know quickly what the construction project would cost us.

The ruthless honesty here is actually very refreshing. [...] My concern with a freelance architect is that not every one of those great professionals has creativity and logic spoon-fed. That’s why we tried to adopt a proven design (Maxime 710 II on the ground floor and Rötzer Ziegel Stadtvilla 150 on the upper floor), without possibly burning huge sums beforehand for a floor plan that is completely nonsensical.

The combination of a Rötzer Stadtvilla 150 upstairs with a Maxime 710 II downstairs (as sources of inspiration) is, exceptionally, not totally nonsensical, since they are somewhat compatible, but otherwise you are very much making yourself worthy of provoking further ruthless honesty. By the way, a Finger Juno 500/501 would again be a "one-and-a-half-story" (albeit with a generous knee wall) and thus again a strummer who would have no place in the wind orchestra. Regarding freelance architects, you are doubly protected: you know this forum community, and in the form of myself also a building consultant who professionally helps to distinguish the pros from the novices.

In sum, you convinced me / us that we probably will not avoid going to an architect, so that we hopefully get a perfect floor plan for our plot. I wrote that to 11ant last year, but did not stick to it because we wanted to know soon what the construction project would cost us.

Help my memory out, I don’t recall a direct message (?), only the note here that you intended to build in a year (which I commented on; the "danger" of too quick an implementation you are currently reliably spared from only by the waiting times for delivery dates and free time slots). Prices will still rise until then, yes – but not by more than the fat you still have to trim in the recently shown design.

By the way, a Finger Juno 500/501 would again be a "one and a half storey house" (albeit with a generous knee wall) and thus again a string instrument that would have no place in a wind orchestra.

Precisely for this reason, I inquired with a Fingerhaus salesperson. A hipped roof is possible with the Junos – of course for a hefty surcharge of €27,500 (€25,000 for the hipped roof, €2,500 for the change by the architect).

Help jog my memory, I do not recall a direct message (?), but only the note here that you wanted to build in a year (which I commented on; currently, the waiting times for delivery dates and free time slots are the only things reliably preventing you from the “danger” of building too quickly). Prices will still rise by then, yes – but not by more than the fat you still have left out in the recently shown design.

That was indeed the plan. Ultimately, the fear of further cost and interest rate increases, the new prospect of a KfW funding pot, and my parental leave in January led me to inquire with several house builders. AND if everything works out, to start building in late summer. According to the feedback so far, that would also not be a problem. Except for Fingerhaus – they are fully booked until the middle of next year.