Open plan

An open plan layout drops the internal walls between everyday functions and lets them share one volume. Without partitions the space reads larger, daylight reaches deeper and the people in the house can see each other. Zones are defined by furniture, flooring changes, ceiling heights and lighting rather than by walls.

How the open plan became possible

In load-bearing masonry, walls both carry the building and divide it, so opening up a plan is hard. Once concrete and steel frames moved the loads onto columns and beams, walls could become simple dividers. Le Corbusier’s idea of the free plan put that separation into words, and modernism carried the open plan into homes and offices alike.

Things to get right

• Cooking smells and noise travel, so a strong extractor and quiet appliances matter.
• Hard surfaces echo; rugs, curtains and acoustic panels calm the room down.
• Heating and cooling must be designed for one large volume, not several small rooms.
• A corner that can be closed off, for work or a guest bed, saves a lot of frustration later.

Open plans are hard to judge on a drawing. Sight lines from the kitchen, how light moves across the day and how the furniture groups read only become clear in 3D. Our article on apartment interior design looks at how visualization helps settle these decisions.