Single-family house with gable roof - improvement suggestions?

At least you can't say that the planner wants to hide the inaccessibility of the dressing room

The crux of a design is always in the details. But if our survey technician already talks about a necessary basement, then you can throw the design in the trash.
Details no longer need to be discussed here.

First of all, thank you very much for the quick responses. I’ll try to answer everything.
First step on the points about the floor plan, second step on the topic of the slope.

Definitely draw in your existing or desired furniture.
The sofa is for the dollhouse, the table with extended chairs needs much more space.
Not even a freezer fits in the pantry.

OG yes that needs to be redone. Looks like too much space

1. Desired furniture: Okay, so far standard furniture from the planner is drawn in. Much is of course still unknown, as we are, as said, just at the beginning. I’ll take a look and compare it with what we have.
2. Pantry: Yes, we see it the same way. From our point of view, we would simply remove the wall between the utility room and the pantry and want to use the room for both. Is there anything against that?
3. OG: We are not happy with that either - a new solution is needed here.

- Budget too low.
- Dirt area of the entrance extends unnecessarily far into the house.
- Stair direction unfavorable because the space under the stairs cannot be used, for example, as a wardrobe.
- Guest WC uncomfortably narrow.
- "Pantry" not usefully usable.
- Wasteful space (non)use -> bay window, gallery, open space...
- Kitchen island poorly sized.
- Walk-in closet way too narrow.

These were just the points that stood out at first glance.

1. Budget: The general contractor says it will be enough (for the house!)
2. Entrance dirt area: Do you mean that the wardrobe is so far away from the door? Yes, that also doesn’t really fit us. I would like it directly to the left of the door where the guest WC starts now.
3. Stair direction: The other way is of course conceivable - I would have to look at it in 3D. From gut feeling, I would say I get a rather not narrow entrance if the stairs run in the current direction.
4/5. Guest WC/Pantry: We’re also not happy with that - a new solution is needed here. An idea would be e.g. as follows (including pantry and utility room together)

6. "Wasteful" space:
6.1 Open space by the stairs - We saw that in a show house and liked it very much. But it’s definitely a point that can be removed.
6.2 Bay window on the ground floor - Reason for that is our idea: "reading nook by the window." Something like this:

7. Kitchen island: Regarding the kitchen, we have nothing concrete planned yet - we should urgently do that.
8. Walk-in closet: Understood, a different solution is needed here.

I can’t really imagine the house on the site right now.

What didn’t bother me is the different size of the children’s rooms. They are almost identical in area. However, the following points caught my attention:

[*]Actually a big house, but an absolutely tiny staircase planned ... but open space, where I don’t understand what it’s supposed to bring
[*]Huge utility room on the upper floor in the south/east where supposedly the best view is ... why not a children’s room there?
[*]I would always make the master bedroom accessible through the walk-in closet
[*]Huge hallway on the upper floor
[*]Technology and pantry are roughly 11 sqm ... with almost 5 sqm of traffic area where nothing can be placed ... simply because of the passages
[*]Pantry with 115 cm depth ... no freezer or similar can be placed because the door won’t open
[*]Route from kitchen to terrace around the peninsula, dining table until you finally reach the goal
[*]Kitchen with large walking distances
[*]What is the bay window in the ground floor supposed to serve?
[*]Really only such small sofas?
[*]Window position on the west side of work/guest room ... no cupboard fits there
[*]From the street no one sees the house entrance door because it is behind a privacy wall
[*]Door from storage area at garage/carport is very inconvenient ... the car should be planned so that you have generous space on the driver's side since that’s where you definitely get out, then the door so that you can safely pass the car to store a bike or similar.

1. Staircase: The planner simply inserted it; there is no preference from us. I think a bigger staircase is definitely possible here - is it sensible? See open space above.
2. Utility room on the upper floor: We’re not happy with that either - a new solution is needed here.
3. Walk-in closet: As a passage to the bedroom quite conceivable, then the walk-in closet could certainly be bigger. We will pass that on.
4. Hallway OG: We’re not happy with that either - a new solution is needed here.
5/6. Utility room and pantry: See above, we would combine them if nothing speaks against it?
7/8. Way to the terrace and kitchen: You don’t have to walk around the table, I find that okay. But as said, nothing concrete is planned yet regarding the kitchen.
9. Bay window: See above.
10. Sofas: See above.
11. Window in workroom: Understood, we will pass that on.
12. Front door: That doesn’t matter, especially since due to the slope towards the street, you won’t see the front door anyway.
13. Storage room carport: Understood, we will pass that on.

Now on the topic of the slope. The plot is a bit more difficult, we are aware of that. But it doesn't look too extreme to us (as laymen).

Let me explain the background first: Our current plot consists of what used to be three small plots (see development plan): 1. 119/1 2. 119/2 3. 120

119/1 was a dead-end path from the street to the field path behind the plot. Neither the field path nor the dead-end path were/are used and therefore we were able to buy the dead-end path from the municipality. Our idea was to use the former dead-end path as a kind of driveway, since the other two plots lie significantly above the street and it would otherwise be difficult to get there.

119/2 and 120 were two building plots and have been merged. They are not really visible from the street, as they lie significantly above the street and cannot be seen because of the slope to the street. Behind the slope, they have a (for us as laymen) slight incline. According to the surveyor, 2.5m diagonally over about 30 meters width. The house is also supposed to be built up there (that is our wish).

