Residential Building Floor Plan Design

Architectural Floor Plan Design – Residential Building

I am looking for an experienced architect to prepare a professional, detailed, and space-efficient architectural floor plan for a small residential building.

The design must prioritize functionality, privacy, natural ventilation, efficient circulation, and realistic furniture placement.

1. Plot & Building Dimensions

* Plot size: 20.00 m × 20.00 m.
* The building will be positioned approximately in the center of the plot.
* Building footprint: 16.00 m × 15.00 m.
* The 16.00 m side faces the street.
* All building dimensions (16 × 15 m) are measured from outside face of wall to outside face of wall, including wall thickness.
* The street in front of the property is 20 meters wide.
* There are neighboring buildings/plots on the other three sides.
* All walls must be 20 cm thick.
* The remaining open space around the 16 × 15 m building within the 20 × 20 m plot should be shown and properly considered in the design.

2. Building Configuration

The building consists of only two levels:

Ground Floor

Dedicated mainly to:

* Car parking.
* Main building entrance.
* Staircase.
* Elevator.
* Circulation and access to the first floor.

First Floor

Contains:

* Two residential apartments only.
* Both apartments must be 100% identical in area, room sizes, and internal layout.
* A mirrored arrangement is acceptable and preferred if it results in a more efficient design.

There are no additional residential floors required for this project.

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3. Ground Floor – Parking

The ground floor should provide the maximum practical number of parking spaces.

The target is approximately:

9 parking spaces.

Requirements:

* Safe and practical vehicle entry and exit.
* Proper maneuvering space.
* Avoid impractical parking arrangements.
* Main pedestrian entrance to the building should preferably be centrally located.
* The staircase and elevator should be positioned centrally and efficiently.
* Parking columns and circulation should be considered so that the proposed parking arrangement is realistically usable.

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4. Staircase & Elevator

The elevator must have a minimum clear internal dimension of 1.80 m × 1.80 m.

The staircase should preferably be designed around or adjacent to the elevator core.

Requirements:

* Minimum clear staircase width: 1.20 m.
* Minimum clear landing width: 1.20 m.
* These dimensions must remain clear after considering walls, finishes, handrails, etc.
* The stair/elevator core should provide comfortable access to both apartments.
* Apartment entrances should be arranged to maintain privacy.

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5. First Floor – Two Identical Apartments

The first floor must contain two identical apartments.

Each apartment must have:

* Two separate entrances.
* Men’s guest reception room (Majlis).
* Guest toilet.
* External hand wash basin for the Majlis.
* Family living/dining area.
* Kitchen.
* Two bedrooms.
* Two additional bathrooms.
* Proper circulation.
* Natural ventilation or ventilation shafts where required.

The apartments must be 100% identical, preferably mirrored around the central circulation/elevator/stair core.

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6. Entrance No. 1 – Men’s Guest Majlis

The first entrance should lead to a private men’s guest reception room (Majlis).

Minimum clear internal dimensions:

* Width: not less than 4.00 m.
* Length: not less than 4.00 m.

A longer Majlis is preferred if the available space allows it.

The Majlis should preferably have good access to the main/front façade.

Majlis Guest Toilet

A dedicated guest toilet must be provided.

Minimum clear dimensions:

* Width: 1.60 m.
* Length: 1.80 m minimum.

The length may be increased if space permits.

A separate hand wash basin must be located outside the guest toilet.

There should also be appropriate internal access from the Majlis area to the rest of the apartment while maintaining family privacy.

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7. Entrance No. 2 – Family Entrance

The second entrance should be the main family entrance.

It should lead to a comfortable family living/dining area.

The living area should:

* Be suitable for both sitting and dining.
* Have good natural light.
* Preferably overlook the external/front side of the building.
* Be efficiently connected to the kitchen.
* Maintain privacy from the men’s Majlis.

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8. Kitchen

Each apartment must include a practical kitchen.

The architect may propose:

* An open kitchen, or
* A semi-open kitchen,

depending on which arrangement provides the best use of space, ventilation, circulation, and furniture layout.

The kitchen should have proper ventilation.

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9. Bedrooms

Each apartment must contain two bedrooms.

Minimum clear internal dimensions for each bedroom:

3.80 m × 3.80 m

Larger dimensions are preferred whenever possible.

One bedroom may be designed as a Master Bedroom with a private bathroom.

The second bedroom should also have convenient access to a bathroom.

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10. Bathrooms

In addition to the Majlis guest toilet, each apartment should contain two additional bathrooms.

