GRAPHIC GUIDE TO

RESIDENTIAL
SPACE
PLANNING
Graphic Guide to Residential Space Planning by Luis Furushio

Self-published by Luis Furushio

www.Luisfurushio.com

© 2022, Luis Furushio

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic
or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval)
without permission in writing from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
For permissions contact: [email protected]
 Author's Note
Hi there, I am Luis, and I got inspired to create this book from questions I usually get from
clients during the early stages of the design process.

In architecture, there is always an intention behind each design decision, and this needs
to be communicated throughout the entire creative process.

In this book, I try to answer some of these questions, showing the "whys" behind
residential design with simple drawings that are visually easy to digest.

Whether you are an architecture student yearning for sources beyond basic textbooks, a
homeowner searching for tips on how to remodel your house, or even a contractor want-
ing to improve your residential design knowledge, this is the book for you.

Good design is not accomplished when you provide your own vision and what you think
is best for your client. Good design is accomplished when you take your client's vision
and elevate it in order to improve their quality of life while communicating your intentions.
What's Inside
THE FIRST SKETCHES.....................................................1
From Diagrams to Plans..................................................................... 2

EXTERIOR DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS..........................6

Exterior Environment.......................................................................... 7
Mass, Scale, and Proportions........................................................... 10
Grading and Hillside Construction.................................................... 13
House Styles in North America......................................................... 19

LIVING AREAS.................................................................21
General Analysis.............................................................................. 22
Foyer / Entry Hall Design.................................................................. 26
Living Room Design......................................................................... 32
Dining Room Design......................................................................... 42
Guest Bathroom Design................................................................... 47

SLEEPING AREAS...........................................................50
Bedroom Arrangements................................................................... 51
Bedroom Design............................................................................... 54
Bathroom Design.............................................................................. 62

KITCHEN AREA...............................................................69
Kitchen Design................................................................................. 70

UTILITY AREAS...............................................................92
Laundry Room Design...................................................................... 93
Garage Design................................................................................. 96

STAIRCASES...................................................................99
Types of Staircases........................................................................ 100
Design and Location of Staircases................................................. 101
Chapter 1
THE FIRST SKETCHES


THE FIRST SKETCHES

FROM DIAGRAMS TO PLANS

Bubble diagrams are a helpful start for placing the different areas of a house in relationship with the
orientation of the lot, the weather, the view, and how you can access the property. This first step will
avoid any drastic modifications during the developement of the final floor plan.

The most used areas of the house should be kept fairly close as much as possible to avoid
unnecessary steps. Living areas should be kept close to the kitchen area due to the high traffic
volume. Sleeping areas should be kept as far as possible from the noisy parts of the house like the
utility areas, and their access should be through a transitional space like a hallway to provide more
privacy.

The following are bubble diagrams showing common traffic patterns between the different areas of a
house. I have divided these into Living Areas, Kitvhen Area, and Sleeping Areas. For the purpose of
simplicity, I am not showing the utility areas. The width of the arrows represent the relative amount of
traffic between the areas.

S K
K L L
S

DIAGRAM 1 DIAGRAM 2 ENTRY

ENTRY
Not recommended. The traffic flow from the Acceptable traffic flow. This is an improvement
kitchen to the living areas is too far, and the of Diagram 1. By just swaping living and
location of the sleeping area in between sleeping areas, the linear traffic flow improves
creates problems of traffic, noise, and privacy. considerably.

K K

S
L S
L ENTRY
ENTRY

DIAGRAM 3 DIAGRAM 4
Efficient traffic flow. Sleeping areas are Very efficient traffic flow. As in Diagram 3, there
provided with privacy, and the resulting "L" is a strong connection between living and
shape generates a potential space for an kitchen areas. The resulting “T” shape
outdoor area like a deck or patio. generates easy access to the sleeping areas.