A picture is worth a thousand words:

That sounds poor. The plan shows a 5m (!) height difference diagonally. In my opinion, modesty is inappropriate here. It wouldn't be a cellar either, but a basement. Even the short slope can already accommodate a whole story height. In addition, there is the cross slope. A lot of planning effort is needed here. How much do you intend to cut out? Where will filling be done? The terrain is "really extreme" and does not at all match the design. Did the general contractor know the terrain before he started designing? Hopefully he knows the full story definition in Hesse. If the dashed line is supposed to be the 2m line, I believe in the full story status of the upper floor. Views are missing for knowledge.

1. The "somewhat" refers to the upper – let's call it – plateau. Maybe "somewhat" is not really fitting, but it is not 5m. 2. By short slope you mean the one between 119/1 and 119/2? Just dumb question: Is the topic "basement" a recommendation for the plot? 3. The general contractor knows the result of the survey. Whether that was considered in his planning, I can't say. We will talk about it. 4. The general contractor is based in Hesse and I specifically asked about that again (because I did not want to believe it). But he confirmed again that 1 full story is feasible.

What bothers me from a drainage point of view is the slope declining towards plot 119. The latter seems to me to be an access path to a path that runs between your planting strip and the (fields) on the right side of the plan – is that a dyke, a bike path on an old railway embankment or something similar? What are you building with – mixed exterior walls monolithic aerated concrete, interior walls KS? I share Escroda’s assessment of the terrain and concerns about two stories.

1. Is the explanation above sufficient for you? That is a field path, or simply meadow / overgrown – because it is not used. 2. What we are building with is still completely open 3. Two stories see above

At least you can’t say that the planner wants to conceal the impracticality of the walk-in closet The crux of a design is always in the details. But if our surveyor already speaks of a necessary basement, then you can throw the design in the bin. Details do not need to be discussed here anymore.

1. Walk-in closet: Understood 2. Throw design in the bin, I don’t know. But yes, maybe it makes sense to discuss recommendations for the plot first.

But it doesn't look too extreme for us (as laypeople).

OK. Then asked differently: At what height should the top edge of the finished floor (top edge finished floor) be? Here is the draft on the property: If you want to use the existing driveway largely unchanged, the top edge of the finished floor would have to be at about 346.70. Existing terrain at the bay window 349.15, makes 2.45 or almost one floor below ground. The existing driveway has a barrier-free slope of just over 6%, but could easily be built up to 15%. Then the top edge of the finished floor could be one meter higher, i.e. at 347.70. Still a lot of earth to move to create a terrace in the south. So disconnect the garage from the residential building. Then

What do you especially like? Why? - Ground floor well hit, open entrance area, covered entrance as a solution with carport/garage, enough space,

obsolete.

The house is also supposed to be built up there (that is our wish)

Then top edge finished floor averaged at 348.50? Then the garden rises 1.30 m over the 10 m to the south border. Feasible, but not exactly little. To the garage you then need stairs, since at least 1.20 m, with unchanged driveway even 2.20 m have to be overcome. You see, there are many possibilities, but the draft does not work at all that way.

2. By short embankment do you mean the one between 119/1 and 119/2?

Yes, also, but especially the embankment to the street.

Is the topic "basement" a recommendation for the property?

Yes.

4. The general contractor is in Hesse and I asked again specifically (because I didn’t want to believe it). But he confirmed to me again that it works with 1 full floor.

Good if he has that on his radar. I would find the calculation interesting. Maybe the air space saves the calculation approach, so don’t lose sight of it when considering replanning.

But it doesn't look that extreme to us (as laymen).

that is often the problem. But your drawing does specify the heights.

OK. Then asked differently: At what height should the upper edge of the finished floor (top edge of finished floor) be? Here is the draft on the property: [ATTACH alt="Lageplan.png"]41218[/ATTACH] If you want to use the existing driveway mostly unchanged, the top edge of the finished floor would need to be at about 346.70. Existing terrain at the bay window 349.15, that makes 2.45 or almost one story below ground. The existing driveway is barrier-free with a slope of just over 6%, but could easily be filled up to 15%. Then the top edge of the finished floor could be one meter higher, so at 347.70. Still a lot of earth to move to create a terrace in the south.

Okay, understood! That was our first thought. So raise the driveway as much as possible and then cut down in the terrace area or create the garden on two levels. But yes, that is probably indeed a lot. Detaching the garage from the house would be a compromise we would definitely accept. That would be an approach we could pursue. Garage then on the lower level like the current driveway and the house upstairs, reachable by stairs. We will take a closer look at that.

Yes. [ATTACH alt="Lageplan2.png"]41219[/ATTACH]

Could you explain the idea to me a little more? Where would the top edge of the finished floor be then? Garage and basement then on one level? The house then sits very far west. We would like to have the terrace/garden mostly in the south/west (because of evening sun...). But it should also be easy to shift towards the back!? Something else occurred to me now (regarding the basement). Would that be an idea/feasible? - Garage and house stand as far northeast as possible - Top edge of finished floor of garage at the level of the current driveway (approx. 346.50) - Basement with entrance area on the same level - Entrance would then be in the basement on the right in front of the garage - Ground floor would then have a top edge of finished floor around 349.30 and thus approximately at the height of the existing terrain at the bay window. Of course, quite a bit of earth would need to be moved for the basement (and it would have to count as a cellar...). For that the house could become smaller and not so much filling would be necessary. Then a basement would have to be added (we can imagine that with entrance area, utility room (previously on ground floor and upper floor), study (previously on ground floor), possibly guest bathroom. Many thanks by the way for your / your detailed answers – and even over the holidays – that helps a lot and I am glad I posted our project here as well.

that is often the problem. But your drawing specifies the heights.

Yes, we notice that now as well. However, we only had the drawing or survey made after purchase.