Single-family house (2 floors + residential basement + developed attic) approximately 200 sqm - changes

But that is with the spiral staircase above. The architect's design is only 440 cm wide (so 30 cm less). The sofa is very large. ours will probably be significantly smaller! EDIT: the shelf in the living room at the bottom right is still aligned to the width of the architect's design. So it would also still work with 30 cm less.

Here again are the furniture in the architect's design. As mentioned: The sofa is really large in size. The two floor-to-ceiling windows on the right and left are not meant to be opened. Originally, 2 sliding doors were planned. However, we decided against that. Now we gladly have the glass sliding door with 351 cm to the dining area and "into" the living room only a normal floor-to-ceiling window so as not to have too much light in the living room. In our version, the sliding door opens to the right. So basically from "the alley" between the sofa and the dining table.

I had just written something about draft #133, but deleted it again because of #134. Simply put, I find the approach with the corner entrance and an additional stairwell with a staircase that is not exactly easy to walk because of the closely following turns very poorly conceived and can only advise to put everything aside and start over or change the architect or whatever. Furthermore, I have to write that I already wanted to write quite a bit about the use of the roof before my vacation, but didn’t manage to do so. In short: we have an open roof with about a 26-degree pitch. And that is visually and in terms of feel already quite at the limit. I would not take a higher roof pitch. Moreover, a room where the open gable is higher than the room width tends to feel rather sacral. The room feels even smaller and, due to the lack of a ceiling, rather uncomfortable. With such ideas like loft beds and similar, one should also always consider who will clean up there.

I just wrote something about draft #133, but deleted it again because of #134. Simply put, I find the approach with the corner entrance and an additional staircase with a staircase that is not exactly easy to walk because of the closely following turns very poorly executed and can only advise to put everything aside and start again or change the architect or whatever. Furthermore, I have to write that before my vacation I wanted to write quite a bit about the use of the roof, but didn’t manage to do so. In short: we have an open roof with about 26 degrees roof pitch. And visually and perceptually that is already quite at the limit. I wouldn’t take a higher roof pitch. Moreover, a room where the open gable is higher than the room width feels rather ecclesiastical. The room feels even smaller and, due to the lack of a ceiling, rather uncomfortable. With ideas like loft beds and the like, one should also always consider who cleans up there upstairs.

I think you are more of a specialist than I am. That’s why I have to just “accept” it for now. But when I think that 45° roof pitch was probably the standard for centuries and still is for gable roofs, it is hard for me to reconcile that with 26 degrees and tower-building descriptions. In case of doubt, 2 kids would probably rather choose to live in the dark basement anyway. Or one moves out. It’s certainly all a question of alternatives. I would have liked bigger staircases and corridors, preferably twice 100sqm, ... but since the footprint is supposed to be limited, this is our compromise. Yesterday I saw city villas again with 2 full floors and only about 8*8m external dimensions. They just have one child then. We are just building a gable roof on top of that. And hoping that two kids will be happy there. That way, photovoltaics are better possible in winter and there is more space. Yes, to be honest, I also imagine it very ecclesiastical inside. That certainly also somehow “shrinks” the space. I think you can spruce it up nicely with wood somehow. It will probably still be better than a rented apartment with a 20sqm room for two or 10sqm per person for the kids. About the staircase: we are now at about 17.5cm rise and over 28cm tread. That’s a good staircase at first glance, right? The two quarter turns are always at the bottom. I imagine “fear of falling” as rather irrelevant there. It is currently a half-turned staircase that just doesn’t have the turn in the middle but at the beginning. I don’t imagine that as uncomfortable (at least not more uncomfortable than a half-turned staircase with 220*220). Of course, not as nice as a straight or with a landing but that just doesn’t fit into our footprint without shrinking all rooms again. As I said, I am grateful for the critique. I just find it hard to classify it. Originally, the layout of ground floor and upper floor comes from quite ordinary prefab house providers. So certainly not necessarily fancy but definitely proven. Just like the gable roof. Hardly anyone builds that nowadays because they prefer to build a bit wider, but that doesn’t make it wrong? The gable roof fits well into the surrounding buildings. It’s not a new housing estate but an old building with small/flat multifamily houses (about 2.5-3 floors). You write as if we should better start a €450,000 project all over again because otherwise we will drive it against the wall (change architect). That unsettles me a lot. What could worst-case happen (not that I want to say I don’t care about anything)? But the rooms are big enough and at worst, it can only be the staircase? But it will work until we are 60, right? And then we move to the back house, on ground level.