THE FIRST SKETCHES

FROM DIAGRAMS TO PLANS

There are several ways to arrange the different rooms in a house. The best way to approach this is
by giving priority to the effcient use of the space and traffic flow. However, a particular client may
request changes from the most efficient arrangement and may resist all logical argument. Always
remember that a big part of the designer's job is to satisfy the needs of the client, but always make
sure to communicate how these changes are going to imapct their quality of life in the long run.

STAIRS STAIRS
UP DN

ENTRY K
L S
1ST LEVEL 2ND LEVEL

DIAGRAM 5
Traffic flow for a two-story house. The most used areas of the house, the living
room and the kitchen, are located on the first level. The private areas are
located on the second level. This diagram provides easy access to the stairs
that are located between the living and kitchen areas.

S
STAIRS
DN
STAIRS
UP S
L
K
ENTRY

1ST LEVEL 2ND LEVEL

DIAGRAM 6
A variation of Diagram 5 with sleeping areas on the first level. The kitchen and
living areas are close to each other, providing easy access to the sleeping
areas and resulting in a "T" shape, similar to Diagram 4. The location of the
stairs, next to the sleeping areas on both levels, provides privacy and good
flow between the two levels.

THE FIRST SKETCHES

FROM DIAGRAMS TO PLANS

The following is an example of how you can develop your first schematic floor plan. The process
starts by drawing your bubble diagram and finishes with a schematic single-line floor plan. In this
phase, you can also provide schematic elevations, sections, and all the sketches to help
communicate your ideas and design intentions. It is important to make sure that you explain the
"why" behind each design decision throughout the entire process.

BUBBLE DIAGRAM
We start by locating the living and
K
kitchen areas close to each other.
The sleeping and utility areas are U S
placed on opposite sides, keeping
the sleeping areas far from noises
and with more privacy. The result-
L
ing shape is a linear arrangement.

ENTRY
SITE PLAN ANALYSIS
Based on the existing conditions of
the site, we start locating our
resulting bubble diagram.

The orientation of the lot, the exist-

ing climate conditions, the views,
and the location of your neighbor's
house are all crucial factors that
N
can impact the final design.

The linear arrangement oriented in VIEWS

the same direction of the sun path WINDS
with minimal openings on west and WINDS
east sides helps protect the house TREES
PROVIDE
from the heat generated by the PRIVACY
sun. TO THE

The arrangement also takes U K SLEEPING

AREAS
advantage of the winds coming
from the south and north to provide DRIVEWAY L S
cross ventilation through the
narrowest side of the house.

The use of natural barriers like

trees and shrubs helps control
solar heat gain during the
WINDS
summer months and provides
WINDS
privacy to the sleeping areas
facing the front of the lot. STR
EET


THE FIRST SKETCHES

FROM DIAGRAMS TO PLANS

LIVING

KITCHEN BEDROOM 1 PRIMARY

LAUNDRY
BEDROOM

GARAGE

BATH. BEDROOM 2 BATH. BATH.

DINING

ENTRY

TRAFFIC DIAGRAM
Room-by-room traffic diagrams help to demonstrate the traffic patterns of the future
residents of the house. This will become the basis for the first rough scale floor plan.
The scale of the bubbles is not important in this phase.

CL.
LAUND.
LIVING BED. 1 PRIMARY
KITCHEN BED.
CL.

GARAGE CL. CL.

CL. CL.
FOYER
DINING BATH
BATH. BED. 2
BATH.

ENTRY

SINGLE-LINE SCHEMATIC FLOOR PLAN

After you define the traffic pattern, you can start creating a single-line schematic floor
plan to scale. The design process is a constant exchange of ideas, and a single-line-floor
plan provides the flexibility to easily make changes to your drawing. After you define the
schematic floor plan, you can start adding wall thickness and creating a more
finished-looking floor plan to scale.


Chapter 2
EXTERIOR DESIGN
CONSIDERATIONS


EXTERIOR DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

EXTERIOR ENVIRONMENT
One of the most common mistakes we make during the early stages of the design process is to just
focus on developing the interior functionality of our design. There are several exterior environmental
factors like the building orientation, the prevailing winds, and the sun path that can significantly impact
the final exterior volumetric design of our project.