Suggested arrangement:

* One bathroom for the Master Bedroom.
* One bathroom serving the second bedroom and family/living area.

Minimum clear dimensions for these bathrooms:

1.60 m × 2.40 m

The bathroom fixtures should preferably be arranged in one linear row, for example:

Wash Basin → Toilet → Shower Area

The layout must remain comfortable and functional.

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11. Ventilation & Natural Light

Ventilation is a major requirement of this project.

Every functional space must have appropriate ventilation, including:

* Majlis.
* Living/dining room.
* Bedrooms.
* Kitchen.
* All bathrooms.

Where direct external ventilation is not possible, the architect must provide properly positioned ventilation/light shafts.

Minimum clear shaft width:

1.20 m

The shafts should be positioned efficiently and, where possible, designed to serve multiple spaces without unnecessarily reducing usable apartment area.

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12. Doors & Corridors

Doors

The minimum clear opening width for:

* Apartment entrance doors.
* Bedroom doors.

must be:

1.00 meter clear opening.

Corridors

No internal corridor or passage should have a clear width of less than:

1.20 meters.

Long, narrow, or wasted corridors should be avoided.

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13. Furniture Layout – Very Important

The architect must provide a carefully studied and realistic furniture layout, not simply place generic furniture symbols after completing the floor plan.

Furniture placement should be used to verify that all rooms are genuinely functional.

The plan should show appropriate furniture for:

* Men’s Majlis.
* Family living area.
* Dining area.
* Master bedroom.
* Second bedroom.
* Kitchen.
* Bathrooms where relevant.

The furniture layout should demonstrate:

* Comfortable circulation around furniture.
* Proper positioning of sofas and seating.
* Suitable TV locations where applicable.
* Realistic bed and wardrobe locations.
* Appropriate dining table size and position.
* Practical kitchen counters and appliances.
* Door swing clearance.
* No conflicts between furniture, doors, windows, or circulation paths.

Room dimensions should not only satisfy the minimum measurements; they should also work properly once realistically sized furniture is installed.

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14. Main Design Priorities

The architect should prioritize:

1. Building footprint exactly 16.00 × 15.00 m externally.
2. Plot size exactly 20.00 × 20.00 m.
3. Building positioned approximately in the center of the plot.
4. 20 cm wall thickness.
5. Ground floor used mainly for parking and vertical circulation.
6. First floor containing exactly two identical apartments.
7. Two independent entrances for each apartment.
8. Majlis minimum 4.00 × 4.00 m clear.
9. Bedrooms minimum 3.80 × 3.80 m clear.
10. Elevator minimum 1.80 × 1.80 m clear internally.
11. Staircase minimum 1.20 m clear width.
12. Stair landings minimum 1.20 m clear.
13. Corridors minimum 1.20 m clear.
14. Entrance and bedroom doors minimum 1.00 m clear opening.
15. Ventilation shafts minimum 1.20 m clear width.
16. Excellent natural ventilation and lighting.
17. Strong privacy between the men’s guest area and family area.
18. Minimum wasted circulation space.
19. Efficient use of the limited building footprint.
20. Realistic and carefully studied furniture distribution.

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15. Required Deliverables

The final submission should include:

* Site plan showing the 20 × 20 m plot and the 16 × 15 m building position.
* Ground-floor parking plan.
* First-floor architectural plan containing the two apartments.
* Complete internal and external dimensions.
* Wall thicknesses.
* Doors and door swings.
* Windows.
* Ventilation/light shafts.
* Staircase and elevator dimensions.
* Room names and dimensions.
* Bathroom fixture layouts.
* Kitchen layout.
* Detailed furniture layout for both apartments.
* Area calculation for each apartment.
* Parking dimensions and vehicle circulation.
* Clear indication of the 20 m wide street.
* Preferably 2–3 alternative first-floor layouts before selecting the final arrangement.

Important Measurement Note

All minimum dimensions specified for rooms, bathrooms, corridors, stairs, elevator, shafts, and door openings are intended to be CLEAR / NET usable dimensions, after accounting for wall thicknesses and finishes.

The overall building dimensions of 16.00 × 15.00 m, however, are external dimensions including the walls.

The objective is to achieve a highly functional, realistic, well-ventilated and space-efficient design, rather than simply fitting the required rooms inside the available area.

Please do not compromise the required minimum dimensions just to fit all spaces. If any requirement creates a genuine architectural conflict within the available footprint, please identify it clearly and propose the best professional alternative.