Internal Environment
2.31 General - The aim for any new housing design should be to ensure the internal environment is comfortable, convenient, capable of sensibly accommodating the necessary furniture and equipment associated with specific room activities and be suitable for the particular needs of the intended user groups. When planning the internal environment of new accommodation the following needs to be considered:
- The activities likely to take place in each space;
- The furniture and equipment necessary for these activities;
- Aspect and prospect;
- Communication with other parts of the home;
- Occupiers lifestyle;
- The method of heating.
2.32 Guidance - The designer should also ensure that all legislative requirements are fully addressed within the proposed accommodation. For guidance and advice on design and internal space requirements, refer to:
- BRE housing design handbook, ISBN 0 85125 6015; and
- National Housing Federation: Standard and Quality in Development – a good practice guide, ISBN 13: 9780862975395
2.33 Entrances and Access – entrances to dwellings define the change from public to private space and must be accessible and welcoming, but also secure and protective. Entrances and associated spaces are the main traffic routes within a dwelling and should, therefore, permit both ease of access and egress, and allow the movement of bulky items such as furniture.
2.34 Circulation – the design of dwellings should allow for the free and safe movement of people and furniture between rooms and the main entrance/exit. The circulation space will be dependent upon the number of occupants and their particular requirements. Door saddles should not be provided to internal doors. Door handles and locks should be fitted at an appropriate height, i.e. 900mm – 1000mm.
2.35 Kitchen Area - kitchens are not only the main workplace in a home but provide the focal point for much social activity. The design of the kitchen should, therefore, recognise its use as a family room. The approaches to kitchen design are well documented and centre around meal preparation, including the following:
- Storage and preparation of food;
- Cooking and serving;
- Waste disposal and washing up;
- Clothes washing and drying.
The dimensions of units should comply with BS 6750: 1986 and appliances with BS EN 116: 2004. The equipment and fittings include the following: the sink unit, base units below plus wall cupboards and spaces for washing machine (unless accommodated elsewhere) and tall fridge.
2.36 Kitchen - Design Criteria/Checklist:
- Kitchens should have convenient access to dining areas, if these are not integral.
- Kitchens should have convenient access to living rooms and dwelling entrances.
- Kitchens in 1-2 person dwellings may be planned as a recess off the living room; in larger dwellings it is preferable they be separately enclosed. Where the original design concept includes ‘open plan’ kitchen/living/dining area, window arrangement, electrical & mechanical services, etc, should be appropriately designed and located to accommodate the construction of a separating wall if required at a future date with minimal disruption and cost to the occupants, - particularly in 3 and 3+person dwellings .
- There should be adequate space for cooking, food storage and preparation and clothes washing/ drying, where not provided elsewhere.
- The kitchen layout should provide a work sequence of work surface/cooker/work surface/sink/work surface unbroken by doors, through circulation or tall fitments.
- Kitchen fitments should comprise a sink, drainer and enclosed storage space in connection with keeping, preparing and serving food.
- The cooker space should be safely positioned in relation to doors, windows, wall units, electric sockets etc.
- Cooker space should not be positioned under or immediately adjacent to a window.
- The cooker should be at least 300 mm from a corner base unit.
- The minimum depth of worktop is 600 mm and minimum length of worktop should be 300 mm.
- All work surfaces should be at least 300 mm wide.
- There should be a minimum of 1000 mm clear space in front of kitchen equipment (1200 mm between units)
- Accommodation for a fridge should be provided at the end of a worktop leaving a 600 mm opening. No services or high-level cupboard should be installed over to allow for the future location of a tall fridge/freezer.
- Kitchens should have adequate light and natural ventilation. Mechanical ventilation is required to comply with Building Regulations.
- Washing machine space to be provided unless accommodated elsewhere.
- Consider views and access to private open space for supervising children, putting washing on the line, etc.
- Consider weather protection at external access door. Consideration should be given to a draught lobby when dining is incorporated into the kitchen.
- Consider access to refuse store.
- The opening mechanism on the kitchen window should be easily accessible.
- Tall storage should be provided for cleaning equipment unless elsewhere.
