Dimensions of Housing

1. Home including
psychosocial, economic and
cultural aspects produced
by occupants;
2. Dwelling in terms of its
construction, materials and
interior quality
3. Immediate built
environment including
infrastructure and
transportation
4. Community which relates
to social environment,
characteristics of residents
WHO Europe, 2011 & local community services
• Comfortable and climate •Appropriate materials
responsiveness •Appropriate technology
• Suitability to existing site Technical •Codal provisions
condition parameters
• Structural safety and reliability
• Creation of usable spaces
• Deciding optimum mix of uses Physical
• Optimum & efficient layout

Socio -
cultural
Economic
Parameters
of Housing •Aesthetically pleasing
•Successful place – making
• Preparation of an efficient •Individual characteristics
layout - space is not wasted and social needs
• Selection of Low-cost material •Household composition
• Adopt Cost-effective and life-cycle
construction technique •Socio – cultural background
• Implement efficient Project and its demand
Management
 Physical Design Parameters
Sun Horizontal and India will always have sun from south, be it winter or be it summer. But the
vertical angles and angle is different, so, the design of vertical and horizontal fins is based on
their seasonal these angles.
variation Similarly, north light is glare free, so if you have big openings in north, you
would always have diffused sunlight in the room, but for south, you might
need to go for fins. You can have retractable awnings

Temperature Width of walls, use West sun is always warm, so if you minimize the glass façade towards the
of glass west, you automatically reduce the heat load and thereby need for artificial
AC. Probably you have seen that many of our traditional houses have double
windows, the inner leaf is made of glass and the outer leaf is made of
wooden louvers. So, in winter, you can have the glass leaf close the other one
open so that you have light inside but not the cold air, and in summer and in
rainy seasons, you can have the glass open and the wooden closed with the
louvers tilted at an angle so that you have the breeze in but not the sun.
If you are designing a house in a place that perennially remains extreme hot
or extreme cold, then you might have internal rooms, protected from
weather, the idea is the heat load gets substantially reduced if you do not
have an external wall – like in extreme hot dry climate underground rooms
are more livable.
Wind Opening sizes and This is comparatively easier. Like you have the windows in the windward side
locations if you are designing for a hot humid climate and alternately otherwise.
Sometimes you might think of some wind breakers like a row of trees if you
do not want the wind.
 Physical Design Parameters
i. By following standard codes

ii. optimizing site conditions (trees, water bodies, wind-flow, orientation, etc.)
and harnessing them to cater to the thermal / visual comfort requirements

iii. By taking examples from India’s traditional architecture

iv. By adopting locally available construction materials and giving impetus to local
arts, crafts, architecture and artisans.

v. By designing precisely-sized energy systems and not basing them on broad

thumb-rules.

vi. By reducing the resource consumption of the building and its inhabitants so
that the waste generating there-from is reduced.

vii. By adopting energy efficient technologies (EETs) and equipment.

 Physical Design Parameters

vii. By adopting renewable energy technology (RETs) applications to reduce the

demand on conventional energy.

viii. Reduce hard paving on-site

ix. Reduce air pollution during construction

x. Sensitive landscape planning like choice of species

xi. Optimizing water requirement

xii. Efficient waste management

xiii. Using efficient materials like low VOC paints, green building compliant glass,
5 – star rated electrical appliances.
 Physical Design Parameters
Design suitable to existing site condition
Endogenous factors
Exogenous factors i. Contour and slope
i. Width of the access road ii. Shape and size
ii. Allowable FAR, height, ground coverage iii. Soil characteristics
iii. Adjacent uses iv. Natural features
iv. Location v. Service points

Site level design problems are:

i. How to compromise between the two contradictory requirements of a pedestrian
friendly layout for safety of the residents and providing vehicular access to each
residential block.
ii. How to provide best orientation to majority of the blocks
iii. How to provide acceptable access to the residential blocks.
iv. How to provide preferred views / frontage of maximum number of blocks.
v. How to integrate the residential blocks belonging to different economic groups
within the site so that to assure optimum level of social integration yet avoiding clash
between communities.
vi. Identifying parking spaces.
 Physical Design Parameters
Usable spaces
i. A balcony large enough to have meals and get direct
sunlight

ii. One extra living space – to make up for garden,

create a hangout space

iii. Flexible internal planning to accommodate

individual rooms for all children

iv. A utility room for clothes drying or other uses

v. Secure and unthreatened storage at ground level

vi. Secure cycle storage

vii. Secure facilities for parcel and mail delivery

viii. Careful sharing of circulation spaces (access from lift

core, internal corridors and external galleries)
 Physical Design Parameters
Usable spaces
 Physical Design Parameters

Ensure security, safety and reliability

i. Structurally safe - seismic safety in case of high-rise buildings

ii. Reliability on the services – uninterrupted water supply, no drainage failure,

uninterrupted power, working lift and intercom

iii. Security from criminal activities - through active and passive means

iv. Fire safety

v. Social security
 Physical Design Parameters

Optimum mix of uses

What percentage of built up space to be devoted for ancillary supportive facilities like
shopping, ATM, medicine shop

