What is meant by room relationships and sizes?

Residential architecture consists of mostly enthusiastic experts than any other field. The room relationships mainly depict the orientation of various rooms placed for the incoming of maximum natural resources and every room serving their purpose efficiently. For a high-quality lifestyle, the relationships between many parts of the house play a vital role. For instance, to maintain good health and hygiene, the kitchen must be away from toiletries and thus these types of room relationships are unsuitable. Also, the room relationships with dine room and kitchen must be strong for quick accessibility of food items. More exposure to the house plans causes people to feel that they can make a blueprint of their own. Media advertisements and the availability of home improvement stores have spread awareness and educated customers with an advanced sensitivity towards design and arrangement.

Floor plan considerations

The floor plan contains all the main parts of a house such as bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen appliances, and so on. Sometimes, a certain area is left for extension of the residence in the future. Guest rooms, special rooms allocated for the disabled people, all of which are adjusted within the stipulated budget issued.

Living area

The living area comprises the living, family rooms, dining, den, and nook. It is the area of the house where most of the family and friends will spend more leisure time. The room relationships of the living area must be of clustered format near the entrance. Generally, in the shape of a rectangle, the living rooms are simpler to plan for an organization of the furniture. The size of the living room needs to be 12’ x 14’ minimum with an area of 9’ in diameter left for seating arrangements.

Two entries are provided- one is the main entry to give the guests access into the house and the other service area entry is useful between the yards, service areas, and garages.

Family area

The family rooms are exceedingly used for watching television, entertainment, eating, laundry, and so on. The family and living room relationships must be distant but close enough for approaching the living areas and the dining rooms, also, close to the kitchen. Room sizes can be at least 13’ x 16’.

Dining area

The dining room and other area relationships can be attached to either the living areas or kitchen areas or separate, provided there is adequate space. The size can be 11’ x 14’ (formal enclosed dining) and recommended to be close to the kitchen giving a direct view for access to food easily. The casual dining room size to dine is to be kept around 9’ x 11’. 32’’ from the edge of the table to any object must be kept along with 42’’ space for walking behind chairs whenever occupied. The bays are placed to get rid of the traffic flow and permit maximum natural light inside the house.

Breakfast area

The breakfast room layout (nook) is similar to or a part of a dining room or a common space shared to dine but used extensively for formal eating. Most of the snacks and meals are taken here.

Work or study area

The work area is specially designated for professional work or study-related aspects. With attending back-to-back work calls to preparing for exams, this place holds much significance and must contain a dedicated area for the same.

Sleeping areas and bedrooms

The sleeping room is the part of the bedroom that needs to be mostly away from any disturbance or any noise-causing appliances and out of the usual traffic patterns. The bedroom planning is vastly dependent on family requirements. For 2 BHK flat systems, there consists of a master bedroom and a children’s bedroom. For a 3 BHK, a master bedroom, children’s bedroom, and a guest room exist. As and on the rooms increase, the owner may categorize each of the bedrooms into numerous forms or convert any extra bedroom into a drawing, temple, or sports room as per the interests. The bedroom and bathroom plumbing relationships must be kept separately.

The bedrooms are normally located towards the southeast direction for getting the morning sunlight inside them. Two-story structures may have bedrooms kept to be warmed up by the natural convection of the heat rising from the living areas if the latter are placed below the bedrooms. For any emergency, a window or door needs to be provided for evacuation purposes. The bedroom sleeping area needs to be properly ventilated and has sufficient space for a peaceful and comfortable sleeping experience. They also contain wardrobes, closets, and so on for keeping any valuables, clothes, and other necessary items. Room sizes must be around 12’ x 14’ with a 24’’ gap on either side of the bed and 36’’ for dresser with drawers or walk-in closet.  

Bathrooms

For privacy purposes, the bathrooms are generally reached by a short hallway. The window glasses need to be tempered. Types of bathrooms are:

• Half-bath that contains a lavatory and a toilet.
• A three-quarter bath that contains a shower, toilet, and a lavatory.
• Full-bath that contains a lavatory, toilet with a combination of tub and shower
• The bathroom suite contains the full bath components along with a different tub and shower.

The house space and style depend on the quantity and position of bathrooms. For reduction in plumbing costs, two toilets share the same wall or kept one above another in case of higher stories.

Kitchen area

Mostly utilized for making meals, can also comprise work areas, eating, dishwashers and laundry. The work triangle is created by connecting the preparation, storage, and cleaning rooms which maintains the traffic flow and traffic patterns in the preparation of food. Traffic patterns and traffic flows are the ones where the residing people or guests take the path to move from one part of the house to another. Counter Arrangements for modular kitchen areas are inclusive of a straight corridor or galley L-shaped or U-Shaped patterns. Placement of refrigerator next to service areas and cooktop inside a 30’’ wide base cabinet is advisable. Keep the kitchen area near the carport for taking out groceries without hassle.

Closets

The closet for males requires 48’’ of space and 72’’ space for females. 25’’ deep for preventing wrinkling of clothes. Useful to buffer any noise between rooms and the larger closets may have ironing areas inside them.

Context and Applications

• Bachelors in Technology (Civil Engineering)
• Masters in Technology (Structural Engineering)
• Masters in Science (Architectural Engineering)
• Masters in Science (Building Drawing and Design)

Practice Problems

1. Which of the following is used by the family for access between the yards, kitchen, or garages?

1. Service area
2. Floor plan
3. Enclosed area
4. Ground-level area

Correct option- a

Explanation: The service area is used by the family for access between the yards, kitchen, or garages.

2. Which area generally comprises dishwashers?

1. Work area
2. Kitchen area
3. Dining area
4. Bedroom area

Correct option- b

Explanation: The kitchen area generally comprises dishwashers.

3. What is the minimum size of a formal dining area?

1. 9’ x 11’
2. 11’ x 13’
3. 11’ x 14’
4. 11’ x 15’

Correct option: c

Explanation: The minimum size of a formal dining area is 11’ x 14’.

4. What is created by connecting the preparation, storage, and cleaning rooms?

1. Work area
2. Kitchen area
3. Utility rooms
4. Work triangle

Correct option- d

Explanation: The work triangle is created by connecting the preparation, storage, and cleaning rooms.

5. Which of the following type of bathroom contains a shower, toilet, and lavatory?

1. Half-bath
2. Full-bath
3. Three-quarter bath
4. Bathroom suite

Correct option: c

Explanation: A Three-quarters bath-type bathroom contains a shower, toilet, and lavatory.

Related Concepts

• Sunroom or solarium areas for sunlight in abundance
• Specific sizes of various rooms inside a house