Single-family house for 4 people - Opinions

For which upper floor exactly – and: for which house type?

I have done the upper floor and ground floor. But since only the layout of the ground floor changed, I only posted that. Currently, the house type is 1 1/2 stories with a gable roof. That doesn’t mean that in the end we’ll take the floor plan and turn it into a townhouse.

I don’t think the kitchen will work like that. The aisle widths look the same as the depth of the cabinets, so only about 60 cm. That is far too little. Maybe just use pen and paper instead of an unrealistic program. I also like working with Sweet Home.

I completely agree with you. I was simply concerned about the room layout in the first step. I’d better leave out the cabinets on the interior wall or remove the kitchen island.

I find the new plan somewhat less favorable, e.g. the guest bathroom. I also don’t see the access to the utility room in the first attempt as so critical, since the washing machine etc. is planned on the upper floor. However, a cloakroom space would still have to be created; but that could be done by moving the study door or the entrance door to create space.

Generally, I would also tend toward 2 stories, then the windows can be better distributed on the upper floor.

What do you find unfavorable about the guest bathroom in my floor plan? What I find a bit odd in my suggestion is the wardrobe closet in the corner of the utility room, but that could also be omitted. Also, the way you enter the house and have the option to go left, right, or straight ahead strikes me as odd. But in terms of space and routes, the proposal is better.

If the house is 12.85 m wide and you subtract the exterior walls and the interior wall between kitchen and living room, then furnish the kitchen as shown (with 1.10 m distance between aisles and a 1 m kitchen island), you end up with a living room width of only 7.60 m. Such a small room can never fit a sofa as shown, especially with all the space around it. So you should really consider how much space you need.

Best regards
Sabine

The kitchen has to be smaller, which means the kitchen island needs to go or the cabinets on the interior wall.

My approach would be: not to wildly enlarge the hybrid of the two Gussek house inspirations, but only concretely where one believes it might pinch otherwise; and then, through the shift from knee wall / dormer to full straight-wall story, sweep all possible head-height problem spots off the table with a single stroke. That should then suffice – where endless fiddling vortexes à la StanSch lead, currently amusing me exhaustively with an illustration.

I didn’t understand everything, but I take from it that you would like 2 full stories. I currently don’t want to rule that out either, especially because of the windows and the study on the upper floor.

That does not mean that in the end we take the floor plan and turn it into a townhouse.

If you make the attic floor as the upper floor (i.e. the same area as the ground floor, not reduced by sloping ceilings) = "townhouse", then you have avoided all head height bottlenecks, also without enlarging the footprint. So stick to the "original" floor plan size if you already enlarge the attic/upper floor by "removing the slope." Two enlargements at the same time are one too many.

I did not understand everything

I meant: 1. only enlarge where something is concretely "too tight"; 2. changing from "one-and-a-half-" to "two" stories automatically solves all low spots; 3. do not add the two methods "enlarge exterior dimensions" and "replace sloped ceilings with full height," otherwise it will be too much in total; 4. do not perfect the design to death – some time ago StanSch and now currently Shiny86 have already exaggerated this more than enough.

What do you find inconvenient about the guest bathroom in my floor plan?

I just generally don't like it when the shower and toilet are next to each other in about 2 meters. I prefer showers that go across the width of the guest bathroom; this way, such a bathroom can also be limited to under 2 meters in width, down to 150 cm.

Don't let yourself be unsettled now. You give this to the architects with the note that if you can save some square meters or be more efficient, then they should. I personally hope that the bottleneck of the utility room/toilet will be eased. It can be done better, but I don't see @kbt09s preference here, just better management of square meters. In the upper floor, a roof floor with 139 KS or something similar will be suitable again because of this size. Or you follow the forum's demand for two-story building, which would then result in a massive house that you don't need but definitely costs more.

Don’t let yourself get unsettled now. You give this to the architects ...

Exactly. It’s best not to add any measurements at all and just roughly sketch by hand. Leave out doors and pathways. You just say that you quite like the layout in that style, how much it may cost, and which sizes should not be undershot. And of course, which rooms you need. It’s also good here to mention things like "I need at least a 2m wardrobe and a 4m cupboard for laundry on the upper floor" directly. You can also specify a sofa size if it has to be moved or if the dream lounge has already been checked off in the catalog. Otherwise, leave as much freedom as possible at first.

In my experience, construction contractors prefer it when you specify your requirements for premises, wishes, and budget (i.e. maximum living space). Then they are supposed to make a proposal.