Preliminary draft floor plan of a single-family house with double garage, feedback

Hello everyone.

My wife and I are currently planning our house with our architect and now have a preliminary draft of the floor plan for which we would like to have your feedback.

The house is being built in a new development area with the following data.

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size: 619 m2
Floor area ratio: 0.35
Floor space index: 0.6
Building window, building line and boundary: Building boundary 2.50 meters
Edge development: max. 9 meters
Number of parking spaces: 1.5,
Garage: double garage, additional parking spaces in the courtyard in front of the garage
Number of stories: 2 floors with a wall height of 6.50 meters on the eaves side
Roof shape: Generally no restrictions on the roof shape.
Style: classic, linear
Building plot: P06
Other: The building area is located overall on a plateau with sloping terrain towards the south and west, resulting in a view into a river valley.

Requirements of the builders
Style, roof shape, building type: classic single-family house with gable roof and basement
Stories: fully basement, two full floors
Number of people, age: couple (mid-30s), one infant, another child planned
Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor: desired living area between 180 and 210 m2
Office: family use or home office?
Used as home office, but also for private use by family members
Overnight guests per year:
Not yet foreseeable, guest room will be used regularly by grandparents and friends
Open or closed architecture:
Open, but still with defined areas.
Conservative or modern construction: conservative (probably)
Open kitchen, cooking island: open kitchen with cooking island, adjoining pantry
Number of dining seats: 6-8
Fireplace: yes, possibly also as room divider
Music/stereo wall: not available, living wall
Balcony, roof terrace: no, but large terrace facing south/west with roofing
Garage, carport: double garage with storage, access through a mudroom into the house
Further wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be:
Separated hallway for sound insulation in bedrooms, open living-dining area, mudroom as access to garage, parents’ bedroom facing north, two children’s rooms

House design
Who made the design: architect
What do you particularly like? Why?: bay window with view into the beautiful valley, garden orientation in front of the house
What do you not like? Why?:
Shape of children’s rooms, long and narrow and possibly too little light
Corridor on the upper floor quite narrow - could this be a problem? Especially in terms of moving furniture, etc. The house is basically rather long and narrow
Price estimate according to architect/planner: still open
Personal price limit for the house, incl. equipment: 700,000€
Preferred heating technology: heat pump, possibly in combination with district heating

You will find the current draft attached, plus a few additions from our side on the current status.

On the upper floor, we are planning a concrete ceiling deviating from the draft and additionally the room height will be matched to the ground floor.
Furthermore, we are discussing the size of the children’s rooms; in the previous version, the house was about 0.5 m narrower. This naturally reduces the width of the children’s rooms by 0.25 m each to just under 3 m and an area of about 16 m². The old drafts of ground and upper floors are also attached.
Is the width of just under 3 m sufficient for a children’s room? Because the half meter more house width naturally makes quite a difference in area, costs, and distance to the neighbor.

We look forward to your assessment and constructive criticism of the design.

Thank you very much and best regards.

This is a fresh draft with nice quirks that fortunately do not prioritize space economy. Your wishes seem to be well accommodated. I find the brewing room exciting. Sounds like a nice hobby. Guests find a sleeping place suitable for one or two nights and not for longer stays. If the goal is to avoid overly long visits, this is well solved. What sport do you do in the basement – is the space in this passage area sufficient? OK, you want a dressing room – that has been popular for years. Maybe someone with such a room can share experiences. What the architect has drawn there is, in my opinion, unsuitable, as there is far too little room to move. This "dressing room" is nothing more than a closet space if there are continuous cupboards on both sides. For me, the path from the bed to the bathroom is too long.

Is the width of just under 3m enough for a children's room?

Objectively, it is of course sufficient. We had that in our terraced house where the children grew up until they were 17 and 19. It would have been nicer if it were wider. I would not do that in a self-planned new build.

Bay window with a view of the beautiful valley, garden orientation in front of the house

Then the sofa placement does not fit. That way, you sit with your back to the view.

long and narrow and possibly too little light

The children's rooms need good lighting; it will not be very bright through the window. But that works.

I currently can't mentally place the house on the site plan with the heights or slope. I also don't know how the slope works with the terrace and the basement. Is there a drawing with the height measurements? Section?

I find it understandable to build with the slope, as in the construction proposal, so that there is minimal effort with the slope and the basement is brought to the right position immediately. That is not the case here and is against the property, as far as I think it is.

Regarding your fears: 130 cm and even more is not narrow! According to your information, I would have expected 90-100 cm.
And whether a child's room is 2.90 or 3.20 m doesn't matter either. Back then rooms were 2.20 m – not nice, but it worked. However, I find that the windows upstairs are stingy. And the one child has little options there.

This airlock, that is this annex, is underground in my eyes. This airplane wing is not only exaggeratedly enormous but also impractical.
The design is from you? I assume it was only signed off by the architect?
It is unwise in many areas in terms of function and structural implementation.

I would swap the bathroom and the master bedroom, because currently your wastewater pipe runs right through your kitchen/living area.

So, even after more intensive looks, I see more and more question marks and some errors that I probably do not expect from a professional.

The pantry feels miles away from the entrance, despite the proximity. The island is a barrier.
Doors are all very arbitrary, sometimes wider, sometimes narrower.
The technology is on the back side of the property.
Window positions have been forgotten.
The staircase is of course very disadvantageously solved, but that may be intentional.
The slope is not used for the basement.
Washbasins are located very darkly, toilet is not private, drainage can be tricky.

Where (Nord-Süd-Gefälle) are you building? Even 180 sqm costs at least €540k, the basement another good €100k. €60k ancillary costs are probably also underestimated. That doesn't include a kitchen yet. I would advise reconsidering the size or anticipating higher costs.