You’re writing as if we should rather start a 450 thousand euro project from scratch because otherwise we’ll drive it into the ground (change architect).

That’s how it is.

1. Placing entrances in the corner has never proven successful.

So certainly not exactly stylish but also certainly proven.

2. There is nothing at the bottom. With a uniformly 2/4 winded staircase, the user has an even rhythm when walking. That is important so you don’t stumble or step into emptiness. Unfortunately, that is not the case for you.
It’s nice that you as a layman are thinking about the staircase. But half-knowledge is often dangerous or negligent. I can hardly believe that the architect voluntarily plans this construction. The hallway/hallway area alone is suspicious and only restricts.

The two quarter turns are always at the bottom.

3. Your hallway construction uses more space than a normal entrance. We don’t need to talk about 8x8 houses here, this is about yours.
Unfortunately, I cannot follow your arguments. I have the feeling that you are partly going off track. For example your roof: completely okay, this 45 degrees, but then not with a loft bed, or open upwards. That means 10 meters height with 10 meters width. Or have I missed some info in the meantime? Then forget my remark.

I would like larger staircases and hallways, preferably 2 times 100sqm, ... but since the footprint is supposed to be limited, that is our compromise. Yesterday I saw city villas again with 2 full floors and only about 8*8m external dimension.

And yes: at 450000 I would leave all of that freely to a professional and not tinker around myself.

That's how it is.

1. Placing entrances in the corner has never proven successful.

2. always at the bottom is nothing at all. With an evenly 2/4 winding staircase, the user has a consistent rhythm while walking. This is important to avoid tripping or stepping into empty space. Unfortunately, that is not the case with yours.
Nice that as a layperson you are thinking about the staircase. But half-knowledge is often dangerous or negligent. I can hardly believe that the architect voluntarily plans this construction. The hallway/hallway area alone is suspicious and only narrows the space.

3. Your hallway construction consumes more space than a normal entrance. We don’t need to talk here about 8x8 houses, this is about yours.
Unfortunately, I cannot follow your arguments. I feel that you are partly going down the wrong path. For example, your roof: completely okay, this 45 degrees, but then not with a loft bed or open to the top. That’s 10 meters wide by 10 meters high. Or have I missed some information in the meantime? Then forget my remark.

And yes: for 450,000 I would hand everything over to a professional freely and not fiddle around myself.

[*]The entrance in the corner pleases neither us nor the architect. He also advised against it. One reason why it might still move north is because it would at least be a bit further from the corner then. But if the hallway + staircase (i.e. the stairwell) should remain separate from the entrance/dirt area, is there an alternative? The proposal from kato with swapped bathroom and wardrobe. I will still look into that.
[*]But there are also stairs with quarter-turn entry and exit. I really can’t imagine the difference between 1/4 straight – 1/2 turned – 1/4 straight compared to 1/4 turned – 1/2 straight – 1/4 turned and our 1/2 turned – 1/2 straight right now. I can well imagine (from my own experience) that turning in general is of course not ideal. But where they are, at a normal step width, I simply cannot think of an uneven rhythm (which does not mean I disagree with you). What do you mean by hallway/hallway? I want to emphasize again that mixed IDEAS of mine regarding the design and the design itself are included here and may also be discussed. I don’t think the architect has a hallway-hallway. The rest are just ideas.
[*]So at 45° and 10m width I come to 5m height in the roof?! Inside we have 8.14m, so actually 4.07m height. We would like to add 5 degrees (main reason actually photovoltaic) and thereby come to approximately 4.85m height. Yes, it will look cathedral-like at 3m room width! If it really doesn’t work, a mezzanine for storage space at 2.5m will be installed?!
[*]It is with a professional, isn’t it?! As I said, please don’t bash my designs with those of the architect. Yes, he seems (perhaps too much) to take into account some of our partly crazy ideas. With the first design (around post 1-80) I then saw that through the forum. But the design now is nothing crazy anymore?! Yes, the staircase is so special that I have never seen one like it anywhere else. I will talk to a carpenter and also ask a retired architect who is a friend. Of course, it cannot be that we build the house around the staircase and then it is not properly walkable!