Single-family house 180-190 sqm on a 10x20m building plot, first draft general contractor

Hello everyone,

my wife and I are soon going to become homeowners ourselves and have had a floor plan created by our (prospective) prefabricated house supplier based on our first conversation.

We have a specific plot of land in mind, but the new development area is currently still being surveyed, and the parcels are being reorganized afterward. Therefore, there is no official site plan of the property yet, only the attached development plan excerpt (dashed lines = property boundaries).

We find the floor plan draft interesting at first glance, especially since it (at least for us) does not look like a standard floor plan from the provider. I have listed some points that I think could be improved below – surely you will notice more...

Thanks in advance for your assessments!

Thomas

Development plan/restrictions

Size of the plot - 47 sqm

Slope - no

Floor area ratio - 0.4

Site coverage ratio - 0.8

Building window, building line and boundary - Building window 10x20m, boundary distance 3m to street/neighboring property, edge development - possible, not planned

Number of parking spaces - 2

Number of floors - 2 full floors

Roof type - gable, hip, shed, flat

Style - modern

Orientation -

Maximum heights/limits - 9.80m height from road surface to top of building

Other requirements -

Builders’ requirements

Style, roof type, building type - not fixed (except: no flat roof)

Basement, floors - 2 full floors, no basement

Number of persons, age - 3 persons (36, 35, 1), prospectively a 2nd child

Space requirements on ground floor and upper floor - GF: open living/dining/kitchen area, pantry, work/guest room, utility room. UF: bedroom/bathroom/"dressing room", 2 children’s rooms, children’s bathroom

Office: family use or home office? - occasional home office, room shares function with guest room

Number of overnight guests per year - 5-10

Open or closed architecture - open

Conservative or modern construction - modern

Open kitchen, kitchen island - yes

Number of dining places - 6-10

Fireplace - yes

Music/stereo wall - no

Balcony, roof terrace - nice to have, not mandatory

Garage, carport - carport

Utility garden, greenhouse - no

House design

Who created the design: general contractor

What do you particularly like? Why?
GF: open living/dining area and yet no sightline from sofa to kitchen, short path from front door to pantry, separated area utility room/housekeeping room.
UF: children’s and parents’ area separated, no “trapped” dressing room, roof terrace, “sleeping platform” in children’s room

What do you not like? Why?
Generally: floor plan looks very elongated
GF: entrance area (in my opinion unnecessary), wardrobe far from front door (alternative under stairs?), WC too narrow(?), no direct access from kitchen to terrace (planned in SE/SW - "around the corner"), seating area in kitchen (will be removed or seating window bench planned), distance kitchen island/wall, passage living/dining too narrow if fireplace and piano (175x60) as planned are placed?
UF: children’s rooms in the north, bedroom in the south, “room” at exit onto roof terrace, overall space usage (large hallway 20 sqm plus 10 sqm “leftover” as “sauna room” (sauna for 2 people should be integrated in bathroom), bathroom rather small and dressing room quite narrow)

Price estimate according to architect/planner: 465,000 (without land, without additional construction costs)

Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 500,000

Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump, possibly with photovoltaics

If you had to give up, which details/extensions

- Could you give up: sauna, kitchen island, roof terrace

-Could not give up: fireplace, work/guest room, separate dressing room/“closet room,” 2 bathrooms on the upper floor

Why is the design the way it is now? e.g.

Standard design from the planner? - no

Which wishes were implemented by the architect? - design based on our room program and our “wish list” (e.g. fireplace, “window bench” in kitchen, spatial separation of living room and kitchen, no trapped dressing room)

What do you think is particularly good or bad about it? - bad: space usage on upper floor (20 sqm hallway + 10 sqm sauna/“residual room”), good: separation of “technical area” on ground floor and children’s/parents’ area on upper floor

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
Can planning continue based on this first draft or is it better to start over from scratch? If the latter, how better (classic rectangle?)?

Do you like this complex floor plan? I would have spontaneously removed some corners. How are the carport and parking spaces planned? Be sure to draw your existing or desired furniture to scale. Take into account the walkways and occupied chairs at tables.

Hello! A castle.

Just a quick question:
Wouldn't you prefer to build something more compact and have more garden instead? Because like this, there is practically no garden left.

Even without a basement, it will be difficult to stay within the budget, and I don't even want to go into details yet.

Is that your maximum amount? Then you might as well start cutting back.

And that also has to be done - with a plot size of 47sqm

Even without a basement, it will be hard to stay within the budget, I don't even want to go into details yet.

Is that your maximum amount? Then you might as well start slimming down.

And that has to be with a plot size of 47 sqm

I think it's doable. 500K is quite something. If the 190 sqm is roughly correct, it should work. Plot and additional building costs are separate anyway.

/
My wife finds the intricate layout quite nice ("individual"). However, I also wondered whether a "simpler" floor plan (e.g. 9x12m) with possibly a bay window (wherever) would make more sense... That would also leave more space for the garden...

The carport is planned north of the front door (according to the development plan, it’s allowed to be within the setback area to the neighbor), the second parking space is in front of it towards the street.


True, with a 47 sqm plot, we might rather build upwards...
I have no problem slimming down per se, especially since the design’s living area is significantly above the targeted ~180-190 sqm – just where exactly? And maybe to clarify (I can no longer edit my original post): the stated budget is for the house; there is a separate one for landscaping and such. But that doesn’t mean we have to spend the full 500,000 at all costs.