THE PRINCIPLES OF HOUSING LAYOUT DESIGN

Introduction

As human populations have grown, society’s impacts on the earth’s ecosystems have
increased. Sustainable approaches to site planning attempt to minimize development
impacts both on the site and off-site. Vital environmental processes must be protected and
where feasible degraded ecosystems restored. This chapter addresses the important design
goals that can help shape better, and more sustainable built environments.

(Bacow, 1995)

‘Good Design Makes a Difference’

‘Good design promotes public health, safety and welfare’

‘Good design attracts people to a city and those people help pay for essentials
that help instill pride and satisfaction in what citizens get for their taxes’

‘Well-designed products (real estate) will succeed in tight markets where

poorly designed products will not’
COMMUNITY RESOURCES

NATURAL

•RIVER/WATER •RAW MATERIALS

-TIMBER/OIL/MINERAL
•PHYSIOGRAPHY
-SLOPE/VALLEY •GEOMORPHOLOGY
-EROSION/SEDIMENTATION
•VEGETATION-FOREST
-CROPS •ECOSYSTEMS
-COMMUNITIES/FLORA/DIVERSIFICATION
•WILDLIFE
-HABITATS

•CLIMATE
-FOUR SEASONS/HUMIDITY
COMMUNITY RESOURCES

MAN-MADE

•SETTLEMENT •RECREATION
-RURAL/CITY/URBAN -PARK/OPEN SPACE

•TRANSPORTATION •HISTORY/HERITAGE
-RAIL/HIGHWAY/AIRPORT -OLDER URBAN

•AGRICULTURE •WORSHIP
-LOWLANDS/UPLANDS -MOSQUE/CHURCH/TEMPLE

•INDUSTRY
-LIGHT/HEAVY

•COMMERCIAL
-SHOPS/SHOPPING COMPLEX
SITE-PLANNING PROCESS

SITE PLANNING IS THE ART OF ARRANGING THE EXTERNAL PHYSICAL

ENVIRONMENT TO SUPPORT HUMAN BEHAVIOR. IT LIES ALONG THE
BOUNDARIES OF ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
AND CITY PLANNING AND IT IS PRACTICED BY MEMBERS OF ALL THESE
PROFESSIONS. SITE PLANS LOCATE STRUCTURES AND ACTIVITIES IN THREE-
DIMENSIONAL SPACE- Kevin Lynch (1971); James A Largo Jr. 2008)
SITE-PLANNING AND DESIGN PROCESS

SITE INVENTORY
(PHYSICAL)

PROGRAMMING
SITE INVENTORY SITE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
(BIOLOGICAL) ANALYSIS DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
SITE
SELECTION
SITE INVENTORY
(CULTURAL) CONSTRUCTION
DOCUMENTATION

PROJECT
IMPLEMENTATION
SITE-PLANNING PROCESS

1. Pre-project or Pre-design Phases

Clients initiate site-planning process. Clients may be individuals, partnerships, corporations, non-profit
organizations; federal, state or local governments.- client may simply choose a firm that it has worked
with in the past. Once the firm is selected, a contract for professional services typically defines the work
that will be completed on the project.

Programming
Defines the project’s objectives and functional requirements, including the proposed activities, area
allocated for each activity, and the functional or spatial relationships among those activities.

2. Site Assessment Phases

a. Site Selection
Identifying and evaluating alternative sites and selecting the best location for the intended program.
Land development typically occurs in one of two ways: clients have a site and choose a program to
develop on that site, or clients have a program of intended uses and need a site for those uses.

b. Site Inventory
Collect the features of the site and its surroundings, in conjunction with the project’s program.
Determine the attribute data that are collected for the site inventory. Site inventories map important
physical, biological and social or cultural attributes. These may include circulation patterns and traffic
volumes, existing utility systems, or architectural character within the surrounding built environment.
On large projects, attribute mapping and analysis are particularly well suited for applications of
geographic information systems.
Examples of physical, biological and cultural attributes that may be mapped at the site scale:

Categories Sub-categories Attributes

Physical Soils Bearing capacity

Porosity
Fertility
Stability
Topography Elevation
Slope
Aspect
Hydrology Surface drainage
Water chemistry
Geology Landforms
Depth to bedrock

Biological Vegetation Plant communities

Specimen trees
Wildlife Habitats for endangered or threatened species

Cultural Land use Prior land use

Land use on adjoining properties
Legal Political boundaries
Land ownership
Land use regulations
Easements and deed restrictions
Circulation Street function (e.g. arterial or collector)
Traffic volume
Utilities Electric
Water
Telecommunications
c.Site Analysis
A variety of physical, biological and cultural attributes can influence the site’s suitability for the project
under construction

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTE

BIOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTE

CULTURAL ATTRIBUTE

LANDUSE SUITABILITY
Site analysis summarizes the site’s suitability for the programmed uses. Site suitability for specific project
is a function of the site’s assets and liabilities-or opportunities and constraints. Site constraints include
chemical contamination from prior commercial or industrial uses. The site analysis may assess whether
environmental remediation is needed, what action should be taken to protect adjacent properties from
contamination and what buildings and infrastructures can be used or recycled (Platt and Curran, 2003).