- Minimum Kitchen Storage Units and Appliance Spaces:
The minimum standards for Kitchen Storage Units & Appliance spaces are noted in Table 6.
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2.37 Living Areas – are required to be adaptable to suit the varying needs of individual family size and as these change through time. Consideration should be given to the nature of the main activities for the room and those that may be identified as ‘primary’ or ‘occasional’. The emphasis on the type of activity will change with the time of day and the age profile of the family. Primary activities can include watching TV, or entertaining family or friends. The minimum width of a living area is to be 3.0m (3.2m is preferable.) The minimum standards for living areas are noted in Table 7.
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2.38 Dining Areas – Dining areas should provide for necessary access circulation for all of the dwelling occupants to sit comfortably around a table to have a meal. Dining areas should generally be combined with kitchens or at least have direct access to the kitchen; the profile of the type of occupants may affect the approach to this aspect of the design. A combination of dining area and kitchen forms a secondary space for children allowing direct supervision by a parent working in the kitchen. Dining areas can provide space for occasional activities such as study and can allow separation of noisy and quiet activities taking place in other rooms. The minimum standards for dining areas are noted in Table 8.
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2.39 Bedroom - bedrooms have generally been considered as separate and specific in their function, however they can form valuable areas for study away from the noisy activities of the home. The minimum standards for bedrooms are noted in Table 9.
- The relationship of bedrooms to living areas should be considered to reduce noise transmission;
- Consider the provision of built-in wardrobes;
- Ensure there adequate circulation space around beds for bed making;
- Bedrooms of one dwelling should not be located under or adjacent to rooms of a different function in another dwelling, or under or adjacent to private or communal circulation areas;
- In planning bedrooms, consideration must be given to layouts avoiding positioning beds directly under windows or adjacent to radiators.
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2.40 Bathrooms - the sizes of most bathroom fittings have been standardised. Adequate space should be provided around each item to enable proper use. The minimum standards for bathrooms are noted at Table 10.
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2.41 Storage - every dwelling should have some designated storage space that is both useful and accessible to the residents. The location of general storage space should ensure ease of access and preferably be located off circulation areas. The storage should be a usable shape and be distributed throughout the dwelling. Linen storage (0.5 m3 minimum) will require a means of heating if not adjacent to the hot water cylinder. Ground floor level storage should be provided for garden equipment, where required. Fuel storage and refuse storage should normally be located externally.
2.42 Sound Insulation – noise is unwanted sound and can be generated from both outside and inside dwellings. The aim of good design is to minimise the effects of both airborne and impact noise. The main paths of noise into a building are through windows, doors, ventilators, roof and chimney. Rooms of similar function should be arranged together at party/separating walls and vertically between flats. Bedrooms and living rooms should be positioned well away from shared entrances, corridors, lifts, rubbish chutes and laundries to comply with current Building Regulations(NI).
2.43 Sound Insulation – considerations:
- Arrangement of rooms of similar function at separating walls and vertically between flats
- Avoid back-to-back socket outlets in separating walls and partitions and consideration should be given to the location and insulation of service pipes/SVPs.
- Locate staircases on external walls or on party/separating walls and noisier rooms away from neighbouring dwellings.
2.44 Ventilation/Air Quality – air change rates of between 0.5 and 1 per hour for the whole house are recommended. The objective of controlled ventilation is to reduce the risk of condensation, remove smells and pollutants. A balance should be reached between the ventilation requirements, the need for reducing heat loss and fuel consumption and to comply with current Building Regulations (NI) for ventilation, where applicable.
2.45 Lighting/Daylighting – good daylighting should be provided throughout the home to avoid energy wastage by the use of artificial lighting. A room’s brightness will be affected by the size and height of the windows provided together with the depth and shape of the rooms. Complementary to good daylighting is the view or outlook, particularly in respect of living rooms, kitchens and dining rooms, and the need for supervision of the immediate surroundings. Overshadowing can be caused by nearby buildings, trees etc, and can block out sunshine and daylight to rooms.
2.46 - 2.50 Spare
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