Designs that reflect lifestyle
While designing a house, planners have now become sensitive towards environment, besides taking into account the aesthetic concerns
Today's home plans are perpetually changing with style definitions, technology and materials constantly improving. The home plans on our drawing boards today are nothing like the places one may recall from childhood. Floor plans are changing to accommodate our new lifestyles and patterns of daily life. The flexibility in planning is the most sought after concept in today's residential planning. Wherein the home plans of yesteryear contained predefined areas for definitive activities, today's home plans demand large multipurpose areas. Formal dining, living and enclosed kitchens have given way to large multipurpose family areas. Sliding doors, movable partitions that allow flexibility in planning are being extensively used in today's residential designs.
Another aspect of residential planning that has changed tremendously in comparison to yesteryear is the 'accessible home design'. Gone are the days of spiral staircases, and sunken living rooms. Today's homes demand that the designs be comfortable for people of all ages and abilities. Wide hallways blend seamlessly with spaces to give an open feeling to the house. The walls and partitions are minimized to only very private functions here.
Abundant storage is a necessity in new homes that the onset of consumerism has brought in this decade. Spacious walk-in closets, dressing rooms, with plenty of easy to reach cabinets are incorporated in home plans and the simple wardrobe has reinvented itself with various types of organizer hardware available to maximize the storage facilities in home designs.
Even the parking spaces and garage sizes are changed to accommodate the popular SUVs and other large vehicles. Until a few years ago, cars parked outside one's house was a luxury to those who afforded bungalows, but today cars are taken up using the car lifts up to any floor the apartment is located on. Lifts that were once upon a time a relief for people to climb floors have transformed to private elevator concept wherein the lift opens into one's private living room.
Cathedral ceilings are passe but general high ceiling with abundant natural light is preferred. The building materials' technology has improved tremendously in the last decade and brought about many changes in residential building design. Factory-made building materials have come a long way and have enabled architects and builders to create bold new designs.
Developers are building homes similar to manufacturing refrigerators or motor cars, thanks to the availability of modern building materials from across the globe. One such projects in Lagos in Nigeria has adopted to international building formworks wherein a site encompassing 600 houses has achieved building one house in 15 days, thanks to the available technologies.
New designs allow use of glass and steel in residential spaces and the modular housing comes in all shapes and styles; from sleek straight lines to organic forms. The globalization demands contemporary look and feel to homes and these technologies enable an architect to achieve the same.
As much as the advent of new materials and technology have changed the facets of home designs ,it has also brought about increasing awareness of the effects these materials bring in with them. Home designers today have to be aware of the way our health is affected by use of chemicals used in paints, synthetic materials and composition of wood products. The most exciting and important trend in today's design is the increased sensitivity towards environment. Planners are taking a relook at ancient building techniques that used simple bio-degradable materials! A radical shift from the last decade where in anything new and modern was simply considered trend-setting without much weight age give to its green properties. Increasing interest in eco-friendly architecture is encouraging planners to add outdoor spaces to overall home designs. Gardens and green spaces are becoming a part of the floor plan where the sliding glass leads to patios and decks. Structurally, today's residential planning demands structures that multi storeyed luxury abodes are earthquake resistant and there is steady progress made in engineering of homes to be storm ready as well. The safety aspects are important in residential planning today.
Technology and smart homes are part and parcel of home planning with emphasis on security, energy efficiency with emphasis to time management. Access controls and CCTV cameras assure greater security at homes and controls for lighting and air-conditioning keep a check on energy bills. Integration of these is essential in today's home.
Courtesy: - ET REALTY dt-10-12-2010
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Article Source: Messaggiamo.Com
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