Steps between kitchen/dining room and living room

Understandable what the architect means.

In my opinion, the window in the hallway is dispensable if you use glass elements in the front door. I cannot assess the loss of windows in the storage room.

On the end wall, there is still easily 60 cm and even 80 cm of space, as you can see quite well in the section.

Is 60 cm enough? You are 1.15 meters higher in the living room than in the kitchen. Your current windows are 2.40 meters; if you increase them to 3 meters, it will be 1.85 meters in the living room. That could be enough. With an increase to 3.20 meters, it will easily be sufficient.

That was actually my wish, but the architect said that the extension would then look disproportionate and not nice visually. Since the extension goes around the house, two windows on the side would have to be reduced in size, but that would be okay for me (one will probably be removed anyway). However, I think that an increase of 0.40-0.60m would also not be enough to see into the garden. Then you would almost have to go to the same ceiling height, right?

Then you probably have to decide between the advantage inside or outside. For me, living, so inside, would always have absolute priority and yes, I would probably want to go to the same height. If it ultimately is not exactly the same or a small piece remains, I could probably live with that and maybe intentionally design that piece. Maybe you can take a look at it in a 3D animation, that helped us with such detailed decisions. I also believe that the exterior view/facade can always be redesigned so that it still looks proper. The architect’s house will probably be judged from the outside by strangers, but you live inside, so I would carefully consider what I like better.

understandable what the architect means.

In my opinion, the window in the hallway is dispensable if you use glass elements in the front door. I cannot assess the omission of the windows in the storage room.

On the front side there is still at least 60 cm and even 80 cm of space, you can see that quite well in the cross-section.

Is 60 cm enough? You are 1.15 m higher in the living room than in the kitchen. Your windows are currently at 2.40 m, if you raise them to 3 m, they are at 1.85 m in the living room. That could be enough. With an increase to 3.20 m it would definitely be enough.

Thanks for the hints, that’s really a good point. When I look at the cross-section, I also find the roof structure pretty high. I think this is due to the green roof, but isn’t that a bit much?

We had currently planned to put the couch in the back corner on the west side. From there, you probably can see the kitchen or garden rather poorly anyway. We might soon have to think about exactly how we want to furnish this living room.

Would you try to take away even more of the load-bearing wall to the dining room, possibly even so that it is flush with the wall of the extension?

Would you try to remove even more of the load-bearing wall to the dining room, possibly even so that it is flush with the wall of the extension?

I don't know if I mean the same wall but in any case I would want it to be as open as possible. In that respect, I would want to remove the wall between dining/living completely or only have a half-height balustrade. You hadn't said anything about that yet. I also believe that from the living room sofa you don't often look through the dining room into the open, or rather it would be more important to me to be able to look outside while walking around. Therefore, I would want the extension ceiling to be higher. Have you ever looked at it with 3D or walked through the rooms? You absolutely MUST draw the furniture in correctly and now!

I don't know if I mean the same wall but in any case I would want it to be as open as possible. Therefore, I would want to completely remove the wall between dining/living or only have a half-height parapet. You hadn't said anything about that yet. I also think that from the living room sofa you don't often look through the dining room to the outside or rather it would be more important to me that I can look outside while walking around. Therefore, I would want the attached ceiling to be higher. Had you looked at it with 3D or walked through the rooms? You absolutely MUST draw in the furniture correctly and now!

I think we mean the same wall and it would really be better if it completely goes away. The two drawn columns will also be replaced by a beam. Maybe the steps could be made wider, maybe even a seating step. Not sure now if that would look nice...

We would really like to look at it in 3D, but have only experimented a bit ourselves in Blender. Do you have recommendations for providers?

We would really love to view it in 3D, but we have only experimented a bit ourselves in Blender. Do you have recommendations for providers?

Unfortunately not. For us, it was the son's girlfriend, who studied architecture and showed us the general contractor's files in 3D. Especially for such details, we found that extremely helpful; in one case, a poorly positioned support even saved us from a mistake. I think there are people here who know about this, maybe you should start a dedicated thread on it. These supports can be nicely designed, depending on taste from steel or wood, or transition into an open shelf, or simply something about one-third high in between...