Single-family house with gable roof approx. 137 sqm, 1 full floor

Hello dear forum community,

we are already quite far along in planning our single-family house with a gable roof and have already settled on a construction company. Unfortunately, we are not yet 100% satisfied with the floor plan in its current form. Therefore, we are now turning to you.

Development plan/restrictions
Plot size 1,010 sqm
Slope slightly sloping, approx. 1.8m from the location of the house to the end of the property
Floor area ratio No development plan, plot has 20m frontage
Building window, building line and boundary
Edge development 3m
Number of parking spaces 2 cars in double carport, 1-2 in front of the house (parking on the street unfavorable)
Number of floors 1.5
Roof shape
Style
Orientation North garden
Maximum heights/limitations
Other specifications Neighbor is the plot seller and has made various specifications. Including height of the house (not higher than his), carport must stand on the boundary to the other neighbor

Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type Single-family house, gable roof, not too modern
Basement, floors no, 1.5
Number of persons, age currently 2, both 30, planned are 2 children
Space requirements on ground floor: living/dining/kitchen, utility room, office, guest WC with shower, cellar substitute room behind carport
Space requirements on upper floor: 2 children’s rooms, sleeping, bathroom, possibly storage room
Office: family use or home office? home office
Number of overnight guests per year negligible
Open or closed architecture open
Conservative or modern construction rather conservative
Open kitchen, kitchen island open yes, possibly kitchen island, currently a G-shape is planned
Number of dining seats 6
Fireplace we are still undecided, rather yes
Music/stereo wall no
Balcony, roof terrace no
Garage, carport double carport
Utility garden, greenhouse not planned
Further wishes/special features/daily routine, also reasons why this or that should or should not be

House design
Who made the plan: partner architect of the construction company
What do you particularly like? Why? open living-dining area with lots of glass and view of the large garden, dormer at the front "cleans" the house enormously and is supposed to flood it with light, current room program
What do you not like? Why? straight staircase and resulting long corridor both on the ground floor and upper floor. Unfortunately, the architect insists that with the house width, another staircase shape would hardly be possible without removing the office.
Price estimate according to architect/planner: €360,000 including ancillary construction costs, technology etc., excluding kitchen
Personal price limit for the house, including equipment: €380,000
Preferred heating technology: brine heat pump

If you have to do without, on which details/extensions
-can you do without: fireplace, straight staircase
-can you not do without: office, cellar substitute

Why has the design turned out the way it is now? The architect tried to meet our desired room program and the neighbor’s specifications
Which wishes were implemented by the architect? door from carport to utility room, office, shower in guest WC, open living-dining area with lots of glass
What makes it particularly good or bad in your opinion? Straight single-flight staircase takes up a lot of space in my opinion, specification of the plot seller (neighbor to the east makes lighting in the house difficult --> dormer with open corridor in living-dining area to bring light into the house

I now hope for a few improvement suggestions from you on how we can get even more out of the current floor plan with the same room program. I guess the easiest way would be another staircase shape.

Please excuse me if I have not filled out all the questions for the floor plan discussion correctly.

Best regards,
Revendare

Neighbor is the land seller and has made various specifications. Among other things, the height of the house (not higher than his), carport must be on the boundary with the other neighbor

Wow - that's really interesting - and bad for you, since besides the south (street) you also lose the west as a garden.
How did he get that confirmed from you? I can hardly imagine a notary including such conditions in the contract.

It would also be interesting to see exactly what it says. The house may not be higher, but if you place it further to the north of the property, it stands higher on the slope and is therefore definitely higher than his.

He would like to include that in the notarial contract. However, none of his requirements were included in the first draft of the purchase contract (the purchase has not yet taken place due to Corona). Of course, we could simply put the double carport on his side, but you don’t want to start the neighborhood off with a dispute.

Are there regulations on how far the carport must be from the street?

I would push the carport as close to the street as possible and place the storage room separately as a garden shed to the north. Hoping to get at least some western sun into the living area.

The carport as a boundary building on the west border if it has to be.

The staircase would bother me as well. I would arrange the rooms on the ground floor differently. You have a completely north-facing orientation.

How deep is the building envelope? Would a south-facing garden be conceivable?

The carport could basically be placed directly on the street. According to the architect, there is only a minimum distance of 3 (?) meters for garages. The problem then is the slope: the property rises about 1.20m from street level. Edit: We could actually still move the cellar replacement room into the garden. However, since the carport is supposed to remain at the house, I don’t know if that brings us much added value. Since our property is 47m long, we still have plenty of sunny space in the garden – so it bothers us less that we don’t have the sun directly at the house. According to the architect, enough light apparently falls into the living space through the extension and the generous glazing of the living-dining area.