Planning Tips for Housing Estate Development

Planning Tips for Housing Estate Development

By ‘Dayo Abiola Akande ([email protected]) +2348038540120

Planning Tips for Housing

Estate Development

By

‘Dayo Abiola Akande

February 2012

Abiola Design Consult ([email protected])



TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................................... 2

1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 3

2.0 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................. 4

3.0 TECHNOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ............................................................... 5

CRITERIA ............................................................................................................................................. 5

3.1 Materials/ Finishes Desired to be used ................................................................... 5

3.2 Services Required....................................................................................................... 5

3.2.1 Electricity ............................................................................................................ 5

3.2.2 Water supplies .................................................................................................... 6

3.2.3 Sewerage ............................................................................................................. 6

3.2.4 Site Drainage ....................................................................................................... 7

3.2.5 Gas ....................................................................................................................... 7

3.2.7 TV Outlet ............................................................................................................ 7

3.2.8 Transport ............................................................................................................. 7

3.2.9 Services Pipe Work ............................................................................................ 8

4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS TO BE ACHIEVED ............................................... 9

4.1 Landscape and Ecology ............................................................................................ 9

4.2 Safety and Security .................................................................................................... 9

4.3 Social Behaviour ........................................................................................................ 9

4.4 Building Proximities .................................................................................................. 9

4.5 Privacy ...................................................................................................................... 10

4.6 Other Environmental Conditions ........................................................................... 10

5.0 BEHAVIOURAL CRITERIA ............................................................................................... 12

5.1 Desired Behaviour ................................................................................................... 12

5.2 Behavioural Needs ................................................................................................... 12

6.0 ZONING AND PERFORMANCE STANDARDS ........................................................... 14

6.1 Residential Zone ...................................................................................................... 14

6.2 Commercial Zone .................................................................................................... 16

6.3 Recreational Zone.................................................................................................... 17



1.0 INTRODUCTION

The successful planning of housing schemes and of individual dwelling units

depends on the balance struck between ranges of factors. The needs and expectations of

residents are of fundamental importance, in addition to adequate space and appropriate

services, sustainability, accessibility, security, safety, privacy, community interaction,

etc. must be given due weight.

Furthermore, the design must be sufficiently flexible and adaptable to meet the demands

likely to arise over the foreseeable life of the building, e.g. the typical family dwelling will

be required to meet the needs of infants, young children, adults and elderly, either

separately or in combination at various stages of its lifecycle. It will generally be

necessary to complete the design, the planning and all the pre-construction works within

a set time period and for the design solution to be such that the scheme can be

constructed within given cost parameters.



2.0 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

The proposed housing Estate design aim should ensure that each housing scheme

is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. This is facilitated by:

The provision of a pleasant living environment which meets the needs, and, as far

as possible, the preferences of the residents and fosters the development of

community

The encouragement of energy efficiency both at construction stage and during the

lifetime of the scheme e.g. by climate sensitive design which takes account of the

orientation, topography and surrounding features to optimise wind effects while

controlling sunlight, daylight and solar gain benefits;

Having due regard to the social and environmental consequences associated with

the use of materials and resources, e.g. minimising the use of scarce non-

renewable resources and using renewable resources and materials which have

minimum environmental consequences, wherever practicable

The integration of the new housing into the existing natural and built

environment in a way that makes a positive contribution to the overall

environment of the locality.

The creation of a satisfactory micro-climate at the level of the housing scheme

involves a balance between the provision of sunlight shelter and the optimisation

of the availability of daylight, and wind.



3.0 TECHNOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA

3.1 Materials/ Finishes Desired to be used

The choice of materials and finishes for construction works on site is to have

regard to cost, performance, durability, maintainability and overall environmental

impact. Insofar as information is available, due regard is to be had to the full lifecycle

cost and environmental impact of the materials used. The design should aim to ensure

that all materials should be used efficiently with a minimum of waste.

3.2 Services Required

Appropriate provision should be made for the following services to each dwelling:

Electricity

Water supplies (hot and cold)

Sewerage

Site Drainage

Natural gas

Telephone

Cable TV

Transport (vehicular and pedestrian)

The location of any necessary meters, fuse boards, etc. is to be in accordance with

the requirements of the relevant utility.

3.2.1 Electricity

Adequate levels of artificial lighting are to be provided for all rooms and

circulation areas.



• Light switches are to be conveniently located, generally adjacent to doorways and at a

height of between 900mm and 1200mm above the floor and at least 300mm from

internal corners.

No more than two switches should be grouped together at any one location. Two-way

switches should be provided where appropriate, e.g. for landing lights.

• Sufficient socket outlets are to be provided in each habitable room. Sockets should be

located for the maximum convenience of users.

All dwellings should be provided with a suitable door bell.

3.2.2 Water supplies

Every dwelling should be provided with an adequate supply of portable water.

Cold Water Supply

Supply from a public or approved group water scheme is preferred, but, for standby

purposes, a suitable private supply is to be provided. For this private water supply, the

chemical and micro-biological quality of the water is to be prior to acceptance. The

adequacy of the water supply for fire-fighting purposes is also to be considered.

Hot Water

Provision is to be made for an adequate supply of hot water to bath, sink and

wash basins.

