6 PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING AND HOUSING STANDARDS

P. Sudha

INTRODUCTION

Today’s home plays a critical role is our lives, perhaps more than at any other time in history. It not only shelters and protects us from physical harm but also nurtures our growth, enhances our development, insulates us from the stress of the outside world. So a house is a shelter consisting of walls, floors, roof, doors, windows etc., in which human being live. In the house family members enjoy all the happiness, affection and love each other, health and ease of comfort, entertainment, social activities and indulgence of hobbies.

So, in this topic mainly we discuss about the planning objectives, factors influencing life space, principles of planning the house and housing standards.

PLANNING OBJECTIVES

•  The basic objective of planning of buildings is to arrange all the units of a building on all floors and at level according to their functional requirements making best use of space
•  Gives comfortable support, thereby fulfilling its requirement of utility.
•  It gives pleasure when seen or touched; if it is beautiful
• It should suits the individual or group, if it has character.

FACTORES INFLUENCING LIFE SPACE

In order to understand personality and culture in relation to a particular group of individuals, we generally list a number of factors. Some of them are

• Climate
• Location
• Mobility
• People
• Lifestyle
• Psychology
• Taste
• Financial limit

1. CLIMATE:

A house can be designed and constructed to maximize and /or minimize the effect of climate. It is possible to create an atmosphere of warmth or cold, snugness or airiness. The thick rug and the comfortable built – in seating contribute to the sense of snugness. The fire place too plays a role in keeping the occupants warm. Windows can be oriental to collect warmth and provide ventilation. Floors and wall materials can be selected to store natural solar heat or to insulate against cold.

2. LOCATION AND ORIENTATION:

The importance of location and orientation lies in the way climate can affect the architectural design of a home, calling for more or less insulation, fewer or more windows, a pitched or domed or flat roof and the interior choice of a materials, colours and furniture arrangements. Whether a house is in the country, town or city will have its own character. A city apartment occupied on a permanent basis, relatively expensive furnishings and finishes for decoration.

3 MOBILITY:

Mobility means movement of the population from one place to another and its depends upon the nature of work. One may have to transfer from his job every five years, in these cases they should take careful planning of the house. For (eg) posses light weight furniture and repair the worn out the leave it for the tenant.

4 PEOPLE:

The people who will live in the home are most important planning factor. The number, ages, sex, sizes, activities and relationships of people who comprise the household must be in primary factor, in order that the special needs and interests of each individual.

5   LIFE STYLE:

Life style is the amount of time devoted to various activities in the home. It includes entertainment habits – large or small, formal or informal gathering of friends or relatives, types of social activities such as meals, music, games and the location of these activities within the home. The well planned space will provide for which one of these variables dominates the lifestyle.

6   PSYCHOLOGY:

Psychologist Robert Sommer has studied the effects of the physical environment upon the attitudes and behaviour of the people who use it. A space should contribute positively to the comfort and efficiency of the inmates. Often people have the psychological effect of

• Claustrophobia
•  Agoraphobia

People will have the fear of enclosed space called claustrophobia. Claustrophobia people also feel great anxiety in small rooms. They always like a open spaces.

People will have the fear of open space called agoraphobia. In the absence of walls, other confirming fixtures the agoraphobes experiences a feeling of insecurity. They always like a enclosed space. Such factors need consideration in planning the lifespace for many people.

7  TASTE:

Taste is defined as particular likes and dislikes of an individual. It is familiar to us from every day experience. A preference for churidhar over saree, use of labour saving devices instead of traditional one’s having attached bathrooms other than having separately. Taste is perhaps the single most important factor in determining what a lifespace will look like.

8    FINANCIAL LIMITS:

Both human and financial resources should be taken into planning the house. The present possessions can help factor. The individual skills, hobbies and creative abilities account during to decide this should also be taken into consideration. Material should be related to provide a balance between care required and aesthetic qualities desired..

PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING THE HOUSE.

Architects often use the    word plan to meet the horizontal representation of   an area which is commonly known as floor plans. Such plans usually shows walls as thick lines, windows as thin lines, windows as thin lines and doors as blank place. Complete plan should show the direction in which doors swing and also the location of the electrical outlet.

As a general rule, the shape of a plan isgoverened by the climatic condition of the place whether compact or closed or extended or opened. Whatever the plan certain principles which govern the theory of planning are common to all building. They are

1. Aspect,	2. Prospect,
3. Privacy,	4. Grouping,
5. Roominess,	6.FurnitureRequirement,
7.Sanitation,	8.Flexibility,
9.Circulation,	10.Practical Considerations.

1.Aspect.

‘Aspect’ means peculiarity of the arrangement of doors and windows in the external walls of a building which allows the occupants to enjoy the natural gifts such as sunshine, breeze, scenery, etc. Aspect is a very important consideration in planning as it provides not only comfort and good environment to live in but from hygienic point of view also.

