Single-family house with 200m² in Mecklenburg, near the Baltic Sea

Development Plan/Restrictions
Size of the plot: 915m²
Slope: No
Site occupancy index: 0.5
Floor area ratio: N/A
Building window, building line and boundary
Edge development: No
Number of parking spaces: 2 (plus 2-3 for guests and trailer in the front garden)
Number of floors: 1.5
Roof type: Gable roof
Architectural style: classic single-family house with captain’s gable
Orientation: south garden
Maximum heights/limits: No maximum specifications
Further requirements: §34 Building Code

Requirements of the builders
Architectural style, roof type, building type: captain’s gable on garden side (not possible on street side according to building authority) with 130 cm masonry knee wall
Basement, floors: no basement, 1 full floor
Number of people, age: currently three (30, 30, 3), second child planned
Room requirements on ground floor, upper floor
Office: own office mandatory
Overnight guests per year: unclear, potentially always in pairs
Open or closed architecture: open living/dining/kitchen area
Conservative or modern construction: classic, straightforward
Open kitchen, cooking island: yes, both
Number of dining seats: at least 10, rather 12 (we like to celebrate a bit bigger)
Fireplace: yes, planned at the corner of dining/living area
Music/stereo wall: not planned
Balcony, roof terrace: no, possibly green roof on the garage
Garage, carport: adjoining double garage with access to the utility room
Kitchen garden, greenhouse: already present on the plot (3m x 12m)
Further wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be included

House design
Planning by:
-Do-it-Yourself
What do you particularly like? Why?
The general layout and the space available in the living area, the large children’s rooms
The view axis from the front door through the living/dining room door into the garden
What do you not like? Why?
Space consumption in the hallway, work/guest room possibly somewhat small? Uncertainty about the bathroom door on the upper floor
Price estimate according to architect/planner: not yet available
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: €480,000 (without consideration of possible KfW subsidies)
Preferred heating technology: brine-water heat pump with trench collectors (alternatively surface collectors if cheaper)

If you have to do without, which details/extensions
-can you do without: fireplace, photovoltaic system, home automation (preparations for each are a must, however)
-cannot do without: straight staircase

Why did the design turn out as it is now?
In the past, we visited many show homes, spoke with various developers, and spent many nights on the floor plan. In the end, we chose this option from three or four variants because it represents a good compromise. We absolutely wanted a straight staircase and to bring along our current sofas (massive three-seater and equally massive L-model from Ikea) but also have a fireplace at the transition between living and dining area. This is why the study was moved up into the captain's gable instead of being located in the position of the guest bathroom.

What makes it particularly good or bad in your eyes?
The hallways upstairs and downstairs might be somewhat too large. I am also uncertain about the bathroom door on the upper floor. A 130 cm knee wall should actually suffice; if necessary, we can go up to 150 cm. There is no standardized height limit since the neighboring buildings are a 1.5-story house and a 2.5-story apartment building. Opposite are semi-detached houses.

What is the most important/fundamental question about the floor plan summarized in 130 characters?
I want to avoid overextending ourselves and having the project get out of hand (regarding budget and effort). The building plot is feasible in principle. The width of the plot on the street side is 27 m. At a right angle to this it goes 23.5 m to the back, where the plot has a slight bend.

All area specifications exclude roof slopes (upper floor). The area on the upper floor is thus reduced slightly.

I'm afraid the staircase is a bit short ... what ceiling height (clear height) or story height had you envisioned:

Comfortable with a story height of 280 cm = about 250 cm finished ceiling height
the drawn ones are a good 4 m, maybe 360 cm would still work. But if I calculate for you, it’s a maximum of 340 cm.

And with that, the room plan gets stuck.

Also, it always makes sense to draw in your planned furniture, especially bulky sofas, planned fireplace, dining tables for 12 people, so we can see how you imagine it.

Upstairs a dressing room with only 198 cm raw construction depth ... what should go in there?
Should the garage offer a roof terrace? Why then on the east side? Maybe use the site plan with the house location marked.

Window planning is obviously not yet finalized, right? Otherwise the upper floor will be quite dark. It would also be nice if the intended parapet height is indicated next to the drawn windows.

And, a note ... if you plan niches for e.g. 4x60 cm wide kitchen tall cabinets, you should always add 5 cm in the raw construction. The same applies for wardrobe niches etc. Because often plaster is added and masonry is not a delicate craft, so there can also be 1 cm deviations.

