No_4_August_and_September__1939 — Page 47

Hong Kong Builder

--

OR #

BED RAS 16 < 15

OR R

BED RAA

7313

PLAY RM

2712

MALL

DINING RM

18x15

LIBRARY

2013

BKFT R

10. 20

GARAGE

51

One-story plans can be flexibly handled for isolation of picked units. A. G. Siple, arch.

Which will give the most satisfactory plan?

If you have a lot of very special and individual re- quirements, then it may be easier to satisfy them with a single-story plan (if you are willing to pay for satisfac- tion). For each room is related to the others horizontally only, so that the plan immediately becomes much more flexible. Isolation of one section from the rest, or the addition of extra rooms, are both comparatively simple. If you are afraid of waste circulation space on a one-story plan, just remember that a single flight of stairs takes up the equivalent of at least 20 feet of corridor space. Waste space is always the result of bad planning. If you object to sleeping on the first floor, say so now. If you want privacy from the road, a nearly blank wall can be achieved less inconveniently on a one-story house, with its narrow end to the street, and opening out to a garden at the rear.

Which is best in what climate?

If you are going to build a region where hard Win- ters are normal, then compact two-story house is undoubt- edly your cheapest and most comfortable choice.

If your house is to be in a mild-to-hot region, then you will find the sprawling one-story plan most agreeable. It will be quite a simple matter to provide through ven- tilation in all rooms, especially if circulation is by means of covered ways rather than enclosed corridors. And the elongated one-story house wrapped around a court- yard will always provide at least one shady spot to sit, immediately accessible from the interior.

If you want protection from rain and sun, the over- hanging eaves of a one-story house may seem a more picturesque method of achieving your object than the overhanging balconies which are used on some two-story houses to achieve the same result.

LIVING RM

25 x 17

MACH

CARAGE

MAIO

POACH

BED AM

AUTOMOBILE

COVAT

BED AM

TERRACE

SERVICE

LIVING AM

17 x 30

સા

For more complete isolation certain units may be broken off and joined only by terraces to the rest of the house. W. W. Wurster, arch,

To obtain privacy from the approach road, it may be advisable to make the entrance wall almost blank. This is easier in a one-story plan than in a two-story one.

P. Belluschi, architect

Left: When the best view is obscured at first floor level, a second floor living room is good. Beatty & Strang, archs.

BCD ALL

BED AM