Unit 1

General Principles of planning Aspects,

Prospects, Circulation, Grouping, Roominess,
Sanitation, Economy, Elegance, Furniture
requirements, flexibility, Privacy . Site
selection and requirements of different public
buildings such as hospitals, schools, hostels
using line plan . Municipal regulations and
bye-laws for residential buildings.
 PRINCIPLE OF PLANNING OF
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS.
Before planning a residential building, the site is visited, local building
by-laws are studied and a line plan is prepared. While preparing the
line plan following principles of practical conveniences are followed.
1.Orientationaspects and prospects.
2.Privacy.
3.Grouping.
4.Circulation.
5.Sanitation.
6.Flexibility.
7.Elegance.
8.Land Scaping
9.Economy.
10.Furniture requirements and
11.Roominess
 1. Orientation : Proper orientation means setting or placing of the rooms of the residential
building which allow the inmates of the house to enjoy the utmost whatever is good and to
avoid whatever is bad in respect of comforts in the elements of nature such as the sun,
wind and rain. Good orientation means placements of rooms in relation to Sun, Wind, Rain,
topography and out look and at the same time providing a convenient access both to the
backyard, compound or street.
a. Sun shine :
1.The Suns rays are potent to kill disease germs .
2.The aim of proper orientation must be to admit required amount of sun shine into the
house in the morning .
3.The morning sun is pleasant , as there is more light with less heat and the air is charged
with water vapor / moisture .
b. Breeze :
1.Breeze and relative humidity in the air are equally or perhaps more important than heat .
2.The direction of prevailing wind , especially in summer , is between west and south .
3.To derive the maximum comfort from breeze , the bed rooms are to be suitably located .
4.Hence for proper orientation , the rooms which are occupied during day are placed on
North and East , while those occupied by night (bed rooms )
in the direction of wind with deep verandahs and sun shades to protect from after noon
heat .
In this country sun never goes overhead and it is always in the South
of zenith, therefore to protect the main rooms from the effect of heat
of the sun these should always be on East or North. Activities in a
house take place at different times of the day thus one needs sun
shine in the morning and cool afternoon in the kitchen. So a kitchen is
planned with main windows fixed towards East. It is better to place
the kitchen facing East. Living rooms have some windows towards
East and a few towards North. Bed rooms are placed in the North.
West or South-West direction. Verandahs are provided towards East
and West to protect rooms from the effect of intense heat of sun.
2.Privacy :

1.Suitably restrict visibility from outside .

2.Internal privacy should be provided.
3.The positioning of doors and the shutter shall facilitate the
opening of the door in such a way , as to give minimum view of
room , especially for bed rooms .
4. Single door shutters are better than double shutters view of
privacy and economy .
5. Frosted glass provides more privacy than plain glass .
6.Staircase must be approachable from maximum number of rooms
.
3.Grouping : Placing of rooms adjacent to each other with
respect to their relative utility is called grouping . Bath , W.C.S
are close to bed rooms. Dining space may be close to a kitchen .
Drawing , lounge or living room are preferably be near the
entrance .
4.Circulation : Horizontal circulation is achieved by passages by
passages , lobbies , corridors , and lounges . Vertical circulation
is achieved by stairs or stepped terracings or lifts or ramps .
5 Sanitation : Good sanitation means the proper drainage of
sewage. To achieve this house is built on elevated grounds. A
house should be free from stagnated waters. Windows, doors
and ventilators are so placed that natural light and fresh air are
available in all the rooms through out the day. Windows are
placed on opposite walls to create cross ventilation. Small sized
windows are normally used in areas where hot and dry weather
remains most of the time.
 6.Flexibility : It is a provision which allows the same space to be
used for some other purposes. Festive occasions demand large areas
for congregation . Dining space attached to the drawing room and an
additional verandah with large windows can allow these areas to be
converted into a hall . Even a good terrace on a compact combination
of different rooms can allow such congregations .
 7.Elegance : The out ward appealing look which allows the building
to diffuse into the adjoining environment is termed elegance . Balconies
Verandahs , Sun-shades, Porches , railings, parapets, shape of windows etc.
can enhance elegance if properly placed and planned. Colourerd washes can
also help in achieving elegance.
Circular or arched openings spanning the verandah, doors, and window
openings have again cone into use they add to the elegance and break the
monotony of present day stereo typed buildings. Frills, sloping roof-slab
projections, munty on staircases can help in increasing elegance. Surface
finishing in c. mortar also render elegance.
8 Land scaping : The space around the building may be suitably covered with greenery
and plants Green foliage and shrubs provide an hygienic and healthy atmosphere in
addition TO keeping the piece cool and refreshing.

9.Economy : The cost of the building should be within the economical reach of its
builder. It should be comparatively low-priced and within the allotted budget.
All spaces of activities are grouped together by means of passage, lobby ,
staircase, etc. These area's should be minimum but purposeful and well ventilated.
Planning is only an art but not a science and hence it needs proper utilization of
many faculties of building. The basic criteria of Form Follows Function be
adhered too .
The ideal conditions be chosen and local building by-laws, rules and regulations,
customs and the needs of-family be kept in mind while planning of a residential
building
10.Roominess : While planning a building , a planner deals with space roominess is
the accomplishment of economy of space .The height of the man is real measure , his
eye level , the height upto which he can raise his hands by which planner can compare
different levels like sill level , lintel level , loft level etc .
For utility a rectangular room is better than a square room of same area .
According , the length and breadth ratio should be 1.2 :1 to 1.5:1 .In case the length of
a room is more than one and half times more than its width it will cause tunnel effect .
Position of doors and windows , the dimensions of the furniture , lofts , and cup
boards are some of the factors to be considered for better utilization of space . Light
colour creates the effect of more space where as dark colour make the room look
smaller .
11.Furniture : While planning and deciding the size of the room furniture requirement
in the respective room should be given due consideration . The size should be so fixed
that it give maximum area for movements , convenience for operating doors and
windows .
If the point of furniture requirement is over looked while planning then
difficulties may arise to place the almirah , bed , dressing table , show cases, TV set
etc. position of ceiling fan should also be located accordingly .
In
Site selection residential building :
The following may be given due consideration While selecting a site for a residential
building .
1.The site should be preferably in a well developed or a rapidly developing locality .
2.The neighborhood should be civilized and sociable .
3.General facilities like water line , sewer line , electricity line , street light etc should
be available .
4.The site should easily accessible by roads .
5. Close to the site faculties such as school ,hospital ,shopping area , post office ,
transport etc should be available .
6. The site should be raised to avoid drainage problem.
7.The soil condition should be satisfactory ,well compacted soil should be available at
a depth of about 1m .
8.Quarries , kilns ,factories should not be close to the site.