Residential Building Design: Spatial Layout and Functional Organisation
This domain tests design judgement, not decoration: can you organise a dwelling so that zones, circulation, daylight and climate work together? Cypriot examiners look for a clear public-to-private gradient, a compact service core, and rooms placed according to orientation and prevailing conditions.
Zoning and circulation
- Three zones: social (entrance, living, dining), private (bedrooms, bathroom), service (kitchen, laundry, storage, plant).
- A hall or lobby buffers the entrance from the living room and screens the private zone; guests should never pass through bedrooms.
- Circulation: 900 mm for a single-person corridor, 1200 mm for the main route; keep corridors short and lit from one end where possible.
- The stair core is the hinge between floors - place it centrally so both floors are served without long landings.
Room sizing and clearances
- Bed 900×2000 or 1400×2000, with 600–700 mm clear on the access sides.
- Wardrobe 600 mm deep, 900 mm clear in front of the doors.
- Kitchen worktop 600 mm deep at 900 mm height; 1000–1200 mm between facing counters; the sink–hob–fridge triangle should not be crossed by circulation.
- Dining: 600 mm per person at the table, 750–900 mm behind chairs.
- Bathroom minimum roughly 1.20 × 2.00 m, with 600 mm clear in front of the WC.
- Storage in a dwelling is typically 5–8% of the floor area.
Climate and orientation (Cyprus)
- Living room and main veranda to the south or south-east for winter sun; a 1.2–1.5 m overhang or external shading cuts the high summer sun.
- Bedrooms to the north or east; kitchen to the east for morning light.
- Cross ventilation through openings on opposite façades; avoid large unshaded west glazing.
Worked example
A 120 m² two-storey house on a narrow plot running east–west. Reasoning: put the living/dining south with a 1.5 m veranda and the kitchen east adjoining the dining room, not across the hall. The stair sits centrally, with bedrooms north on the first floor so no corridor exceeds 5 m. Check that every habitable room has an external wall for daylight and that the entrance hall can hold a coat cupboard without eating the 1200 mm route.
Traps
- A bedroom reached only through another bedroom or through the living room.
- Kitchen remote from both the dining room and the service entrance.
- Long internal corridors with no daylight.
- Doors that clash with each other or with wardrobe fronts when open.
- Ignoring orientation and overlooking of the neighbour's plot.
- Drawing furniture before structure, openings and stairs are fixed.