Two-Bedroom Condo With a Daily Office and a Part-Time Guest Room
A couple buys a 1,380 sq ft two-bedroom condominium. They want a dedicated home office for two people, a guest room for out-of-town parents 8-10 nights per month, and more storage. The existing plan has a 13 ft x 15 ft primary bedroom, an 11 ft x 12 ft second bedroom with one window, a 24 ft x 14 ft living/dining room, an 8 ft x 12 ft galley kitchen, and one 8 ft x 5 ft bath. The 4 ft x 8 ft foyer has no closet. The couple rejects enclosing the living/dining room. Their budget is $45,000, the schedule is 10 weeks, and the condo association prohibits moving the bathroom stack or altering exterior walls. The client asks for a walk-in closet in the primary suite and a permanent guest bed plus two workstations in the second bedroom.
1. Using the stated dimensions, identify the three most consequential programming conflicts and explain which client priority should drive the plan. Show your area and clearance reasoning.
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The second bedroom is 11 ft x 12 ft, or 132 sq ft. A queen bed occupies about 60 in x 80 in, and two 30 in x 60 in desks occupy about 25 sq ft before chairs and circulation. Once a 36 in path to the only window is kept clear, a permanent guest bed plus two workstations cannot coexist comfortably in 132 sq ft. A 6 ft x 6 ft walk-in closet would consume roughly 36 sq ft of the primary suite and displace dresser or circulation space; the existing reach-in is the more efficient storage move. The 4 ft x 8 ft foyer has no closet, so storage demand is already underprovided. The daily need is two workstations five days a week; the guest need is 8-10 nights a month. That frequency should drive the plan: prioritize work function and use a convertible guest solution, not a permanent bed. The designer should also verify whether the second-bedroom window is the required egress opening, because desk placement must not block it.
2. Propose a furniture and storage strategy for the second bedroom and primary suite that meets the daily work need without creating an egress or clearance problem. Give at least two dimensions.
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Use the second bedroom as the primary office/guest room. Place a queen wall bed, about 66 in wide and 86 in deep when open, along the 12 ft wall, and one 60 in x 30 in desk on the opposite or adjacent wall with at least 36 in clear behind the chair. Do not put both desks in this room; the open bed projection leaves too little aisle. Put the second workstation in the primary bedroom as an 18 in deep built-in desk, or in the living/dining room as a shallow built-in that does not enclose the space. Retain the primary reach-in closet and upgrade it with 24 in deep organizers rather than building a walk-in. Add an 18 in deep bench/locker at the foyer. Keep at least 36 in clear at the second-bedroom window and confirm the window's clear opening before finalizing furniture.
3. What information must the designer obtain before finalizing the plan, and how should it be presented to the client?
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Obtain the second-bedroom window's sill height and clear openable dimensions; door swing and wall locations; closet dimensions; HVAC supply and return locations; electrical panel capacity; and the condo association's alteration rules and approval process. Confirm the guest bed size and frequency, whether both people work simultaneously at desks, equipment needs, and storage inventory. Present the information as a written program matrix with priorities: daily work first, guest use second, storage third. Show two schemes: one with a wall bed plus one desk and a primary built-in, and one that opens the kitchen/dining wall if the association allows it. Include a budget contingency because $45,000 for built-ins, electrical, and finishes in 10 weeks is tight. Ask the client to sign off on the priority order before drawings proceed.