UNIT IV HOUSING DESIGN

HOUSING DESIGN

 Traditional patterns
 Row Housing and Cluster Housing
 Layout concepts
 Use of open spaces
 Utilities and common facilities
 Case studies
 High Rise Housing.
TRADITIONAL PATTERNS

 India’s city landscape is progressing each year, further and further away from
the beautiful designs of the past.
 Most of these traditional house designs still flourish in villages or, more rarely,
in the isolated, untouched suburbs of the cities.
• If you’re in the market for a house or flat you may find yourself
wondering where those beautiful houses have disappeared??

• If there’s any chance you can get your hands on one

OR

• Convince your architect to add a little touch of vintage India to your

home.

• It certainly is still an option but curious to know what were these

designs and where did they come from?
 TRADITIONAL PATTERNS - TAMIL NADU

 South India’s traditional architecture is sometimes

considered identical with the state of Tamil Nadu’s
Agrahara-style neighbourhoods.
 A classical Tamil house exemplifies the state’s
primarily Hindu roots with these Agrahara, or
Agraharam, Brahmin houses, considered a
essential example of their architecture.
 The name itself derives from the manner in which
these houses are laid out in a village, which was
like a garland.
 It comprises of houses laid along a street leading
to the village’s primary temple either devoted to a
single deity or one at either end devoted to different
deities.
 TRADITIONAL PATTERNS - TAMIL NADU

 Each house had a wide verandah out front or one that

ran around the house called a thinnai where you could
relax or socialise away from the heat of the day.
 Large, ornate wooden pillars supported the terracotta
roof of the thinnai.
 Interestingly enough, while the terracotta is now
considered typical, it was a luxury when it first began
and only the rich received special permission from
royalty to use it.
 Other families used the more modest thatch roof.
 The most extravagant piece in any of these houses,
which is a feature that survives to this day, is the front
door, which is always intricately carved.
 Another feature of these traditional house plans
includes the red oxide coated floors, which are known
to retain coolness even in the warmer seasons.
 TRADITIONAL PATTERNS - TAMIL NADU

 These Indian houses proved to be a passive form

of architecture with little damage to the
environment while maintaining a cool climate within
the house irrespective of the outside environs.
 The thatch or tile roof kept the heat at bay, and the
sun-baked brick or mud walls had antiseptic
properties keeping insects away.
 Bamboo was woven into mats to sit on or to use as
walls.
 The culture surrounding these beautiful houses
was communal as most of the village was involved
in the construction.
 Trees outside the owner’s property could not be felled
without the village elders’ permission.
 TRADITIONAL PATTERNS - ASSAM

 If Tamilian architecture focused on the heat, the

Assamese had concerns regarding the seismic activity.
 The main thing to keep in mind here is – lightweight.
 These quaint little houses were, at the most, one storey
high and constructed from material like bamboo and
timber with metal sheets or thatch used for the roofing.
 In fact, the name for these Assam-type houses, Ikra,
derives from the reeds used in the walls.
 This method has been in practice for over two centuries
now, with modern implements added along the way to
create the charming houses the state is known for.
 TRADITIONAL PATTERNS - ASSAM

 The most popular architectural form is the Chang house, which is probably what you
imagine when you think of the North-East.
 These traditional house designs feature bamboo walls raised by stilts and typically
found in hilly regions; this construction was inspired by the frequent flooding and
landslides.
 In general, homes are one storey high due to the threat of earthquakes.
 These houses are also an extremely social creation with open spaces at both ends for
people to be seated.
 Most of these Indian house plans feature gardens in the out front where some families
cultivate some of their own crops.
 The kitchen usually lies at the heart of the house in this joint family culture.
TRADITIONAL PATTERNS - PUNJAB

