AFFORDABLE HOUSING - Open Plan Layout.

Created: 2021-11-03 20:25:14

FOCUS ON OPEN PLAN LAYOUT DESIGN CONCEPTS.

CONTENTS

1.0     INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

2.0    BACKGROUND

3.0     OPEN LAYOUT CONCEPTS, CASE STUDIES AND APPLICATION

4.0    LESSONS LEARNT

 

1.0  INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

INTRODUCTION

It’s estimated that at least 150 million people are homeless. This is about 2% of the world’s population. However, 1.6 billion people (more than 20% of the global population) lack adequate housing. In the year 2012, about 2 million Kenyans were homeless and this number increases by about 200,000 per year.

Out of the 2 million however, 50% comprise of children. In addition, about 68% of Kenyans do not own land. In Kenya, only 2% of the formally constructed houses target low-income families. It is important to note that there are over 250 organizations in Kenya looking into ending the menace of homelessness especially in slum areas.

Kenya needs 200,000 housing units annually for all income levels with the current provision of housing units being less than 50,000 units annually leading to a housing deficit of over 2million units. Narrowing the affordability gap is important since a majority of the population lie in the low income group. Begres Investments has identified a niche in affordable housing with the following objectives:

• To study and understand various affordable housing strategies that have been adopted globally and locally.
• To analyze various strategies to see what worked and what failed and the reasons behind the results.
• To better the company’s understanding of steps to take to deliver under this segment in design and build.
• To expand the company’s research capacity.

 

2.0  BACKGROUND TO OPEN PLAN LAYOUTS

OPEN PLAN LAYOUT is a term used in architecture and interior design disciplines to refer to creation of utility and functionality using large open spaces that combine similar or different but related functions that minimize need for smaller enclosed spaces. This approach minimizes need for further partitioning of spaces or provision of HVAC, electrical and equipment per room.

HISTORY OF OPEN PLAN LAYOUTS:

You cannot mention open plan layouts and miss the name Frank Lloyd Wright (F.L.W), an American architect (1867-1959) and the father of Organic Architecture, Open plan layouts and other Prairie Architecture Styles.

In the 1880s, small public rooms with specific functions in homes began being replaced with larger spaces that fulfilled multiple uses. However, kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms remained enclosed private spaces. Advancement in central heating allowed larger spaces to be kept at comfortable temperatures.

Frank Lloyd Wright advocated for open plan designs in houses by expanding ideas of Charles and Henry Greene (Open courtyards and overhanging roof eaves) and Shingle Style Architecture (Use of massing and hip roofs). His styles were based on a centralized kitchen/fire place open to other public spaces of the home in which the housewife could be the ‘more hostess officio’ than a mechanical figure in the background.

In this case, the housewife operated in gracious relation to her home. Open kitchens and dining-living room became more popular in the US in the 1970s. Such layouts seemed to work well in homes with smaller areas. 

Fast forward, open plan layouts have been adopted in design of many smaller homes and apartments with such homes gaining higher sale values in the Real Estate market. However in the late 2010s, disapproval of open plan layouts became more common with complaints on privacy, dirty kitchens, smells and heating and cooling with the argument that smaller enclosed rooms are easier to heat and cool as opposed to larger and more open rooms.

On the issue of kitchens, more household are adopting 2-kitchen designs with ne being in the back/hidden to deal with all kitchen mess of cooking and dirty utensils while the other open/front kitchen remains ornamental.

 

3.0  OPEN PLAN LAYOUT CONCEPTS, CASE STUDIES AND APPLICATION

        i)  THE ROBIE HOUSE (1910) IN HYDE PARK, CHICAGO BY F.L.W

The Robie house is a prairie style house that explored the idea of large open spaces. One could organize furniture in these huge spaces to serve multiple functions as will be shown below. The chimney had for fire places and was the focal point of the house. Exploring large open layouts enabled F.L.W to use horizontal ribbon windows to maximize natural light entering these spaces. Common spaces flowed into each other creating a balance between openness and privacy.

        ii)  APPLICATION BY URBANISTS AND IN MODERN DAY HOMES

Many modern-day/contemporary designs for homes and residential apartments that adopt open plan layouts are sometimes viewed as minimalist and cost-cutting in construction.

Eliminating partitions between public spaces to create larger open rooms can save on cost of partitioning elements (walls and accompanying wall finishes, skirting, ceiling cornices) allowing common natural and artificial lighting, common window openings and reduction in number of door openings.

In some instances, elements such as ceilings, floor levels or materials, lighting patterns, different volumes of space, planters and furniture arrangement can be used to create a visual partition between spaces. In the case of large-scale residential projects, open plan layouts have huge cumulative cost savings as opposed to traditional enclosed spaces.

In addition, open plan layout homes are said to have better aesthetic appeal and sell better with an appreciation rate of 7.4% per annum. Open layouts don’t necessarily have to be among living rooms, dining and kitchen, other functions can be combined like the case with office work spaces. Open plan layouts have also been used in affordable housing schemes globally, for instance, in Villa Verde incremental housing project in Chile by ELEMENTAL’s Architect Alejandro Aravena.

 

4.0  LESSONS LEARNT

• Open plan layout concept is majorly a style of design and therefore could be replaced with other styles. In addition, architectural styles are more preferential than mandatory and should address client needs.
• Open plan layouts can be used to achieve minimalism in design.
• Open plan layouts can be enhanced with other elements such as ceilings, lighting, floor levels and interior furniture.
• The success of open layouts lies in creating unity by working around a focal point which could be an element or function.
• Open plan layouts can work well with affordable social housing by minimizing construction costs right from the design stage.

 

Prepared By: Evans Mawira K,

                       Chief Operations Officer & Lead Architect,

                       Begres Investments LLC.