A room which receives light and air from a particular side is said to have aspect of that direction;From this angle, the following aspects for different rooms are preferred

(a) For kitchen – E-aspect.

(b) For dining room – S-aspect.

(c) For drawing and living rooms – S-aspect or S-E aspect.

(d) For bed rooms- S-W-aspect or W-aspect.

(e) For verandahs – S-W-aspect or W-aspect.

(f) For reading rooms, stores, class-rooms, studios, stairs, etc.- N-aspect.

It is clear that a kitchen should be on E-aspect/ so that the morning sun would refresh and purify the air and keep the kitchen cool during the remaining period of the day. The dining/ drawing and living rooms should have a S-aspect or S-E-aspect. The sun is towards the south during winter and more deviated towards the north during summer. Similarly, the bedrooms should have W-aspect or S-W-aspect, since the breeze required in summer will beavailable from west side only. But a verandah, a gallery or some such sun-shading device, must be provided on that side {i.e., W or S-W side) so as to protect the structure from the hot afternoon sun. Hence, reading rooms, stores, stairs, studios, class-rooms, etc. are placed towards the north.

2. Prospect.

‘Prospect’, is the impressions that house is likely to make on person who looks at it from the out side. Therefore, it include the attainment of pleasing appearance by the use of natural beauties; disposition of doors and windows; and concealment of some un- desirable views in a given outlook.’Prospect’ and ‘Aspect’ both demand disposition of doors and windows.

3. Privacy

Privacy is one of. the importantprinciples in the planning of buildings of all types in general and residential buildings in particular. Privacy requires consideration in two ways:

(i) Privacy of one room from another.

(ii) Privacy of all parts of a building from the neighbouring buildings, public streets andby-ways.

Privacy of the former type is attained by carefullyplanning the building with respect to grouping/ disposition of doors/ mode of hanging doors, provision of small corridor or lobby etc. This can also be achieved by planning screens or curtains.

Privacy of the latter type is easily secured by carefully planning the entrance and steering it with tree or creepers trained on a trellis.Privacy is of supreme importance in bed rooms water closets, urinals, bathrooms, etc.

4. Grouping

Grouping means the disposition of various rooms in related position so that all the rooms are placed in proper correlation of their functions and in proximity with each other For example, in a residential building, dining room must be close to the kitchen; at the same time kitchen should be away from the drawing or the main living room, otherwise kitchen smells and smoke would be distracting. Services must be nearer to and independently accessible from every bed-room. The water closets, urinals, etc. must be far away from the kitchen and dining room, and so on.

5. Roominess

‘Roominess’ refers to the effect produced by deriving the maximum benefit from the minimum dimensions of a room. It is the accomplishment of economy of space at the same time avoiding cramping of the plan. It is essential particularly in case of residential buildings where large storage spaces is required, to make maximum use of every nook and comer of built-up area of the building before making an addition to the plinth area.

For giving better impression of roominess, the following points should be kept of view:

(i) A great skill should be exercised in making suitable arrangements of the rooms, doors and passages for accommodation in such a way that the utility, liability, privacy and extension appearance are not adversely affected.

(ii) A square room appears relatively smaller in size and utility than a rectangular room of the same area.

(iii)     A small room within ordinately high walls appears relatively smaller than its actual size.

(iv)   The disposition of doors, windows and cupboards, such that they do not cross-cut this room area and obstruct the placing of furniture, adds to roominess.

(v)   The design of elements such as floors, walls, ceilings, lifts, etc. should be such as to create a sense of space beyond its actual dimensions.

6.  Furniture Requirements.

The functional requirement of a room or an apartment governs the furniture requirements. This is an important consideration in planning of buildings. In residential buildings, a room whether intended for a bed room or kitchen or drawing room, the architect should take into account the furniture positions of all types likely to be accommodated, so that the doors, windows and circulation space do not prevent from placing of sufficient number of pieces.

7.  Sanitation

Sanitation consists of providing ample light, ventilation, facilities for cleaning and sanitary conveniences in the following manner:

(i)Light. Light has two-fold significance, firstly it illuminates and secondly from hygienic point of view. Light in interior buildings may be provided by natural or artificial lighting. A room should get sunlight as long as and as much as possible. Vertical windows are, therefore, better than horizontal ones.

(ii)   Ventilation. It is the supply of outside air either positive ventilation or by infiltration into the building. Good ventilation is an important factor conducive to comfort in buildings. Poor ventilation or lack of fresh air in building, always produces headache, sleepiness, inability to fix attention, etc. Ventilation may be natural or mechanical. In natural ventilation, the outside air is supplied into the building through windows, ventilators or other openings in mechanical ventilation the outside air is supplied either by mechanical device such as fan or by infiltration by reduction of pressure inside due to exhaust of air, or by a combination of positive ventilation and exhaust of air. Good ventilation is generally achieved by placing the windows, doors and ventilators such that they catch as much of breeze as possible.