Optimum and efficient layout

i. Having efficient and workable room sizes

ii. Minimizing circulation space including those of staircase, lift lobby
iii. Efficient service - Clubbing the toilets together
iv. Having cross ventilation in bed rooms
v. Choosing optimum configuration - how many flats per floor make most optimum layout
vi. Ensuring visual and aural privacy
vii. Proper orientation for improving indoor micro-climate by adopting passive means
 Physical Design Parameters
Optimum and
efficient layout
 Technical design Parameters
Appropriate Materials

i. General appearance;
ii. Dimension and dimensional stability;
iii. Structural stability including strength properties;
iv. Fire safety;
v. Durability;
vi. Thermal properties;
vii. Mechanical properties;
viii. Acoustical properties;
ix. Optical properties;
x. Biological effect;
xi. Environmental aspects;
xii. Working characteristics;
xiii. Ease of handling; and
xiv. Consistency and workability.
 Technical design Parameters
Appropriate Technology and Codal Provisions

i. Speedy Construction
ii. Environment Friendly materials
iii. Cost optimization
iv. Structural safety and stability
v. Ensure User satisfaction and reliability
vi. Code compliance – ECBC, NBC, CPWD
vii. Universal Accessibility
 Economic Parameters

This is largely guided by :

• the technology that the owner(s) can afford
• the materials available
• the site condition
• construction time and the cost

Adequate measures for optimizing cost should be integrated at every level

like:
• Preparation of an efficient layout where space is not wasted
• Selection of Low-cost material
• Adopt Cost-effective construction technique
• Implement efficient Project Management
 Socio – psychological design Parameters
Aesthetically pleasing
2

3
 Socio – psychological design Parameters
Aesthetically pleasing

particularly challenging for a housing project because here client is unknown

have an idea of the client group –income and affordability – but you do not know
anything about their personal taste and choice and people vary so much in this

i. devising an architectural style that has a broad appeal to the client group is very
important.

ii. always wise to be slightly conservative - think of a mid – way which would be
appealing to a larger group of clients

iii. judiciously choosing a palette of materials and colour (including landscaping) is

particularly important to appeal to a wide group of client
 Socio – psychological design Parameters
Successful place – making
i. A sense of place exists when
residents have a permanent
sense of belonging to
somewhere of value.

ii. This value can be identified with

a housing complex, a
neighbourhood, or even a
component of the
neighbourhood that works or
more important a component
that residents value.

iii. The job of an architect or site

planner is to identify which
components or characteristics
are essential and how can the
buildings and other elements of
site planning contribute to
layout.
 Socio – psychological design Parameters
Successful place – making

i. Creating a sense of enclosed external space, outside rooms balanced by

buildings of the right height, scale, proportion, visually connected from the
blocks and able to trap sunlight.

The design tools are mainly the height: width ratio of the open spaces –

a central open space formally created between a few building blocks

an incidental open space at the rare part of the block
a joint open space between two blocks

ii. Designing routes from individual dwelling units to the public realm that
are secure and friendly and feel connected.

iii. Eliminating the dominance of cars where the residents are playing or
strolling or are engaged in other forms of passive recreation. If elimination
is not possible, speed restriction is must.
 Socio – psychological design Parameters
Successful place – making

iv. Making sure that all outside spaces are useful and well overlooked. - a
term called ‘defensible space’ by Oscar Newman - any space which is not
being overlooked from the adjacent properties is not safe – so any central
courtyard, or mid – level terrace or an incidental open space should be
visually connected from the adjacent housing units.

v. Devising ways of encouraging community life – this includes creating

outdoor and semi – outdoor spaces which would make people want to
linger and make connections with the neighbours.

vi. Taking care of the design of lighting is particularly important. Not only is it
important for legibility but is also an essential component of providing
security and creating the night – time impact of a public space. Also area
lighting and façade lighting may be effective for creating a visual appeal.
 Socio – psychological design Parameters

Discrete defensible space

Private

Semi
Private

Private

Semi Public
Semi Semi
Private Private

Private
Public
Diagram of Discrete Defensible Spaces : clearly allocated to Residents or small groups of residents
 Socio – psychological design Parameters
Individual characteristics and social needs
man is a social animal and most people like to live in small groups and visit friends and
relatives. But at the same time man has a desire for privacy and solitude

socialization should be spontaneous and out of choice not imposed. There should be right
amount of balance between enjoyable interaction and unwanted interference.

An apartment within a housing complex is a place where an individual or a family can

enjoy privacy but at the same time interact at will with the neighbors.

Psychologists and sociologists say that human relationship amongst neighbors is fostered
by homogeneity, similarity in lifestyle or similarity in stages of family life cycle - within
these housing complexes, this automatically happens. But at the same time sociologists
advocate some cross group mixing

i. To have the right balance between privacy and interaction.

ii. To foster a judicious mix of families belonging to different background so

that a healthy society is formed.
 Socio – psychological design Parameters
Family structure and family requirement
Stage – 1 Young couple
Stage – 2 Young couple + children
Stage – 3 Young couple + children +
depended parents
Stage – 4 Mature couple + grown up
children
Stage – 5 Mature couple + grown up
children
Stage – 6 Children get married and
start their own life cycle as
young couple
Stage – 7 Widow or widower
1 master bed room + 1 guest room (for
occasional visit of parents) = 2
1 master bed room + 1 guest room (for
occasional visit of parents) + I children room = 3
1 master bed room + 1 bed room (for
permanent parents) + 1 children room = 3
1 master bed room + 1 bed room (for guests) +
1 children room = 3
1 master bed room + 2 rooms for children + 1
room for guest / parent = 4
1 master bed room + 1 room (for occasional visit
of children) = 2
1 master bed room + 1 room (for occasional visit
of children) = 2
 Socio – psychological design Parameters
Socio – cultural background
and its demand
Thank you…………….