Example of Hazards, constraints, or nuisances that may influence site selection and development:

Categories Hazards Constraints Nuisances

Physical Flooding Shallow bedrock

Landslide Erosion susceptibility
Earthquake Steep slope
Shallow water table
Open water
Biological Wildfire Endangered Species Insects
Cultural Toxic waste Historic sites Odors
Unstable fill Archaeological sites Noise
3. Design Phases
a. Conceptual Design
Site design is an iterative process transitioning from the general to the more specific.
Concept development is the process of adapting the program to the site, flows directly
from the site analysis. Topography, climate and hydrology for example are the unique
features of the site and are important environmental factors that shape the design of the built
environment.
Creating two or more concept plans is particularly useful when seeking consensus from a
diverse set of stakeholders.

b. Design Development
On a concept plan, major program elements are drawn diagrammatically. Circulation
pathways are often portrayed as “arrows”, major uses or activity zones are portrayed as
“bubbles”.

c. Construction Documentation
The construction drawings (that is plans, elevations, sections and details) together with the
written construction specifications comprise the construction documents.

4. Implementation Phase
Depending on the location and scope of the project, approvals and permits may be required
from government agencies at the local, state or federal levels. Local government especially
plays a significant role in shaping the built environment through the site plan and
development review process.
INFORMATION FROM THE SITE ANALYSIS IS UTILIZED BY MANY
PROFESSIONS ENGAGED IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

LAW PLANNING
(DUE DILIGENCE) (SITE PLAN REVIEW)

SITE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

REAL ESTATE ANALYSIS (SITE PLANNING)
(LAND DEVELOPMENT)

ARCHITECTURE
(BUILDING DESIGN)
ENGINEERING
(ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDATION)

SURVEYORS
AND
GEOMATICIAN
DESIGN PHASES

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

 adapt the project’s program elements to the unique features of the site
 spatially organize the project’s proposed elements and on-site improvements
Creating two or more concept plans is particularly useful
The best concept will be a hybrid plan that is created by merging ideas from two or
more alternative concepts.

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN PROCESS

•The conceptual design process is the time to explore, evaluate, and compare.
•Adaptation and revision therefore are inherent part of fitting the program to the site.

PROJECT PROGRAM
•Activities or land uses
(e.g. residential, commercial,
industrial, recreation)
•Circulation
•Open space
(conservation areas,
developed open space)
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
COMMUNITY GOALS
•Affordability housing
•Public Health and Safety
•Efficient energy use
•Protect natural and cultural
resources
•Promote multi-modal
transportation system
Enhance development of
local economy
SITE SUITABILITY
•Intrinsic (on-site) factors
(e.g. on-site natural and
cultural features, physical
constraints and opportunities
•Extrinsic (off-site) factors
(e.g. landmarks, utilities,
transportation, land uses)

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND VALUES

(e.g. design theory, graphic communication, professional ethics)

CONCEPT PLAN
(Alternatives A,B…)

LAYOUT PLAN
(Derive from best selected conceptual plan)
 SAMPLE OF CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

LOW-COST FLATS BUNGALOW BUNGALOW

SHOPS
GREEN SPACE SEMI-DETACHED

LOW-COST FLATS
OXIDATION
POND
SAMPLE OF CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
SAMPLE OF HOUSING LAYOUT DESIGN
TASK 1: DESIGN A CONCEPTUAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT(IN GROUP ACTIVITY)

Choose and digitize the boundary line of any area that is less than 30 acre.
Students are advice to study the physical attribute of the selected area (pattern
of slope and identify the highest and lowest point). Study the accessibility to the
area, the environment and think of the possible housing theme that you wanted
to have in your propose project. Below are the elements to include in the
proposal:
-BUNGALOW
-SEMI-DETACHED
-SINGLE STOREY TERRACE
-DOUBLE STOREY TERRACE
-LOW-COST FLATS
-ROAD
-OPEN SPACE/GREEN AREA
-MOSQUE
-OXIDATION POND
-SHOP LOT
-WATER TANK
-ELECTRICAL SUB-STATION

(CONCEPTUAL PLAN IS ONLY A DIAGRAM WITHOUT ANY MEASUREMENT, IT IS HOW TO EXPRESS IDEAS ON PAPER,
EACH GROUP PRODUCE TWO AND FINAL CONCEPTUAL PLAN IS CHOSEN BY LECTURER AND THIS WILL GUIDE YOUR
NEXT PROJECT FOR THE LAYOUT PLAN)

GIVE REASONS FOR EACH PROPOSED LOCATION AND PRESENT THE FINAL OUTPUT
TASK2:DESIGN A HOUSING LAYOUT USING ARCVIEW/ARCGIS/MAPINFO/AUTOCAD

THIS IS 1 SEMESTER PROJECT AND GROUP MUST PRESENT THEIR WORK BEFORE THE
STUDY WEEK. FOLLOW THE CONCEPTUAL PLAN THAT WAS APPROVED BY LECTURER IN
EARLIER STAGE. DESIGN WILL BE EVALUATE BY WEEK, AND EACH WEEK GROUP HAS TO
SHOW THE PROGRESS .

-BUNGALOW (50x100)
-SEMI-DETACHED (40x80)
-SINGLE STOREY TERRACE (20X70)
-DOUBLE STOREY TERRACE (20X80)
-LOW-COST FLATS (25% FROM THE TOTAL AREA)
-ROAD (HIERARCY 60/50/20)
-OPEN SPACE/GREEN AREA
-MOSQUE
-OXIDATION POND
-SHOP LOT (20X60)
-WATER TANK
-ELECTRICAL SUB-STATION

COURSEWORK ASSESSMENT :

1/CONCEPTUAL PLAN : 10 MARK

2/ CREATIVITY: 10 MARK
3/ FINAL LAYOUT PRESENTATION: 10 MARK
4/ QUIZ: 10 MARK
5/ TEST: 10 MARK