Uncertainties regarding size, planning itself is so far completed

Pictures of your house definitely belong in the picture thread soon! I’m not curious at all.

On the topic: I think BeHaElJa’s solution is better than the original plan. But you could also use a seating group as a room divider. There are very nice seating groups with straight, cozy benches.

I don’t know if I really would have liked two stories that much better

My old terraced house was two stories. We could have had a plot in the new development area for two-story construction (Bauhaus style) here as well – but I didn’t want that anymore: In the bedrooms, I missed the coziness caused by the lack of sloping ceilings. Now we have a knee wall of 125cm... 150/160 would be perfect.

The strange dormer is probably more expensive than simply building all around at full story height, and double casement windows usually look pretty odd with today's roof insulation thicknesses.

Not everyone likes the ever-popular "urban villas" – I would also prefer a house with a high knee wall but still with sloping roofs. Something like that can also be called cozy, but then you have to turn on your emotions.

And why do double casement windows look odd with today's insulation thicknesses? Please explain that – my two windows actually look quite serious.

By the way, funny how you want to explain the construction world to someone like Bauexperte – the upper hand?

Upper hand; yes, of course.

The double-wing windows often look like loopholes, since they are usually so small and the roof thickness nowadays is often so substantial. Just Google Roto panoramic roof windows, that's the opposite. Looks great, I think it costs five digits.

There is nothing cozy about it, I once had a youth room under the roof with sloping ceilings here and there. I’m glad to now have a ceiling height of 2.85m. Recently there was another architecture competition here and among other things the argument was made that 2.52m ceiling height is no longer contemporary. What today is expanded in old buildings as a basement or attic was formerly "only" inhabited by the "Gesinde." No, the word is not meant derogatorily, it literally means that, see Wikipedia. No one voluntarily lived under the roof back then unless they had to.

Such a dormer with a window never provides as much light as a large room with full height and the same window. And that is bad for children’s rooms.

I am really not the only one saying that if you can, please build without slopes. I have heard this several times before from house companies, etc. in conversations as well as among friends and family. Most who have ever lived with sloping ceilings don’t want it again. It’s possible, but well... it’s just possible.

Disclaimer: If everyone thought the same, we would all just build the same kind of houses. That’s just not the case. I just have some experience with sloping ceilings and now with, as I said, 2.85m – also in the bedroom – I am very satisfied. And by the way, I once had the room open up to the ridge; I think it was about 4 meters. 2.85m consistently is still nicer.

We have 2 rooms with skylights on the upper floor in the house - they are actually very bright in relation to the window area. You just can't look into the distance, but otherwise I don't really see the problem.

A buddy has an old building attic apartment (15th century) that is absolutely amazing. Very cozy, quirky; it really doesn't feel like servant quarters anymore. Another acquaintance lives in a shared flat with a 4! m continuous ceiling height.. grand from my point of view, but almost creepy.

Shooting slits? I can't say that, but they do have 114x140cm double casement windows that feel quite airy.

We have a ceiling height of 2.50m upstairs – that is absolutely sufficient for bedrooms. In your competition, the living area on the ground floor was probably meant – upstairs higher than 2.50m is rather unusual but certainly not bad. However, heating demand also increases with that, but you've probably already calculated that.

As I said, building a "town villa" as such. Taste is variable after all.