Modern Saudi housing
In its five-year growth plans, the Saudi government has given the issue of housing availability a lot of consideration. The ongoing assistance it gave the housing industry through its various programs over the previous years helped to meet the demand for suitable housing units and to allow many Saudi families to become homeowners.
The bulk of the population of the Kingdom is young, hence the pace of new family formation will dramatically increase. As a result, the demand for homes will rise more dramatically in the upcoming years. However, the modern Saudi home requirements put the idea of acquiring one out of the grasp of many young families. Because it might be more expensive than what its typical salary allows.
The availability of housing is necessary for development in both its economic and social aspects. The increase in population growth rates, the change in the composition and size of the Saudi family and some of its traditional characteristics, and other economic and social factors indicate interest in the issue of facilitating access to housing.
As a result, there is a demand for affordable housing that families can afford to purchase, at prices that do not have an impact on other areas of spending, and without having to wait a long period to be eligible for government assistance. Making housing more accessible entails narrowing the gap between a family’s income and the cost of housing and bringing what the family wants and what it can afford closer together. The key factor that will contribute to closing this gap is lower housing costs as a result of architectural design.
Use of the residential lot effectively
The size of the lot and how well it is used are two of the most significant elements influencing the decline in housing costs. Therefore, we must situate the structure on the property in a way that allows for its best possible usage, taking into account the purposes of the exterior areas and their distribution. To define the exterior spaces in the courtyards, the family should be able to take advantage of these spaces as an external function extension of the home.
Rationalization of space
The built-up area of the residence must be decreased to the extent that corresponds to the actual living and functional needs of the family as a proper entrance to the availability of inexpensive housing. One of the most crucial element influencing the creation of a good functional design that works to lower the cost of the house and make it affordable is reaching the smallest allowable dimensions that satisfy the needs of family members from the parts of the house. Within this framework, it is necessary to rationalize the residential unit’s size to maximize the functional efficacy of all of its areas and parts. Especially considering that two-thirds of the overall cost of home ownership goes toward the building.
Minimizing and utilizing unused space
When the rationalization of architectural spaces is neglected during the design process, several unused and useless spaces result. After furnishing a residential unit with fixed or mobile furniture appropriate for the functions assigned to it, any increase in the size of the spaces above the standard dimensions is considered a waste and results in the creation of rooms that do not serve practical purposes while continuously requiring more money for upkeep, cleanliness, and care. In addition to taking care to keep the percentage of places designated for movement as low as feasible, a great functional design must not be completely devoid of unused space.
However, maintaining design harmony and attaining functional linkages between the home’s components might occasionally result in the formation of flats. If these flats are not utilized, the home’s size and price will increase. By eliminating other areas that serve the same purpose, these underutilized spaces can be transformed into warehouses, changing rooms, laundry rooms with washers and dryers, and wall cabinets for books or appliances. These transformations help reduce the amount of space needed for the residence. Clothing storage, maintenance tools, or decorative features within the housing component arrangement are examples of uses for these items. This lowers housing costs and improves operating efficiency, which are two fundamental conditions for realizing the principle of facilitation. Additionally to making a home more suitable for living in, removing worn-out areas also makes caring for it much simpler.
Justification of housing components and elements
Saudis have grown accustomed to developing housing that is distinguished by its enormous expanses and a large number of its pieces and components without the actual need for it during the previous few decades as a result of economic development. Many of them believed that the size of the house and the number of its rooms and components expressed the importance of the individual and the community. Studies have shown that families are unable to develop or buy such huge residences, particularly for newly formed families, as a result of economic changes and as a response to them.
The spatial arrangement of the dwelling components must take into account the family’s functional requirements for them to be able to go about their everyday lives. As a result, converting family activities into functional determinants and then into spaces must be taken care of. Each area’s size ought to match the kind of activity that takes place there. The number and size of the furniture items used and how they are placed. Considering the number of users and the type of family interactions, determine the space and the style of its design.
As a result, before beginning the design stage, a cadastral architectural program must be prepared that precisely specifies the house components by the real needs. In this application, all elements’ sizes and areas are exactly calculated. Preventing voids from emerging with sizes and spaces that are excessive for their intended purposes.
The various purposes of housing components
In modern housing, one purpose is assigned to each room or architectural space, which results in more rooms. Especially those utilized frequently and sometimes infrequently. This increases the cost of building and outfitting it, and the continuous expenses for cleaning, caring for and maintaining it. It’s important to take care, during architectural design stages, to apply the functional plurality of the dwelling’s rooms and spaces. And to emphasize the flexibility of their usage to accommodate numerous activities to lower the cost of housing.
The idea of effectively using one space for multiple purposes results in meeting the family’s needs and requirements increasing the space’s operational efficiency and eliminating the need to add spaces that they only occasionally use. Therefore directly results in a reduction in the size of the dwelling and makes it simpler to implement, furnish, and maintain.
Applying the spatial flexibility method allows for the avoidance of large spaces of some social events that are irregular. So designing the reception hall and dining room with small spaces can satisfy the need. Connecting spaces to serve the purpose of major social events can lower costs and utilize spaces to their fullest potential.
The home’s adaptability and ease of future expansion
Small, basic dwelling units that can extend horizontally and vertically in response to the changing needs of the family and the increase in the number of its members should allow one to take advantage of this concept and achieve the desired success in enabling families to own property.
We can ensure cost segmentation through the implementation of the finishing and cladding stages by the family’s financial capacity. It’s feasible to separate the post-move-in-stages from the cladding of the interior/exterior walls using materials like stone, marble, or ceramic. When designing the unit, the architect must consider the method of implementation fragmentation by the growth of the family’s size. For instance, starting with the ground floor, then the house grows with the family by building portions of multiple floors. As a result, the initial implementation cost will not be higher. And the cost of operation and maintenance, such as conditioning or cleaning unused places, won’t increase. As a result, the newly formed family’s financial load is less.
Away from complexity and toward simplicity
Simpler home plans are easier to implement and use up fewer building materials. Consequently, to cut costs while still considering the family’s demands and the aesthetics. By minimizing complexity in the architectural composition of the dwelling building, architectural simplicity is accomplished in the home design. These components contribute to architectural simplicity:
- Configuration in general. The formation, general lines, and usage of the residence all contribute to the simplicity of its overall layout.
- Spatial distribution. The designs define conventional areas for rooms and spaces to fulfill the duties allocated to them, reflecting the design’s simplicity. Building straightforward geometric forms like rectangles and straight lines, minimizing movement spaces, and adorning interiors with cozy, useful furniture
- Construction of walls. We can achieve the idea of simplicity and clarity through the construction of walls using straight lines. For the clarity of the structural style, it also helps to overlay the various floors of the residence. We can maintain the architectural simplicity of the design while adding some curves to the areas of the structure.
- Opening design. When windows and doors are standard units with straightforward and constant dimensions and shapes, that is simplicity. The idea of simplicity can be varied by changing the shapes of the lines of the opening frames.
- System structure. The clarity of structural solutions and their regular synchronization improve implementation quality and speed while lowering costs.
- Landscape. It is simpler to install and manage a garden with a more intricate design and arrangement of its components. The cost of building and maintaining the garden’s water features, like pools, decreases by the simplicity of their shapes.
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