CONSIDERATIONS FOR ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN OF A HOUSE
The arrangement of various rooms in a building plan for easy and comfortable living of the occupants is called architectural design of the building. Every effort is made to utilize full natural resources such as wind, sun, etc. Maximum facilities are to be provided within the funds and the space available. However, it is almost impossible to provide all the comforts and facilities within restricted resources. Following points are to be kept in mind while designing a house architecturally.
Plot size is measured in Sft., Sq. Yds., Marlas or Kanals with the following
conversion.
1 Sq. Yd. = 9 Sft.
1 Maria = 225 Sft. = 25 Sq.Yds.
1 Kanal = 20 Marlas = 4500 Sft. = 500 Sq.Yds.
Rectangular plot is preferable with the ratio of longer to shorter side roughly equal to
1.85.
– Standard size of 10 maria plot = 35’x 65′
– Standard size of 1 kanal plot = 50’x 90′
Plot is to be divided into a central constructed block and open spaces left at least
on three sides. Bye-laws of the controlling authorities for the urban construction must be observed in all respects. For example, for a 10 marla house, the most
common restriction on the covered area is that it should not be greater than 6OY. of the total plot area and 10 ft. wide open spaces should be left on the front and the
backside while a minimum of 5-ft open passage is to be provided on at least one
side. Within a certain constructed area, covered area may be increased by increasing the number of storeys. A two storeyed building is about 207. economical than single
storeyed building. Most important factor to decide about the covered area is the
finance. The covered area. may roughly be found out from the following relation
knowing the average cost of construction per unit area.
Walls cover about 1/7th of the covered area of an ordinary house and the effective
area available for living is (A – A/7) or 0.85A. As far as possible, the constructed block
should be kept square instead of rectangle. Area of the walls in case of square space is
about 15 to 20Y. lesser than in case of a rectangular space.
6.6.3 Modern design of a house should include the following components
a ) Bedroom with Attached Bath: This room should be located on open side or back
periphery of the constructed block to maintain good natural ventilation and light.
Bedroom should be made as independent and private as possible but it should have
easy access to all the common places in the house. Further it should be prevented
from direct sun and rain. Minimum size of a bedroom for a small house is at least 100 SFt,
for example, 6-6′ x 12′-O”. Reasonable size is 180 SFt like a bedroom of size 12 x 15. The
bathroom to be provided should have a minimum size of 30 SFt and at least one side of
it must be towards the open side for better ventilation. Sometimes a small portion
called dressing is also provided close to the bath. Passage of the bathroom, in this
case, is through the dressing. Area of the dressing room may be kept smaller even
about 25 SFt. One or two cupboards or wardrobes must be provided in each
bedroom or in the attached dressing. Minimum depth of the cupboard should be 1-
9″.
b ) Drawing Room: Preferable size is about 215 Sft with a minimum of 110 SFt. It
should be made well ventilated and lighted and should have a direct approach from the
main entrance of the building. A powder room having a minimum size of 12 SFt
is to be attached with the drawing directly or through the living room. The powder
room is to be fitted with a W.C., a wash hand basin and hangers.
c ) Living Room: It is sometimes referred to as Common Room or TV Lounge. Living room
should be the central place of a house and direct access to all other
components should be available from here. This place should be the most comfortable
and graceful part of the house so that the occupants are attracted to it and a common
sitting is automatically arranged at suitable times. This room should give an impression
of being open. If greenery is visible from inside the living room, the architectural
appearance is improved and for that large glazed windows on suitable sides may be
recommended. This room is generally the biggest place in the house having an area
ranging from 215 to 325 SFt.
d ) Dining Room: This room having a minimum size of about 150 SFt should be
located adjacent to the drawing and the living room. Kitchen should also be
connected to the dining room for easy working. Sometimes a pantry (having about 50
SFt area) in- between the kitchen and the living is provided to store the kitchen articles
and the cooked food temporarily. This room should have cupboards and shelves. In
modern houses, drawing, dining and living rooms may be combined in any required
pattern. In that case, area requirements are slightly reduced.
e ) Kitchen: Reasonable size for the kitchen is about 80 SFt but it depends upon the plot
size, number of members of the family and the way in which the kitchen is used.
Ventilation should be very good and space may also be provided for exhaust fan.
f ) Store or Box Room: It is a small (about 50 SFt) but safe room present in the
interior of the building to store valuable articles.
g ) Stair Case: Position of the stairs is also very important which may be provided in a
separate stair hail or directly in the living. If stair hail is to be provided, it should
preferably have one opening to the outside and one to the living room so that the
upper storey remains somewhat separate yet easily approachable from the ground
floor. Natural light should always be available for the stairs.
h ) Verandah: It may be 6-0″ to 10′-O” wide and should be located on either the
front or the back of the building.
i ) Servant Room: For one kanal or bigger house, a servant room may be provided
having a size about 100 SFt. If it is on the ground flour, it should be independent and on
the back side of the house but if it is on the top floor, preferably it should have a
separate approach usually by steel stairs. A bathroom should also be provided with it.
j) Car Porch or Portico: Car porch is constructed in front of the building to park the car. It is generally a roof provided over pillars, boundary wall or already constructed walls open from two or three sides.
k) Corridor: It is covered passage inside a building to provide approach to a room
without disturbing the working of the other rooms. Corridors should be avoided as far
as possible.
l) Lobby: It is a small place or hail at the main entrance which is connected to the living
room and t[; drawing room.
Doors and windows should be minimum as they increase the cost and utilize the
available space yet they should provide adequate means of ventilation and light. Area
covered by the windows should not be lesser than 15 to 207. of the floor area of the room.
Windows and doors on opposite faces provide better cross ventilation. The main doors to the constructed block should be 4′-0″ x 7-0″ in size so that the heavy
articles may be moved into the house without any obstruction. -Doors for the bedrooms may be 3′-b’ x 7-0″ in size while the door of a bath may be as smaller as 2- 6″ x 6-6″ in size. Size of the main gate fixed in the boundary wall depends upon the factors like easy parking of the car. It may be about 8 ft wide.
Arrangement of different components should be such that minimum space is wasted in passages and corridors. Bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms should be rectangular for better utilization of the space. The length over breadth ratio should be about 1.25 up to an area of 200 SFt and 1.5 after that. Bathrooms and kitchen should have at least one side open for proper ventilation and for the reason of easy supply of services like water, sewerage, and gas.
Ceiling height is selected keeping in view the points already mentioned in para.
Proper attention should be given to the orientation of the plot with respect to the
North. The sun rises from the East and goes towards the West but its passage is dipped
towards the South. The side of the building towards the South or the South- East is generally very hot in summer and also light becomes excessive on this side. Verandah, bathrooms, and stores may be provided here while drawing room, dining room, living room and bedrooms are usually saved. Further towards the South and the
South-West, as the light is usually excessive, windows are generally made narrow with proper sunshades.
For maintaining good ventilation inside the building, longer sides of the building should be exposed to the wind direction. Wind normally blows from the South-West direction. Hence if face of the building is towards the South-West or the North-East direction, it is
advantageous.
In architectural design, much more attention is given to the elevation. Elevation is the appearance of the building from the front or from the outside which has a great impact on the shape of the building. It is usually decorated with glazed windows, arches, planed projections of walls and by special finishes on the wall
surfaces. Sometimes grills of reasonable design also add to the beauty of the building. For some cases, even up to 307. of the total cost is spent on the elevation.
Ground floor plan and first floor plan should be so adjusted such that most of the walls of first floor comes directly above the walls beneath because providing beams increases the cost. However, in certain cases, we have to provide some walls which have no support of walls below.
