Planning a Residential House: Space Requirements

Planning a residential structure as simple as a house is one of the most basic problems an architecture student may encounter. Designing a house for a family at most may sound simple, but this is where our skills and knowledge about the field we chose to take are put to the test.

This, most of the time, is what instructors give to baptize students as their first major plate or esquisse. So if you don't want to be humiliated on your first defense, or get your hard worked plate full of red markers and embarrassing comments, then, read on.

First of all, we must know that to be able to build something efficiently, we must have an idea what it is, how to use it, and what its purpose is. Because planning something you don't know is like drawing something you have never seen before. And this part is what really makes design problems a pain; the "research" part. But with this type of structure, we don't really need so much research anyone reading this, AT LEAST, has an idea what a house is, what it's like to live in it and what it is for. So from this, we move on.

Space Requirements

Knowing what we are building also means knowing its parts. In design problems like this, it is popularly referred to as "space requirements". There are a lot of spaces that we can associate with a house. But this really depends on many factors and circumstances like the lot size, users, budget, wants and needs of the client, and many others. In this article, we will only include the parts that are of high importance, or the most essential spaces of the house. And these are the living area, dining area, kitchen, toilet & bath, and the bedrooms.

The Living area is where the family stays most of the time, this is where they chat, exchange stories, have fun and bond together.

The Dining area is where food is served and meals are taken - most probably the 3 primary meals of the day.

The Kitchen is where food is stored; utensils and other kitchen and dining wares are kept. This is where meals are prepared and after-meal chores are done.

It is hard to live in a house without a clean and tidy bathroom, or to be more technical and specific, Toilet & Bath. Enough said.

The Bedroom is a personal space of the person who uses it. And here is where people sleep, obviously. Keyword: personal.

As stated earlier, there are many spaces that we can consider in planning a residential house. It is up to us if we would like to add more in our layout. Other spaces we can include are the Foyer, Lanai, Gallery, Porch, Laundry, Veranda, Game, Theater, and many others. And of course if the given circumstances allow, be open with what we can always add to the plan. Being creative and thinking out of the box is always a plus. Just make sure to always have a REASON for every move you make in your plan. Doing something for nothing just always sounds dumb (or it really is).


Courtesy: ArchiDumdum.com