The Pros and Cons of Open-Plan Home Design

Whilst there are many pros to having an open-plan kitchen, it’s important to consider the impact of cooking aromas. In the summer when you can have windows and exterior doors open, it’s not such an issue.

However, in winter it’s harder to manage air change rates. Good extraction appliances can help, and in some cases I’ve even designed a smaller culinary zone off the main kitchen for the preparation of particularly strong-smelling dishes.

If you’ve got young children, the ability to cook or wash up while little ones are in your sight or earshot is another plus. Equally, when they’re older, having the option to share a large space with sprawling six-foot-tall teenage offspring can be handy, as it prevents the home from feeling cramped.

If everyone in the house was busy doing their own thing in different rooms – cooking, watching TV, social networking – there wouldn’t be much chance to talk. Open-plan living means occupants can share the same zone, encouraging conversation and stronger family relationships.

Finding the right balance

Open-plan design is great for encouraging sharing, however every now and then we all need smaller, quiet areas to get away from it all. I’ve mentioned before that as architects, we’re increasingly finding that clients want to have separate spaces away from the open-plan area.

For example, the formal reception room is coming back into fashion. This is usually a quiet, private zone where tranquillity can be found. There is an advantage to be had in keeping a room for best, or at least as a toy-free zone for adult calm.

A snug, study or library can also be a haven at the end of a hectic day. Equally, some clients have asked us to design desk spaces into open-plan areas so tasks like homework can be done in plain view.

With house prices on the increase and care home provision being more expensive and harder to find, older children and elderly relatives are increasingly part of the family at home. They may have their own interests and having separate rooms enables you to live together amicably without disturbing one another.

The choice of gadgetry and channels we have today is huge, so the chance of everyone agreeing on what to watch or listen to is pretty slim. Again, a separate area that allows for different tastes in films and music may provide harmony in the house.

Acoustic considerations

The sound and vision systems available to domestic consumers are incredibly high-quality. Some clients ask us to design dedicated media rooms where they can enjoy cinematic experiences at home. The rooms where these setups are located need to be soundproofed, so they obviously wouldn’t work as well in an open-plan space.

In certain dwellings – particularly those with hard floors and vaulted ceilings – you may need to dampen sound to prevent it echoing. Laying rugs and hanging fabrics on walls works well to combat this effect.

On one project, we even used a tapestry to cover a whole wall. If the space is particularly large, you could also consider using perforated plasterboard, an acoustic sheet that absorbs sound.

Clever storage

With some new houses featuring completely open-plan zones, there’s a danger it can feel too much like a laboratory, where everything is pristine. When we design new dwellings, we want them to be for living, and we can’t all be highly-ordered all the time.

Therefore, innovative storage solutions are needed to hide away mess and accommodate the paraphernalia of day-to-day life. For example, when you prepare for parties you’re unlikely to finish all the washing up before serving the food, so you’ll need somewhere to hide dirty pots. Consider a well designed utility area or a screen for the messier items.

Defining your space

When a house is completely open-plan, it can be difficult to demarcate various zones and give each area its own unique character. At Lapd Architects, we use a number of techniques to overcome this issue. Materials, both hard and soft, can change the mood across the whole expanse.

Changing floor levels can create interest, and varying ceiling heights will establish definition and character within the zone. You don’t have to use walls to separate areas – you can also incorporate split floor levels, including mezzanines, ramps or steps to delineate different spaces.

It’s also important to consider the arrangement of your furnishings when planning an open-plan layout. Obviously, the more open space you have, the fewer walls there are to hang artwork on or put sofas up against, for instance.

Therefore, as part of the initial briefing with your designer, tell them what pieces you’d like to include in your new or remodelled home. Assess this part of your scheme using scaled layout drawings to ensure everything fits.

In some projects, we have included partitions rather than full-height walls so there’s a sense of openness visually. This means there are still dividers to put furniture against or that can be used to for storage. Partial walls or open bookshelves are another way to put different zones into place.

Heating a home

Houses in the UK used to have a fireplace in every room, to warm the individual spaces being used. Keeping the whole property at the right temperature when it’s poorly-insulated is an expensive exercise, so if you do want to establish an open-plan zone, ensure a good protective thermal layer has been incorporated as part of the project specification.

That way, you reduce the amount of energy required to heat a larger volume of space. If you do sub-divide zones, then you can incorporate a heating setup that will allow you to warm different areas as and when they’re used, to keep fuel bills down.