ORIENTATION
Orientation is the position of your house in relation to the path of the sun in different seasons and the
prevailing wind patterns in your location. The concept is very simple; if you are located in a hot region,
your house should be oriented to minimize solar gains, and the opposite is applicable for cold regions.

SHADED AREA
SUMMER REPRESENTS
THE SUN’S PATH
PREVAILING THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
WINDS

N E

WINTER

W S
PREVAILING
WINDS

PREVAILING WINDS

SUMMER SUMMER

LINEAR FLOOR PLAN

N
WINTER WINTER

PREVAILING WINDS


EXTERIOR DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

PREVAILING WINDS
Prevailing winds are the direction that the wind blows predominantly at a particular place or in a
particular season. Wind direction, frequency, and speed can greatly impact the design of your house,
including the exterior design, the shape of the floor plan, and the type of roof you want to use.

CROSS VENTILATION
In hot climates, a linear floor plan
takes advantage of the winds
coming from the south and north,
generating a cross ventilation
system and providing the necessary
natural method of cooling.

PREVAILING WINDS PREVAILING WINDS

HIGH WIND REGIONS UPLIFT

Gable roofs with overhangs and LOAD
patio covers are prone to damage
from strong winds. Wind forces on
a roof tend to be uplift. A strong
connection between the roof
structure, walls, and foundation is
necessary to avoid damage to the
house structure.

TREES AS NATURAL WIND

BREAKS
The use of trees and vegetation
combined with earth dunes serve
as a natural windbreak,
redirecting the wind over the
house structure.


EXTERIOR DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

CONTROLLING SUN RADIATION AND HEAT GAIN

USE OF VEGETATION USE OF ROOF OVERHANGS

Trees and vegetation provide many Sometimes we undervalue the
benefits controlling solar penetration. importance of roof overhangs as
The shading that they offer helps a functional part of the design of a
make homes energy-efficient by new house. They help to shade
creating a cooling effect during the windows, controlling heat gain
hot summer months and allowing and sunlight during the summer
passive solar gain during cold months.
winter months.

USE OF LOUVERED PERGOLAS USE OF VERTICAL STRUCTURES

OR AWNINGS In some cases, the use of roof
If a roof overhang is not possible, overhangs is not enough to provide
the addition of a horizontal awning or the desired shading for large
pergola over the window will provide windows. The addition of vertical
the required shade for controlling heat structures like timber batten screen
gain during hot months. walls or wood lattice screens helps to
improve the control of heat gain.


EXTERIOR DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

MASS, SCALE, AND PROPORTIONS

Managing the mass, scale, and proportions of a building is a fundamental design task that you must
consider from the earliest part of the design process. As floor plans evolve, room sizes and
arrangements will change to accommodate exterior requirements.

NO CLEAR PRIMARY
FORM AND LACK
AGLOMERATION OF HIERARCHY
BOX-LIKE OF ELEMENTS
FORM

TALL AND
LARGE
BOXY FORM
OVERALL
MASS EXCEEDS FLAT WALL
HUMAN SCALE PLANES

NOT RECOMMENDED NOT RECOMMENDED

PRIMARY
VOLUME
PROVIDING
HIERARCHY
SECONDARY FORMS
FRAGMENTING THE
OVERALL MASS

RECOMMENDED SECONDARY FORMS

APPEAR TO BE A
LARGE ROOF WITH SERIES OF SMALL
NO ARTICULATION ROOFS WITH NO
UNIFYING ELEMENT

MICRO-MANAGEMENT
OF MASS AND
LARGE RECTANGULAR ROOF FORMS
FOOTPRINT

NOT RECOMMENDED NOT RECOMMENDED

DORMERS AS SECONDARY
ELEMENTS HELP
TO REDUCE BULKINESS

PRIMARY ROOF
IS ARTICULATED BY
SECONDARY ROOFS

RECOMMENDED

