Most older homes were designed with two ‘zones’ – a living zone and a sleeping zone.
From terraces to bungalows to 1960’s triple-fronted classics, Australian homes have traditionally been planned around a ‘front room’ or two for living and entertaining with a collection of bedrooms and service areas located toward the rear of the house.
During the 1970’s a casual family/meals area became part of most typical floor plans to complement the more formal living/dining area that was reserved for visitors or special occasions. At the same time, a growing interest in passive solar design saw many homes designed with the living areas facing north and the service areas facing south. A north-south orientation of living/sleeping areas is still integral to sustainable home design. These common sense zoning and site planning ideas espoused by passively designed courtyard type of planning have been lost since the 1970’s and passive solar design has become a (back to the future) second “go-to” idea in favour of “box” plan forms with more rooms.
Parents often want a master bedroom, an en-suite and a walk-in robe to be remote from children’s bedrooms. In addition, in a post COVID-19 world, more and more people are working from home and require a quiet study or home-office, as well as a private space to simply relax. Children’s bedrooms are also often supplemented with a separate play or study area remote from the rest of the house.
When you add these four zones to the family living/meals area, an outdoor living area and a service area for bins, bikes and a clothes line there are often at least seven different zones that need to be planned within a model new home or renovation!
It’s often not easy to do, but some design skill can make the difference between a plan that’s flexible and functional for the whole family and one that’s full of compromises.
Archicentre Australia architects are terrific at designing homes to meet these and all their client’s needs. They like to give their clients everything they want while adding siting features that go beyond the run of the mill – after-all this difference is what makes living in “your” home all the more special.
