Minimum Adult-Sized Bedroom/Closet Analysis

We all love to see images of luxury homes, don’t we? But what about the other 98% of the human population? What kind of world do they live in? There has to be better minimum acceptable livable habitation requirements for the modern adult, to help them succeed in life. This can be accomplished with the right home programming, ensuring that the inhabitant’s needs are met in an efficient function environment that also raises their ‘positive spirit.’

There are so many different configurations for bedrooms and their associated closets, often the context in which they lie dictates its ultimate layout and size, but what if one looks at each element alone to establish what the smallest bedroom dimensions should be, that is, comfortable in size for a typical adult, to help establish a minimum guideline Architects, Developers and Home Owners should achieve as a minimum when programming a dwelling design.

This type of analysis is fundamental to dwelling design especially related to basic urban dwellings in townhouses, renovations of suburban homes, apartments, condos, co-ops or even designing layouts for housing projects if one cares enough about those who may have to occupy the space provided. This analysis is what Architect Nick Buccalo of SimpleTwig Architecture sets out to do with regards to two basic components of the dwelling, a bedroom and its closet. Future articles will address other programming requirements of dwelling, programming refers here to the basic room names one knows and how those rooms relate to one another.

For this study, we assume the requirements for one adult, which, as adults we all know or hope, the rooms are flexible enough to accommodate two people.

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Ugly Buildings, Are Ugly For A Reason

There are nice looking buildings, and unfortunately ugly ones. The ramifications for creating an ugly building means that communities have to live with the results for decades. This simple fact distinguishes Architecture from other professions where a product can be used for a much shorter period of time and then discarded. Because of the financial investment in building, being careful on what you allow to be built is critical to a building’s life and community.
 
Here’s an example of a horrible developer and designer, who was probably a structural engineer or a very unskilled architect. One can just read this residential building and hear the conversation. “Keep it as cheap as possible, but lets add balconies to be a feature that will get people to purchase the units.
 

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Helping Cities Grow: What to do.

An important issue for many cities dealing with circumstances initiated by others in the past, like a blighted looking city filled with parking lot scars, etc. From my experience I’ve witnessed many cities do the wrong thing in order to encourage development. The point of this post is, if you do something, it could have a negative impact on your city, so make sure you do the right thing. Continue reading “Helping Cities Grow: What to do.”