Single-family house planning: help, tips, suggestions, criticism welcome

Since we are slowly starting to plan our single-family house, I would like to have you take a look at it. Surely many people here have tips, suggestions, and also criticism that can help us. I’m trying not to write a huge novel to avoid scaring anyone off and to keep it readable.

Plot available:

[*
540 m²
[*]19m wide
[*]garden facing south
[*]flat terrain
[*]currently undeveloped
[*]new development area (30 plots) Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis
[*]high groundwater expected (for basement white/black tub)


[ATTACH alt="wolf-Fertighaus-weiss-Doppelgarage-Entwurf-Treppe-Speisekammer-118199-1.jpg" type="full"]26068[/ATTACH]

Key data from the development plan:


[*]floor area ratio 0.3
[*]floor space index 0.6
[*]2 full stories
[*]max. wall height 4.5m
[*]max. ridge height 9.5m
[*]gable or hip roof with slope 30°–45°
[*]total width of dormers may not exceed 1/2 of the building side, the width of each individual dormer may not exceed 1/3 of the building width, max. 4m
[*]garage at least 5m behind the street boundary line
[*]garage allowed only on one building side


Are there any other important details missing?

Our rough wishes:


[*]usable basement (white/black tub)
[*]ground floor
[LIST]
[*]shower bathroom
[*]office
[*]open kitchen-living-dining area
[*]fireplace in living-dining area
[*]pantry
[*]vestibule (?)
[*]straight stairs to upper floor


[*]upper floor


[*]main bathroom
[*]bedroom
[*]walk-in closet
[*]2 children’s rooms
[*]gallery (?)


[*]double garage


[*]with access to pantry (not sure if this is allowed in RP)


[*]construction style


[*]straightforward, plain, modern
[*]high ceilings
[*]unfortunately, due to the development plan, no attic without sloped roof possible


[*]price


[*]I assume that in the end, we will land at €350k (house without land, of course), probably even about 10% more

About us:

[*
She: born 1982, teacher (civil servant)
[*]He: born 1981, executive at a large German medium-sized company (approx. 6,000 employees worldwide)
[*]1st child: born late 2015, doesn’t do much yet except kicking, drooling, sleeping, and drinking
[*]2nd child: still swimming as a tadpole in the Rhine



We are still unsure about how we want to build. Therefore, I said that I want to look at companies from the following directions:


[*]prefabricated house manufacturer (timber frame construction)
[*]developer (solid construction)
[*]architect



Prefabricated house (timber frame construction):
We have been several times to the prefabricated house center in Mannheim.
Based on internet research and reports from acquaintances building with this company, a meeting with Fertighaus Weiss GmbH already took place.
The consultant took a lot of time for the first appointment (5 hours) and we “planned” a first house together. It is basically a first idea from what we had expressed as wishes.
As a first draft to see roughly what is possible on the plot, I think it’s okay. However, it is not yet something that would convince us.
Here only the ground floor and upper floor:

[ATTACH alt="wolf-Fertighaus-weiss-Doppelgarage-Entwurf-Treppe-Speisekammer-118199-2.jpg" type="full"]26069[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH alt="wolf-Fertighaus-weiss-Doppelgarage-Entwurf-Treppe-Speisekammer-118199-3.jpg" type="full"]26070[/ATTACH]

Comments:


[*]the width of 10m results from 19m plot width – 6m double garage (boundary construction) – 3m distance to neighbor
[*]Negatives ground floor:
[LIST]
[*]no vestibule
[*]hallway-living passage way much too narrow
[*]lower right living area (right next to stairs / above "office") is too narrow (large sofa present)

My idea about this:

[*
ground floor
[LIST]
[*]shower bathroom + pantry vertically stacked
[*]pantry access upwards towards kitchen
[*]office placed horizontally instead of vertically
[*]thereby I can put the stairs on the left wall of the pantry and have more space for the passage and “living” area


[*]upper floor


[*]due to moving the stairs, I have a problem upstairs I haven’t solved yet
[*]I actually like the layout upstairs, but because of the stairway on the left side, I can no longer get to the walk-in closet
[*]I do not want the walk-in closet as a thoroughfare room (!)

I’ll try to take a photo of my change drawing that I did on paper and upload it.

Further appointments:

[*]Appointment with the developer (Missivbau) set for early March
[*]Appointment with the architect set for early March

I don’t want to show the above draft at these other appointments because I would like to hear the two providers’ own ideas.

What is your opinion on the current approach, draft, etc.?

Our planning by Mr. K. from the prefabricated house park Mannheim of the company Weiss looked exactly like this. Same staircase, same ground floor layout, same hallway upstairs. These are just the standard designs.

I would advise you not to hold on to it too much and to choose the path to an architect and describe to him what you want. Alternatively, engage very intensively with floor plans and model houses yourself and draw designs yourself.

As I said, I wasn't very happy with the first draft and I searched high and low until I found a program that makes it very easy to design a floor plan, so I gave it a try. It causes me bigger problems than I expected. But currently, I am at this point:





We somehow moved away from the straight staircase. We can't create a floor plan where a straight staircase can be well integrated. Especially not without having some unpleasant view into the basement...

Room labels, north arrow, roof due to 1 and 2m lines, and a few dimensions would be useful

Entrance in front of the garage is annoying because people also like to park the car in front of the garage. Otherwise: dimensions - many things look as if they do not fit.

Forget the mini airspace - the idea may be nice, but in reality it primarily means: drafts, food smells throughout the house, and noise transmission throughout the house. Such a gallery only makes sense from a certain size - otherwise it’s just a black hole.

If you don’t want a view down a basement staircase, then a door goes in front of it - this has been done for centuries and has proven effective. Better to separate the end of the hallway with doors and still have storage space (cleaning supplies, bed linen, suitcases).

I would also prefer to have the washing machine and dryer as well as the ironing board on the sleeping floor - then you don’t have to carry laundry all over the house and during the toddler years you can iron upstairs while the children play, do homework, or sleep. For that I would place the machines at the end of the hallway next to the bathroom and set up a play/work hallway between the children’s rooms. The children’s rooms would then be reduced to a normal size.

Later, a PC station for the children can also be set up there - this avoids the children sitting alone and unsupervised in front of their computers.