Manipalgoyal: I like your basic plan. It is well thought out....What does the top floor look like? The only thing that I would do differently from my very "Western" perspective would be to move the rear right bedroom upstairs and open up the back courtyard to the kitchen area. I would create a "great room / kitchen area with doors that open both to the front courtyard and to the back. This allows for good cross ventilation to help keep the house cool and comfortable on a hot day. It also provides easy access to the rear yard area without having to walk through a bedroom. Now all of the precious outdoor space is easy to use. The other element that I would introduce would be an atrium (or an opening in the floor) all the way up to the second floor with openable windows high up on the second floor to allow hot air to escape to the top of the house and out (since hot air rises) This is called the "chimney effect" and is another way to keep the house well ventilated. Of course this is how it has been done in hot climate countries for years, so you might be familiar with this technique already. Even if you don't change it, your floor plan is very nicely laid out. I would be happy to help you answer any additional questions that you might have. I do have a few questions for you: 1. Where is the laundry room? Is it in the storage space? This does seem a little narrow. How wide is it? You might want to work on how this space actually lays out. Is there a sink in this space too? 2. Why do you have such small openings to the outside from the drawing room and the rear bedrooms? Are they doors or windows? Wouldn't you wnat a door with an openable window with a screen adjacent so that you could have ventilation at night without having the door open? 3. How will you lay out the kitchen? Who is doing the cooking in your household? Is cooking a family event or is it done by a helper? You either want a bigger more open kitchen (Western design) or a more private kitchen (Asian design) Or a combination of both.......To me this is the most important part of the house where the family gathers and hangs out..... I would love to hear back from you. Christine Lampert

Hi Prabha. Thanks for the reply. Please see rough sketch as attached. Plot is 22 x 10 m.

There are no setbacks on the east and west so it would be unauthorised construction which I am sure you are aware of. You have tried to squeeze 3 bedrooms in a plot that could realistically only accomodate one bedroom. As a result there is inadequate natural light and ventilation for the central parts of the house and toilets. Nevertheless it would be better to avoid toilet in SW corner. Stairs could be east west orientation. Plinth to be atleast 45cm above the surrounding ground and the plot itself should be above the road.

The kitchen sink should go towards the corner next to the stove area since the plumbing would be easier due to the bathroom pipeline on that wall. The stove should be moved from there to the basin area but more central. I couldn't zoom in but what is loft above. Anyway, I think you could get rid of that wall and make it a half wall, and include a counter with 2 -3 bar chairs like for quick meals. Puja area, I think would be better elsewhere since there is non-veg food and sometimes alcohol consumption. You could have more like a partition shelf wall between dining and living, need to think more on moving the puja area somewhere else. Also, since the common bathroom is right there, you would not need another basin next to the dining area, its just not a good sight . You could mail me the floor plan and we could work on it more elaborately, but this is simply a skimmed review of the layout. Hope I was helpful .