Functional space planning

Some steps to make time-consuming work easier

SPACE PLANNING always reminds me of Marek, my instructor in design school. I don’t remember a single lec- ture on the subject.

By Edith Saatkeamp Contributing Writer

He taught by giving us a floor

plan and the abjective of the . design.

Eor the next five weeks, he would go from one student to another, point out the flaws in our plars and suggest improvements.

‘Our deadline for completion of a project — the design of a store, office or residence — was usually five weeks.

A sixth week was added when panic set in because we were still in the space-planning stage after five weeks and had not even thought about color, lighting and furniture, nor of drawing plans and perspectives.

“Good space-planning is time- consuming. There are of course some steps we can follow to make it easier, and Marek must have told us. | :

_ Let’s start with the preiiminary considerations, the objective of

the design.

Your lifestyle and the intended use of the space are the main criteria in developing a functional! space plan for a room or home.

In case of a living room, will it be used mainly by the family to relax, read, watch television or play games?

You would then consider sepa- rate seating groups, each with ap- propriate storage spaces and task lighting, and with small tables, so that one activity does not interfere with another. ;

Mf the room is reserved for entertainment, it should have a comfortable seating group, and amenities to serve drinks and ap- petizers.

A good distance for an easy flow of conversation is between five and eight feet. At longer distances, conversation tends to be limited to polite smiles.

Soft lighting should iHuminate the seating group; recessed or track lights can be used to highlight plants or other objects.

The traffic pattern through the room determines the furniture layout.

The pattern can be changed to some extent, but should still follow a relatively unobstructed path without dividing a seating

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] try to avoid placing a sofa in front of a window. The light from the window can create glare for the person seated across from the sofa, and harsh shadows for the person on the sofa.

A diagonal seating arrangement might work better.

The view from the entrance or from a seating group is often ideal {o create a focal point. A window with an interesting view can be more attractive with just a collec- tion of plants than with a full window treatment.

The size and amount of fur- niture is determined by the size of the room.

Large pieces of furniture can look awkward in a small room and it is better to eliminate some furniture than to try and fit everything in.

In order to appear somewhat smaller, large wall units can be painted the same color as the wall.

Glass shelves, installed ona mirrored wall and highlighted with spotlights, do not take up as much visual space as wood shelving.

Glass coffee tables seem to “float”? in space rather than oc- cupy it,

See Experiment page 48

Photo submitted

YOUR LIFESTYLE and the intended use of the space are the main

criteria in developing a functional space plan for a room or home. -

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