every nest starts with a simple twig…
Her requirements were a bit unique, requiring a large soaking tub, a substantial walk-in closet area and built-in storage, this fashionista requirements and priorities shaped this unique apartment in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, NY.
Continue reading “When the Best Plans go Wrong: Fashionista”
The design challenge is to maximize the square footage within a typical 20’x45′ townhouse footprint while minimizing the lost space in public areas. Sounds simple? Haha, yeah sure. To do so one needs to examine all the pieces to ensure they themselves are efficient, and then arrange those pieces in such a way to avoid wasted space and improve sizes of rooms based on their hierarchical importance.
So we want to minimize the public spaces, the hallways and push that area savings into the main rooms of the apartment. At the same time we want to maximize the number of bedrooms, keep all plumbing and vent stacks in one area to minimize cost of construction, and keep everything nice and easy to build with simply arranged partitions, so the cost stays reasonable, and the time it takes to finish is quick. Clean layouts means less confusion for contractors, thus avoiding mistakes.
Can we at SimpleTwig Architecture.llc do it? We think we have and would like to present a clean, highly efficient apartment layout ready for most townhouses in New York City, Chicago and other urban areas, allowing the Home Owner to maximize their rent roll while providing their tenants with homes they will look forward to living in.
We all love to see images of luxury homes, don’t we? But what about the other 98% of the human population? What kind of world do they live in? There has to be better minimum acceptable livable habitation requirements for the modern adult, to help them succeed in life. This can be accomplished with the right home programming, ensuring that the inhabitant’s needs are met in an efficient function environment that also raises their ‘positive spirit.’
There are so many different configurations for bedrooms and their associated closets, often the context in which they lie dictates its ultimate layout and size, but what if one looks at each element alone to establish what the smallest bedroom dimensions should be, that is, comfortable in size for a typical adult, to help establish a minimum guideline Architects, Developers and Home Owners should achieve as a minimum when programming a dwelling design.
This type of analysis is fundamental to dwelling design especially related to basic urban dwellings in townhouses, renovations of suburban homes, apartments, condos, co-ops or even designing layouts for housing projects if one cares enough about those who may have to occupy the space provided. This analysis is what Architect Nick Buccalo of SimpleTwig Architecture sets out to do with regards to two basic components of the dwelling, a bedroom and its closet. Future articles will address other programming requirements of dwelling, programming refers here to the basic room names one knows and how those rooms relate to one another.
For this study, we assume the requirements for one adult, which, as adults we all know or hope, the rooms are flexible enough to accommodate two people.
Continue reading “Minimum Adult-Sized Bedroom/Closet Analysis”
hierarchy |ˈhī(ə)ˌrärkē|noun ( pl. -chies)a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority. Continue reading “Making Townhouse Spaces the Right Size-Hierarchy!”