(iii) Cleanliness and sanitary conveniences. Though the general cleaning and upkeep of the building is the responsibility of the occupants but even then some provisions to facilitate cleaning and prevention of dust are necessary in planning. The floors, as far as possible, should be of non-absorbent surface, smooth and proper slope should be given to facilitate washing with suitable outlets in the walls. Prevention of dust accumulation isessential. Dust helps the growth of bacteria and,spread of disease.  ‘     .Sanitary conveniences include the provision ofbathrooms, water closets, lavatories, latrines, urinals, etc. in a building.

8. Flexibility

Flexibility means planning rooms in such a way which, though originally designed for a specific purpose, may be used to serve other overlapping purposes also, as and when desired. This is particularly important for designing the houses for middle class families A house planned on scientific principle. within a. small space, must provide various similar activities such as listening to radio, child home work, entertaining guests and festive occasion such as holiday dinners, birthday parties, wedding banquets and so on. One is to combine the drawing room and the dining room by a removable partition or a screen between them, and the other way is to dine in the open air.

9. Circulation

Circulation means ‘internal thoroughfares’ or the movement space provided on the same floor either between the rooms or within the room called ‘horizontal circulation’ and between the different floors through stairs or lifts called ‘vertical circulation’. Passages/corridors, halls and lobbies serve the purpose of horizontal circulation, whereas for vertical circulation normally stair or stair-case, electric lifts, ramps, etc. are the means of access to different floors.

10. Practical Considerations

The following practical points should be given due consideration in the planning of buildings:

(i) Strength and stability of structure, coupled with convenience and comfort, should occupy the first place of importance in planning.

(ii) Simplicity and effect of strength lend a lasting beauty and mobility to a building.

(iii) It should be remembered that a building or a house is immovable property and is built to last for several generations. One has, therefore, no right to practice false economy by erecting a weak structure,

(iv) While planning, it is necessary to keep provisions for either adding a wing or extending some. part of house without dismantling-l

HOUING STANDARDS

The role of housing standard is to ensure that housing is safe to live in, and that owners carry out their legal responsibilities to maintain their property. The Bureau of Indian Standard is the national standard body of India established by the Bureau of Indian Standard act 19876 formerly known as ISI. Having realized the importance of building bye – laws government departments, municipal bodies and other construction agencies the National Building Code.has been published by the Bureau of Indian Standard. It is prepared to unify the building regulations throughout the country. The national building code of India is a elaborate building code and national to give guidelines for regulating the building construction activities.

LOCAL AUTHORITY INHOUING STANDARDS

A local authority is a body created by law and it has to carry out various functions and obligations in connection with community life. One of the important duty of a local authority is to frame suitable building bye-laws and to provide suitable machinery for its successful implementation. For this purpose, it should form a department to receive plans of proposed buildings. The department checks every detail on the plan and defects, if any, pertaining to prevailing bye-laws, are pointed out for rectification. Only those plans are approved which comply with the requirements of prevailing bye-laws. The approval of plan means the acceptance of local authority of the following requirements only:

 (1) Arrangements of stairs, lifts, corridors, doors, windows and parking

(2) Height of building and its various story’s

(3) Minimum requirements of high-rise building or low-rise building as the case may be

(4) Minimum requirements of sanitary facility

(5) minimum requirements with respect to areas of rooms

(6) Permissible built-up area

 (7) Permissible F.S.I

(8) Permissible open spaces and set-back

(9) Permissible use of buildings

(10) Provision for light and ventilation.

PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING BUILDING BYE-LAWS

The broad principles to be observed while framing the building bye-laws for any locality can be summarized as follows:

(1) Classifying the buildings with unit as a family and mentioning the requirements accordingly

(2) Classifying the rooms according to use and then mentioning minimum standards of each room with respect to size, height, floor area, ventilation and light

(3) Controlling the height of compound wall and location of compound gates

(4)Controlling the height of structures and putting maximum limit of height in certain zones

(5)Controlling the area of projections in the marginal spaces insisting suitable F.S.I.

(7) Insisting upon suitable arrangements with respect to drainage and water supply

(8) Making compulsory the appointment of a licensed architect or engineer for works of the specified nature and magnitude;

(9)Making compulsory to construct the buildings with the materials and the workmanship as per standard specifications

(10)Mentioning the light plane, set-backs and marginal spaces;

(1l) Mentioning the minimum size of plots, their dimensions and frontages; etc.

