The Primitive Requirements Of A Home
Where to start when designing a home….the beginning?
One fundamental of architectural design often overlooked is to consider that which came before. Much can be learnt from our ancestors when if comes to building homes - there are still thousands of houses across the UK still standing some 400 years since they were built.
At Kyson we have long held the belief that our architecture of today is only successful because of the historic precedent set before us and as such we seek to apply to our designs the lessons that were learnt generations before us; from the Victorians, to the Georgians, to the Elizabethans and beyond.
One such lesson we apply is that of the basic layout of the home. In many ways simplistic yet the reasons behind it are fascinating and give justification to the house layouts of today.
Ancestrally, a house was a modest structure whose primary function was to provide shelter and protection from the elements during the day (living) and more critically at night (sleeping), with the most primitive hut being formed of four walls and projecting roof. Over time the house evolved to incorporate the elementary function of cooking (eating) in the form of a central fire with a simple opening in the roof above. The house developed to fulfill further roles of security, privacy and entertainment. With increased functions the fireplace remained the primary feature of the house around which the rest of daily life revolved.
Despite the development and sophistication of modern day houses, with their surfeit of architectural styles and scales, materials and form, their very purpose has never changed: to address the three primitive requirements of humans- to eat, sleep and live.
With this in mind, consider the rudimentary form of a typical house. Typically formed of two or more storeys, the lower floors likely accommodate the more public functions (on a domestic scale) such as living- reception rooms, lounge, study, library, television, utility; and eating- kitchen, dining, pantry. For maximum privacy the upper floors would contain the rooms connected to rest- bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry, ensuites, dressing etc. Such fundamentals in house design are the starting point for all our new build projects, it is only then that the layouts can be manipulated to suit the particular conceptual design.
It is little tidbits like this that will continue to inform how and why we design houses and add to our extensive research and building design experience. Over time we have developed a strong knowledge of our country’s building heritage and a great understanding of historical building reading and reasoning, all which combines to add further dimension and integrity to each of our projects.
Tags: primitive housing design; historic architecture; building layouts; home layouts; home design