Basic idea also ... work/guest room rather on the ground floor near the guest bathroom and for that split the technical/utility room there and move laundry etc. upstairs.

Also consider whether the attic (which is supposed to be storage space since a roof staircase is drawn upstairs) could not possibly be accessed more sensibly by an extension of the normal staircase. And this might also save a few sqm of floor space.

With the plot width, it might also be conceivable to separate the garage from the house, thus having west-facing windows and maybe creating a somewhat sheltered garden corner.

Thank you kbt09 for the initial assessment. Unfortunately, this is not clear from the drawings, but we are calculating with a floor height of 280cm, possibly a bit more in the raw dimension, since I would like a central ventilation system installed in the ceiling (I hate air outlets in the floor). We will discuss the stair planning next week with the staircase builder of our choice (I want to do as many trades as possible with craftsmen from the region). Hopefully, a lot will become clearer then.

The windows are indeed not final yet. On the west side, we are envisioning floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as on the south side (there even three double casement windows to be able to go into the garden at any time) and in the captain’s gable. The currently drawn windows are only intended to provide initial indications of how the exterior _could_ look. The exact dimensions will have to be discussed with an architect.

Basically, the current furniture fits in the rooms. However, we did this in the classic analog way (transferring the floor plan onto A3 paper and placing cut-out cardboard furniture pieces at the corresponding scale).

The garage should receive a maximum green roof. Currently, we are not assuming that a roof terrace would be used that frequently. Among other reasons because it is located on the east side. Also convenient is the direct access to the utility room, so heavy groceries can be quickly put away. The passage from the utility room to the kitchen is initially drawn as a sliding door. But I can also well imagine using a swing door there. This could also make the passage wider.

The note about the niches is good, we will take that into account. Basically, I also have to say regarding the dimensions that they are partly due to the tool and my amateur handling of it. The exact measurements will have to be finalized with the architect (as with the windows).

Regarding the attic, I am still unsure where the continuation of the staircase should go without "endangering" the bathroom door. Won’t they be a bit too close then?

Classically done analog (transferred floor plan onto A3 and placed the furniture cut out of cardboard in the appropriate scale).

You can photograph it... you want an assessment from us, which is not complete without the desired furniture.

Drawings available, but we are calculating with 280 cm floor height, possibly a bit more in raw dimensions,

280 cm floor height already results in a maximum clear room height of 254 cm without significant floor construction. If more is to be put into the ceiling, which might therefore become thicker, you should above all define the clear final height.
But, aside from that, your straight staircase you have planned is very steep. And the rest of the floor plan depends on the staircase.

Mecklenburg may not be expensive building land, but in terms of size, proportions, etc., you probably aren’t so much into that. Much is a bit bigger than necessary. The utility room is megalomaniac.
I assume you gradually enlarged the house during planning so that your sofas have space, ... then the office upstairs... it all got out of hand, right?

Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: 480,000€ (without

With your wishes, I don’t see that happening. Or do landscaping, additional building costs, and the garage come extra?

Space consumption in the hallway, work/guest room possibly a bit small? Uncertain

Yes, definitely.

You can do without: fireplace, photovoltaic system, home automation (the respective

All that is supposed to be included at that price?!

I want to avoid us "overstretching" un

A freezer room needs about 6 sqm, storage space downstairs preferably 4-6, upstairs a utility room with 6-8 sqm... all that INSIDE the house, outdoor another 10 by the garage... those would be good figures for a family of 4-5 people.
To make the house affordable, you can gladly adjust something somewhere.
My suggestion: reduce everything a bit, especially the hallway sizes (you’re really walking yourselves to death), office downstairs instead of the utility room, freezer room of sufficient size, then the utility room upstairs.
You can’t exactly halve the children’s rooms, but 15-16 sqm is already quite large. Ok, the floor area here isn’t the living area, but overall a lot can be done if you manage the hallway properly.
Many people building here have less living space than your hallway upstairs.
Garage: no idea if it is still secondary here, but the garage or the house certainly looks nicer if it is somewhat recessed and shorter than the house is wide.

With us, the stairs also go quite close to the bathroom door. Doesn't bother. But a comfortable staircase is worth its weight in gold. Larger items do go into the storage room (attic) after all. Please upload the floor plan with furniture. You could really reduce quite a bit and optimize walking paths.