Single-family townhouse villa in South Hesse

Price estimate according to architect/planner: approx. €505,000 (without photovoltaic system)

Not generously estimated, but also not completely tight - for the bare house without additional costs, earthworks etc. Since your requirements with venetian blinds, bay window, brine heat pump, tiles are quite high, I would definitely plan a 10% buffer.

The price is current, from or including the base slab.

That can already make a considerable difference between from and including ;-)

Not generously estimated, but also not completely tight – for the bare house only without additional costs, earthworks, etc. Since your requirements with venetian blinds, bay window, brine heat pump, tiles are quite high, I would definitely plan a 10% buffer.

That can already make a considerable difference between net and gross ;-)

It should say including foundation slab.

This draft was not specifically designed for us but comes from another client house.

Yes, the mistakes turn out to be classic: No nice alignment at all according to the sun’s path, airspace instead of storage space, because an airspace looks better in the show house than a storage room. Not considering that the hip roof doesn’t offer any storage space. Airspace carries all conversations twice as loud upwards, including e.g. intoxication noise. Then the staircase base where you actually want to go down and relax – instead, at 11:00 p.m. (on weekends) you politely say “good evening” to your teen’s friends. Upstairs then the bedroom as a walkthrough room, so you definitely don’t get any rest there. In the bathroom toilet and washbasin without daylight use…

If we decide on the bay window, we would probably move it to the other side or to the middle.

And why place the bay window where the space is not needed? Without the bay window the dining area becomes way too narrow.

Hello Hugo,

for the first rough floor plan, I don't find the draft so wrong; there is certainly room for optimization here and there. Much of it is a matter of taste...
The direction of the stairs can also have a positive effect; we once had a similar living situation. The stair steps were often used as additional seating during parties in the living room. It feels open and friendly. However, with a lot of traffic going up and down and a greater need for quiet, it can quickly become annoying (especially when the children get older...)
I find the bathroom upstairs very successful; I would consider swapping the bathtub and the washbasins so that you have daylight at the sinks as well. Otherwise, it is reasonably well laid out for the size.
The bedroom seems somewhat oversized - but that's a matter of opinion.
I also find the arrangement of kitchen/dining room and somewhat separate living room successful; again, it's a matter of taste - some people love the open-plan all-in-one space, others dislike it. The same applies to the void space - with the size of your house, you can certainly do it, but you don’t have to. Disadvantages as mentioned by previous speakers.

What really is missing is some storage space and lots of room for wardrobes/shoes, etc. You have allocated too little space here; you should change that. The little bit under the stairs is, in my opinion, too tight. Think about how many jackets, handbags, sports bags, scarves, gloves, helmets, shoes, etc., accumulate with you - they all have to go somewhere.
With the hipped roof, be sure to choose the truss construction/roof pitch so that you still get 15-20 sqm of free floor space with standing height. It costs a bit extra, but it is worth its weight in gold. Accordingly, also choose a somewhat wider folding staircase - we thank our architect every day that we have this important storage space available. (We also have no basement, and space in the utility room is tight due to all the technology).

Don’t let the comments here intimidate you - a new floor plan proposal has never been received without a lot of (helpful) criticism.

we are currently planning the construction of an urban villa and have so far been in contact with two timber panel companies ( and Weberhaus) as well as a solid construction builder (Massivhaus Mittelrhein). We still have a meeting with Weberhaus this weekend, but so far we are leaning towards Massivhaus Mittelrhein.

An urban villa, approx. 11*10 meters, nothing spectacular. We quite liked the Domus V6 in terms of the floor plan, but unfortunately you can’t find anything about it online?

I’m not sure now from when it counts as a custom design.

First of all, I welcome your openness regarding the construction method. Unfortunately, you can actually only find a gallery of pictures about the individual models or series at Massivhaus Mittelrhein, nothing meaningful. So how did you come to learn enough about the Domus V6 to even tend towards this provider?
I would consider a custom design beginning where a catalog design (or its mirror) is departed from significantly more than just shifting non-load-bearing walls or not just "extending" the whole house.

This design was not specially made for us but comes from another customer’s house.

A "customer’s house" usually means an "individual design (for other people)," practically a design with the "series experience" of a one-off piece. In practice, this is almost worthless. Then it is relatively recommendable, "exceptionally," to just go for a custom design straightaway:

We would like to swap the office and the technical room on the ground floor and possibly slightly change the square meter size of these rooms. If we decide on the bay window, we would probably move it to the other side or to the middle. If the budget permits, we could also imagine foregoing the bay window and building 11x11 instead.

I have highlighted the indicator for departing from the standard design basis in bold in this example.
I do not address the design accordingly at all, as an independent design seems more sensible to me. However, I “sign” two comments, namely the suggestion to forgo the void and the consideration of the plot orientation (you could have drawn it in).

Development plan: "Kaisergärten" in Babenhausen
The marked 1 is our plot.

Too bad you want to win the special prize in the category stingy plan excerpt :-(
Explain the procedure that led to the selection of largely suitable base designs and the preference for one of the providers you got to know. How did it come to a comparison field of three non-regional providers?

First of all, thank you for the numerous posts.

We have already mentally rotated the staircase, and we have already thought about the issue of encountering teenagers on Saturday evenings. The argument in favor so far has been that you know who is coming.

The orientation is due to the property and building envelope; the street is to the south. Regarding the airspace, the wife will probably have her way; we will take another look at the issue of sound and noise in a show house.

Dear 11ant, of course I did not want to win the special prize for the stingy plan excerpt. Is this one better?

We have also had contact with a local general contractor. However, their offer was only 9.8x9.8 meters, Spartan equipment, 24 cm bricks + ETICS for about €480,000. In addition, the consultation was really poor. They neither responded to our wishes nor really took time for us. There were a few pages of plans and a picture of a white box. Also worth mentioning are the unrealistically low ancillary costs quoted (about €30,000).

How did we come to Streif Haus?

- My wife found the salesperson likeable
- Clear, honest communication, no sugarcoating

How did we come to Weberhaus?

- I liked the wall construction.
- Seems to generally deliver good to very good work.
- I found the plans appealing.

How did we come to Massivhaus Mittelrhein?

In summer, we quite by chance visited their show house in Mühlheim-Kährlich, which was not yet open at that time. We were just nearby and were kindly asked by the managing director if we wanted to take a look. After the visit, we received a catalog with their models.

The following points have pleased me so far:
- No ETICS
- Energy efficiency plays a major role
- Underfloor heating
- No skimping on sockets and internet connections
- Clear, honest communication, no sugarcoating
- Several projects have already been realized in the Darmstadt area.
- Our contact person is an employee and not a sales representative.
- You don't find much negative about the company.