House Design Analysis
Example
Precedent Example analysis Phase in the Design Process
Factors influencing site selection and home orientation within the plot
1. Response to sun direction, presence of obstacles such as trees and topography of the
plot.
2. The direction of the prevailing winds in that region
3. The presence of neighbors and taking into consideration the privacy factor
4. The intensity and direction of the slope of the land (if any)
5. View of a particular landscape as a forest or river or archaeological monuments.
6. Being affected by visual axis lead to a distinctive landmark
7. Responding to certain factors such as the existence of an archaeological road or
taking into account the privacy of neighbors or other conditions
8. Investigate the site and how to approach the project (accessibility) and the views
that the human eye sees as a result
Factors affecting the orientation of the different spaces in a house
Each group of spaces, in the house, has special needs that may differ or similar in some requirements
depending on the nature of use (Activity), frequency and time of use and the need for them are as
follows:
Night Spaces (zone):
Generally include bedrooms and attached spaces (attached bathrooms, private seating and changing
clothes) and are generally spaces need to be quiet so they are placed away from the street and are
separated from the noisy spaces by circulation paths, in general they haven’t direct relationship with
the entrance, So they usually not placed in a the main floor when there is more than one floor. It is
preferable to orient them to the sunrise direction as the eastern direction to receive the sun from the
early morning, which sends a state of activity in the human body, In hilly sites we should take in
consideration mountain-valley breeze phenomena and in the sea side sites we should take in
consideration land- sea breeze phenomena, to get fresh air and good ventilation. Since these spaces
in general need high privacy, we must take this factor into account when we design such spaces.
Day Spaces (zone):
In general, It includes living, sitting, dining and reception spaces, and has high
circulation, generally they have a strong relationship with the entrance and are
open to each other because they have a strong relationship with each other (the
reception is visually isolated from other spaces to provide privacy for the
occupants of the house) and is therefore generally at the level of the main floor.
Best orientation is southward to receive the greatest amount of sun-ray in
winter and the least amount in summer, and taking into account the direction of
the wind where the windows are directed towards the prevailing winds, and
because these spaces where occupants are present most of the day time, they
should be oriented towards the best view.
Service Spaces:
It generally, it includes kitchen, bathroom, warehouse, housework and maid's
suite, and they are medium on the one hand of noisy, so they are allocated
(placed) between public and private spaces. It has a direct relationship with
the entrance to the service and therefore the garage because of the ease of
delivering goods to it and therefore its proximity to the street.
The orientation towards south is better, but with less importance than the
serviced day spaces. The best direction for the wind is to reverse the
prevailing wind so that the non-preferred smells don't get inside the house.
Allocation of house spaces according to their relationship to each other
The allocation of the spaces in the house so as to achieve the following
1-The allocation is based on the separation of spaces according to being dirty or clean,
quiet or noisy, and according to the factors mentioned above (before)
2- The allocation of spaces is so that the least possible movement (Circulation) between the
spaces that have strong relations, although if they are belong to different functional zones,
for example taking into account the placement of a bathroom near the bedroom, or an
attached bathroom in each bedroom, the placing of the dining room near the kitchen and
near the living room as a separation space between them, as well as the placement of the
maid room within the service spaces due to its direct relationship with the kitchen and the
entrance of the service
3-Sometimes the relationship between single-type spaces is indirect, such as home space
work and kitchen, even if they are adjacent to each other.
4- In response to the customer's requirements, factors and circumstances surrounding the
site and the designer's vision
Note:
Often the designer cannot fully meet all the previous
requirements so he makes compromises between the
requirements as best as possible and do not forget that the
design process is a compromise between form and function,
and that solutions can exist at the 3D as well (vertical level).
House example
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
• Architects: Marcio Kogan
• Area: 6820 m²
• Year: 2004
In this example we notice that the designer orients the bed rooms toward the west , but
sun ray is obstacle by the plot contour which form a sun barrier, the main view is
towards the south where the architect place the living area , which has a good view to
the river from two side, and the rectangular shape used for the house which oriented
perpendicularly to the street and response to the L shape of the river which turn its
direction flow east-west then north-south, more over the design show a good response
to the contour lines.
Entrance
Store
Living Kitchen
Master
BR
Dining
Bath
BR
BR
Bath
Bath
BR
Bath
Adjacency Metrics Bubble Diagram
A section in the house shows a clear separation between the
main activities of the house on the upper floor (main) and the
secondary activities on the ground floor