 Traditional Punjabi homes are all the rage in

Bollywood movies.
 These homes revolve around an agricultural, joint
family culture set within a rustic yet elegant house.
 The main identifier of a Punjabi traditional house plan
is the courtyard with small flower beds or a small
orchard in the centre of it.
 The celebrations and pujas, and some of these Indian
house designs have doors leading into their
neighbor’s’ yards.
 These houses are composed entirely of baked bricks
with timber doors, ideal for the sweltering heat.
TRADITIONAL PATTERNS - PUNJAB

 A cattle enclosure is usually set within the courtyard – the one feature that hasn’t carried
forward to the urban version.
 The baithak, or living room, lies at the centre of the family’s socialising with simple furniture
like charpais spread out.
 All other rooms lie lateral to it with the courtyard leading off it and a door that opens out to the
street.
 Meanwhile, the verandah that runs all along the house is where most household activities and
daily female socialising take place. All this lies wrapped behind a baked boundary wall with
idyllic painted doors leading into the street or the next door house.
TRADITIONAL PATTERNS - KOLKATA

 The ever-popular bungalow has its roots in

colonial Bengal where the British assured the
creation and continuation of European and Indian
architecture mixed together in these houses.
 These one-storeyed villas yet again had a wide
verandah that the colonial officers used as a
reprieve from the humidity of the Bengal summer.
 Simple Corinthian columns ran along these
verandahs as most of the buildings raised during
this period mimicked the house designs of the
colonial times.
TRADITIONAL PATTERNS - KOLKATA

 These homes had large centred courtyards or Aangals with the Vrindavan or tulsi plant set in the middle of
it. Along one side of this courtyard is a puja mandap with apses set behind ornate arches where the idols
are placed. Next to this is usually where the women’s pavilion, a balcony from where women could watch
the goings on of the street below, is set. The bedrooms are set along the opposite side of the courtyard
with the Zenana or female quarters placed on the final side at a distance from the living room. The living
room, in addition to the verandah, was used to receive and entertain guests or by officers’ to hold
meetings. The various sections’ floors were all connected by curved corridors and winding stairways.

 The furniture set within was just as extravagant with ornate four-poster beds with canopy curtains draping
them, and carved sandalwood tables and chairs, while the walls were adorned with paintings. The
gardens were also very spacious and carefully maintained with beautiful fountains and birds laid through
them.

 If you’re confused about the architecture of your unbuilt house, go with the long-established Indian arts
and designs. Model your dream home with an inspiring traditional house plan that features an
aesthetically pleasing style of living. Take your pick for a traditional domestic look.
ROW HOUSING AND CLUSTER HOUSING
HOUSING: DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

 Housing Types
 Homes can either be stand alone or cluster units.
 Stand alone refers to individual houses while cluster units refer to individual homes that share
walls.
 It is important to consider and analyze the advantages and disadvantages of these building
styles before moving forward with preliminary designs.
 Cluster Units Stand Alone Housing

Uniformity Increased potential for personalization

Conserve space Occupy more space

Cheaper More expensive

Less heat loss More heat loss

Decreased privacy Increased Privacy

Less windows/ light More windows/ light

Decreased ventilation Increased ventilation

CLUSTER HOUSING

 Cluster housing refers to a development in which homes are situated in

groupings relatively close together, while larger areas of open space within
the development form a buffer with adjacent land uses.
 Often this is accomplished through small individual lots, with the remainder of
the land becoming common ground.
CLUSTER HOUSING

 What are the advantages of cluster of housing?

 The higher density of the clusters of housing also tends to mean more efficiency for services
such as public transit, and can also promote increased bicycle usage and the encouragement
of pedestrians.
 The extra open space made available by this type of development leaves room for parks,
trails, and community-supported agriculture .
CLUSTER HOUSING

 We see three primary benefits of this development pattern:

 The contiguous open spaces are good practice in terms of agriculture, conservation and wildlife habitat,
or outdoor recreation or woods to wander in.
 Grouping homes together reduces the initial investment in roads, streets, and utility lines, as well as the
public sector's maintenance and infrastructure replacement costs.
 Relatively close proximity to neighbors means that one is more likely to get acquainted with neighbors
and develop a sense of caring community.