What if every inch of your space fits exactly your needs, from the kitchen to the bedroom? that’s the power of functionality-driven design which interior design firms usually take a deep look at. It customizes your home with your ideas, culture and beliefs and even regarding your rooms for your stuff. Functional spaces are aesthetically good and practically strong. so let’s explore the functionality-driven designs for houses
Functionality and aesthetics
Design has two elements. One is functionality & the other is Aesthetics. I strongly believe in functionality driven design. When I say functionality driven, it doesn’t mean Aesthetics can be compromised. When we start a design we need to fix every inch of the given space with its functionality. Once functionality is fixed the rest are details. This details will vary based on the clients taste & budget.
Architecture
Functionality Analysis
- Maximum area that can be constructed in any given space as per norms has to be understood & then see if we can fit everything the client needs in that space.
- Vastu plays an important aspect in the current era and hence we need to fix the building as per vastu.
- There are a certain number of car parks required as per norms for every size. When client requires over & above that we need to study if it is possible. Since everybody in the house owns a car, it is becoming increasing difficult to allocate that many car park. We can also think of providing mechanized parking if budget allows.
- Garden requirements of the client needs to be analyzed. Some want to have functional garden like vegetables & fruits and some designer landscape like a lawn & palms etc. Some are against garden as they are don’t have time to maintain.
- Client’s lifestyle to be checked to fix rooms like recreation, gym, home theatre, terrace etc.
Design
- Setback is fixed as per norms & the building is fixed within the setback. Height of the building is also as per norms & hence maximum number of floors is fixed.
- The building facing is becoming an important parameter. So the main door of the house is fixed as per the belief of the client. Most of the clients prefer east or north.
- Car park & driveway to be fixed. The column structure that might get in the car park will be finalized only after the scheme finalization. Hence marking carpark becomes an integral part of scheme design before fixing staircase, lift and other columns.
- We fix the kitchen in the southeast. Along with kitchen we need to fix the services. Some clients might want wet & dry kitchen separately and some might want an open kitchen. The utility area has to be planned for washing, drying & store. Store room to be given for kitchen.
- A formal living & family living to be planned if possible. A formal living will just host outside guest and hence just a comfortable seating space is sufficient. A family living will have to have entertainment elements and comfortable seating for the family members. If we give only one living then it must host every element.
- A separate Pooja room might be required by some clients based on their belief system.
- Dinning to have a hand wash area and access to common toilet.
- Security system to be designed. Lift & staircase to be sealed from any intruders. Anti-space to be provided in the foyer to stop the intruders outside.
- Number of bedrooms as per the client requirement to be fixed. We make sure atleast one bedroom is fixed in the floor where we have kitchen & living as it becomes a need for the person who is managing the house. Making them move up & down everytime they want to rest for a while will not work out.
- Every bedroom to have one toilet and one common toilet for guest, if possible, is planned. Toilet to have wet & dry area segregation. Toilet vastu is also becoming a major factor in fixing the toilet location.
- Steps can become an element in the living. This also goes as per vastu.
- Sump, Water tank & septic tank to be given based on the capacity needed as per calculations. Positioning them is as per vastu generally. Bore is given in the North East corner. Septic tank in the North West corner. We are moving towards bio septic tank for every house as they are ecologically sustainable and low maintenance. Overhead tank is generally placed above the head room because with height we can increase water pressure. We generally try to avoid water tank directly on the headroom slab. We raise the tank by 2’ above the headroom & leave the bottom open as it can be used to check leaks if any, at a future date.
- The entrance we try to give landscape with aesthetics in mind. This can have some lawn or some flowering or some pattern. The backyard can be planed for client’s personal landscape like fruits & vegetables.
- Servant quarters to be planned. If we can hide this from the entrance space it will be good as we have to give them space for their laundary, wash area etc which we definitely don’t want to see from the entrance. So generally we try to turn the direction of the servant quarters & give their access from the back setback and this can solve the problem to some extent.
- Services like genset, gas cylinders, security cabin etc to be planned.
Aesthetics
Once we fix all the above then we work on the facade of the building. The aesthetics part of the design comes into play now & we decide what kind of material we can use in the façade, what elements to take to make it look more interesting as well as budget friendly. The colour choice & material choice mostly depends on the budget the client can allocate for façade. We can use natural stone, composite panels, wall textures along with some feature elements providing the client allocates budget for the same. Even if there is no enough budget for façade we need to create it interesting with the budget we have. That is where the aesthetics part of the design is visible.
Interior
As architectural interior designers, when we start an interior design, again we need to fix the functional aspects of the clients.
Functionality – Need Answers for
- Open kitchen or closed kitchen
- Who is using which room
- Where will they wash, dry & store – cloth & utensil
- Pooja as per their culture
- Age of the kids – any special need
- Their house culture like eat together, watch tv together, host parties, health conscious etc etc
- List of things they want to keep in the house
- Security aspects
- Do they like garden
- Do they need TV in bedroom
- Do they need wet & dry washroom
- Visitors traffic details
- If they believe in Vastu
Design
After doing a detail analysis of the client’s life style we need to do the space plan for their house & fix everything in the scheme.
- We need to confirm if they have enough storage given for various requirements. After fixing everything if we still have free space to move around only then it can be tagged as a good design.
- In master bedroom we can give coffee seater space , workstation if they have habit of working from home, private space for dressing etc based on the availability of space
- For kids bedroom, we need a makeover based on the interest of the kid. We also should keep in mind that the kids might outgrow their current interest. Design should support atleast next 5-6 years in mind.
- Kitchen has to accommodate all the gadgets which the client uses. We need to have clear demarcation between cutting section, storage, cooking section & washing area. If they have helpers in the kitchen then we should plan the space in such a way that they can work independently in their own space. For eg. All the items needed to wash are near the sink & the sink is away from the stove so that they don’t disturb each other. Storage cabinets are to be designed Additional store room might be required for storage. They might want to keep it under lock & key. In that case cleaning that space on a daily basis has to be checked. Cloth drying space & broom stick, mop storage are generally over looked.
- Security system need by the client has to be fitted. This might include a grill gate in front of main door, or grills for balcony and service section. We might also look at alarm system for balcony doors for lower floors.
- Pooja to be designed as per their culture. It has to have space to place all their idols or photos etc in display. We also should give space for storage of the Pooja materials.
Aesthetics
Once we fix everything that is needed by the client for their day today activity & living we work on aesthetics. Aesthetics include the following
- Colour theme for the house. Colour theme includes every single colour we try to assemble together in the house like the wall , the curtain, the lights, the fabrics for furniture, colour & material for the woodwork, the artifacts which we fix like a planter or a picture etc.
- The artifacts which we create for the house. This might be some statement pieces on display or a family photo corner etc.
- The furnishing of the entire house like curtain, bed covers, pillows etc.
- Lighting which we use in the house & the type of fixtures.
An architect has to fix functionality first because that fixes about 70% of the design. Aesthetics can be easily accommodated.
Conclusion:
In designing an individual home, interior design firms need to balance practical aspects and aesthetic looks. including functionality and sacrificing style or vice versa doesn’t make a purpose to enhance every space in the home. we need to understand the people’s needs and wants and plan rooms and services according to that suit both taste and budget. On the whole, a well-designed home fuses into people’s daily lives with practicality and beauty.
