Single-family house floor plan - Optimization and assessment

Good morning everyone,

we have now received the preliminary draft from the architect of the construction company. We would be very happy about optimizations and suggestions for improvement.

Development plan: None, third row.
Size of the plot: 678 m^2
Slope: no
Floor area ratio / floor space ratio: not relevant, since building site and building size are determined by forest distance
Number of parking spaces: 2
Number of floors: ground floor + attic floor + expandable loft
Roof shape: gable roof

Requirements of the builders
Style, roof shape, building type: classic single-family house, knee wall inside 90cm, roof pitch 48°
Basement: no basement
Number of people: 4, mom (38), dad (31), twin boys (1)
Room requirements on GF, upper floor: 5 upstairs and downstairs
Office: home office
closed architecture
conservative construction
closed kitchen
Number of dining seats
Fireplace: we would like one, but the architect forgot it and we liked the floor plan, so we then waived it.
Garage: we would like one, but it doesn’t fit on the plot.

House design
Who planned it:
- Architect / planner of a construction company
What do we particularly like? We are satisfied with the ground floor, the room layout suits us well. We have the possibility for 2 offices.
What do we not like?
- The office on the ground floor is a bit too big for me, but it’s not a big deal.
- We cannot find a place for the loft stairs where one later might still be able to expand.
- The bedroom is a bit too big but has to accommodate the Ikea Pax.
- I am afraid that the stairs are some kind of corridor going up with two big walls on the sides.
Does anyone possibly have such stairs and photos of them?

It was important to us that the two boys can later get rooms of the same size. The "dressing room" is currently planned as a bedroom for both, child II as a playroom, child I as an office.

We would be happy about advice and especially criticism :-)

Regards
Simon

I find the living room too small at 26m2. And why do you want to do without the fireplace? Because the architect forgot to include it in the plan???? So what. Then he just draws one in and that's that. It's really not rocket science to plan in another fireplace now.

Yes, the stairs. I also don't like it when there is a full-height wall on both sides. I feel cramped there. The stairs right next to the entrance wouldn't be my thing either. You always carry dirt upstairs and in winter you always have to walk over the doormat. Wearing socks/barefoot is not really great. Where is the wardrobe supposed to go? The hallway downstairs is way too narrow for a family with 2 small children.

I also don't find it practical that there is no passage between the living room and kitchen.

In the kitchen there is hardly any workspace or storage space.

The WC is very narrow. A second shower in the house is never a bad idea.

The hallway upstairs will be quite dark.

Do you really need 2 offices?

I would possibly turn the study into the kitchen. Enlarge the living room a bit (take a bit from the current kitchen so that the living room extends around the corner) and make what’s left of the current kitchen into the study.

Is a window even planned in the area "Ankleide"? Will there be two offices permanently, do you both work from home and need them separated?

I would put the two children's rooms on the left side of the house, then the windows would face southwest.

I see the entrance area like Manu, also the staircase will be quite steep with only 24 cm tread depth.

I always wonder why dining and living are packed together with a large dining table that is rarely used and then another dining table is placed in the kitchen. If you don't want to combine cooking and living, it would be more sensible to combine cooking/dining and keep living separate. The areas could then also be more spacious.

Is there also a site plan, perhaps showing the location of the carports etc.?

Site plan is attached, but it only shows parking spaces, the dining table is only from the planner, we only want a dining table in the kitchen:

Fireplace: According to the architect, everything would have to be redone, which wasn’t worth it to us.
Wardrobe: We had planned it under the stairs, not sure yet if that will be enough.
Offices/workrooms: Since we have no garage/cellar, one office is definitely needed (teacher), and we want another room for PC, crafting, etc.
Window in the "dressing room" is planned but not yet drawn in.
Stairs: Honestly, I thought that was standard. I will check again.
Shower: We decided against it on the ground floor due to space constraints.

I find the idea of an office and kitchen interesting, we thought that downstairs might have the nicer sunny location.

Thanks in advance :-)

So always eat in the 13 sqm even with guests, etc.? That would be too small for me.

If you only want to eat in the kitchen, then I think the kitchen is planned too small.

Wardrobe under the stairs - ouch - you don't have much space there. At most, a dresser fits under there.