BUILDING BYE-LAWS FOR RESIDENTIAL AREAS

The brief descriptions of all the possible building bye-laws to be framed for residential area of a typical town planning scheme are mentioned below. The contents and provisions may be altered to suit the local requirements. Following arethe important building bye-laws:

(1) Permissible size of plots: 200 m2 for one family unit 300 m2 for two semi-detached family units665 m2 for ownership flats.

(2) Built-up area: The F.S.I, shall be 1.00 with maximumutilization upto 0.40 on ground floor.

(3) Margins: The margins on road side and adjacentproperties shall be respectively 4.50 m and 3.00 m. For plots having areas less than 300 m2, they shall be respectively3.00 m and 2.00 m.

(4) Area of rooms: table shows the minimum areas ofvarious rooms.

  (5) Plinth height: It shall be 45 cm above road level or plot level, whichever is higher.

 (6) Height of floors: The minimum heights shall be as follows:

•      2.10 m : Bath room, w.c., pump room, coal room andwater room. 2.70 m : Floor height on each floor.
• The maximum height of floors shall not be more than 1.25 times the minimum height.

    (7) Projections in margins: Following projections in the marginal spaces shall be permitted:

(i) Canopy of 3.00 m width above 2.50 m from ground level

(ii) Gallery of maximum width 1.20 m at floor levels

(iii) Stair attached to building and open to sky with minimumwidth of 90 cm

(iv) Weathershed of maximum width 50 cm at lintel level

(8) Cellar: The permission to construct cellar shall be granted with the following restrictions:

Height :  2.40 m

Stair width :  90 cm

Ventilation :  One-tenth of floor area

(9) Loft:

The provision of loft shall be permitted in kitchen and store. The maximum width of loft shall be one-third the width in that direction. The maximum height above loft shall be 1.50 m and bottom of loft shall be at a minimum height of 2.10 m from floor level.

(10) Lift:

For buildings having more than three floorsthe lift shall be provided at the rate of one lift for 20 family units. The lift shall be provided from ground floor and its minimum capacity shall be of 6 persons. If the height of building is 25 m or more, at least two lifts shall be provided.

(11) Ventilation: All rooms except coal room, water room, store room and garage shall have at least one side adjacent toopen space. The area of windows and ventilators excluding frames shall be at least one-tenth of the floor area of room.

(12) Stair: The minimum width of stair shall be 90 cm and it shall be made of fire-proof The pitch of stair shall be within 30° to 45°. The stair cabin shall not exceed 11 m2 in area.

(13) Minimum requirements: One family unit shall be provided with the minimum requirements of one living room, one kitchen, one bath room and one w.c.

(14) Water supply: For buildings having second floor, the overhead tank of 1800 litres and underground tank with pumping set shall be provided.

(15) Drainage: The longitudinal section of sewer having diameter 15 cm or more shall be given and the feasibility of drainage connection with public drainage line shall be ascertained. Where no public drainage line exists, the soak pits and septic wells shall be allowed.

(16) Compound wall and gate: The maximum height of compound wall on road side shall be 50 m and on other sides, it shall be 1.80 m. The gates of compound shall open inwards.

(17) Structural aspects: The designs of R.C.C. members, steel members and timber members shall be submitted by competent licensed structural engineers. The walled structures shall be allowed upto ground, first and second floors. For structures above two floors, only framed structures shall be permitted.

(18) Specifications for materials and workmanship: Theconstruction work shall be carried out with materials of good quality and superior workmanship. An undertaking to execute the work with standard materials and good workmanship shall be given by the owner and the engineer.

Conclusion:

The provision of good housing is to be accomplished by various means and measures. It is not enough to provide structurally stable structures as houses. But they must be so located and designed that they afford convenience, amenity, health and social life to the community. So before planning the house in should kept in the important aspects of principles factors and accordance with housing standards for better living.

References

• Arora.S.P,BindraS.P, 2015, The Text Book of Building Construction, DhanpatRai Publications, New Delhi.
• Prabhakar, L.V. 1998, Vasthu – The User’s Manual, The Avenue Press, Chennai.
• Despande, R.S,1974, Build your Own Home, United Book Corporation, Poona
• 5. Faulkner.S and Faulkner.R, 1987, Inside Today’s Home, Rinchart Publishing
• Company, New York
• Riggs, R,1992, Materials and Components of Interior Design, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi

Web links

• https://humancentereddesign.org/index.php?q=resources/universal-design-housing
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Morris_Committee
• https://www.habitat.org/lc/env/pdf/US_Construction_Standards.pdf
• https://www.law.georgetown.edu/campus-life/housing-residence-life/summer-housing/room-dimensions-floor-plans.cfm
• https://energy.gov/energysaver/energy-efficient-home-design
• https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/london-plan/current-london-plan/london-plan-chapter-3/policy-35-quality-and