3.2.3 Sewerage

Sewerage is to be made for treatment of sewage and disposal of effluent using an

appropriate central waste water treatment system. An individual dwelling, a septic tank

is being considered as an option adequate and this kind of housing scheme.



3.2.4 Site Drainage

The scheme design is aim to maximise the use of existing natural drainage

patterns and to limit the requirement for separate disposal of surface water offsite. The

extent of new impervious surfaces is to be limited so as to reduce peak surface water

runoff.

3.2.5 Gas

Where a natural gas supply is available locally, a gas supply should be provided

to each dwelling

3.2.6 Telephone

All dwellings are to be provided with a single telephone outlet point located in the

hallway or other appropriate location. A draw wire in conduit should be provided from

this point to the chosen telephone cable entry point to facilitate the installation of the

cable by the utility.

3.2.7 TV Outlet

All dwellings is to be provided with a suitably located TV outlet point with draw

wire in conduit to the roof space or other appropriate TV cable entry point in order to

facilitate later installation of necessary cabling and connection to aerial or local TV cable

network

3.2.8 Transport

Insofar as possible the scheme design and layout is to maximise efficient flow of

traffic. The layout of pedestrian routes should facilitate access to available services, and

is to be safety conscious.



3.2.9 Services Pipe Work

The pipe work and cabling associated with services provision is to be

accommodated underground. This is to be facilitated by the provision of the necessary

trenching and ductwork at the scheme development stage, following consultation with

the various undertakers regarding their requirements.

Location of Underground Services

The position of sewers, water mains and other underground services relative to

each other in public areas should be clearly identified and should, as far as possible,

remain constant throughout the scheme. The layout is to be in accordance with the

established practice of the local authority and, as far as practicable, should accord with

the preferences of the relevant utilities and non-statutory undertakers.

In general, the preferred location for all such services is beneath footways and

road verges. Sewers are to be given priority because of the specific requirements of line

and level that apply.

The location of sewers, drains and other services in private areas adjacent to

dwellings is to be such as to allow for possible future extensions without the need for

significant re-routing of such services.



4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS TO BE ACHIEVED

4.1 Landscape and Ecology

New housing Estate is to respect the environment in which it is situated.

The natural topography should be retained, where practicable, with earthworks

minimised and little or no transfer of material onto or off the site. Every effort is to be

made to retain existing trees and vegetation.

In choosing vegetation for landscaping and planting, indigenous species and those

likely to provide an attractive habitat for local fauna is to be preferred, having due regard

for other requirements in relation to landscaping.

4.2 Safety and Security

Safety and security are key elements in encouraging neighbourliness and

developing of a sense of community in a new housing area. The planning should aim to

ensure that roads, footpaths, play areas and other common areas in schemes can be used

in safety by children and adults.

4.3 Social Behaviour

The discouragement of anti-social behaviour, vandalism and crime is also a

specific planning objective.

4.4 Building Proximities

i.) Proper zoning must be done to ensure that buildings housing related activities are

placed side by side for easy access and functional efficiency.

ii.) Well-planned distances between activities and users must be designed in such a

way as to encourage a healthy interaction between occupants of the estate.



iii.) Communal utilities should be placed within close distances from each other and

strategically equidistant from each dwelling units.

4.5 Privacy

i.) Privacy should be uppermost in the designer’s mind, particularly when designing

the dwelling units in the scheme. Every dwelling unit must be accorded the

maximum privacy level possible within the estate.

ii.) The designer should be such as to clearly delineate public areas from private area

on the larger scale as well as the smaller neighborhood level. In this manner, the

territorial limits of visitors and residents within the scheme are well defined.

4.6 Other Environmental Conditions

The provision of a satisfactory living environment for the residents and the long-

term sustainability of the scheme are the main considerations. The approach to the

overall scheme planning involves the following criteria:

Ensuring that the estate creates a pleasant living environment which will meet

the needs and preferences of the residents.

Estate should create streets and spaces that provide a sense of identity and

place and, thus, facilitate the satisfaction about the community.

Ensuring that the estate makes a positive contribution to the overall

environment of the locality.

The new housing should integrate into the existing built and natural

environment so that it contributes to the social, environmental and economic

sustainability of the area.



Ensuring a high level of safety and security for the residents. The scheme

should be designed to discourage anti-social behaviour, e.g. layouts should

seek to ensure that all access ways and public areas are overlooked by

dwellings or are otherwise open to surveillance by residents.

Maximising amenity and energy efficiency by climate sensitive design which

takes account of orientation, topography and surrounding features to control

wind effects while optimising the benefits of dominating wind and daylight.

Ensuring that, in so far as is practicable, the planning minimises barriers to

accessibility for all users.

Ensuring that the scheme can be constructed, managed and maintained at

reasonable cost and in a way which is economically, socially and

environmentally sustainable.

Materials should be chosen with this in mind. The planning should aim to

maximise the use of indigenous materials, optimise the areas of roads and

other hard surfaces and minimise the lengths of service runs.

Small, poorly-defined or poorly integrated areas of public open space which

may be unusable, costly to maintain and a source of nuisance to residents

should be avoided.

Care should be taken to ensure that the location and layout of the housing will

enhance the attractiveness of the overall development for the residents and

other users and social segregation.



5.0 BEHAVIOURAL CRITERIA

5.1 Desired Behaviour

Their behaviour should have the following results:

Sense of security

Satisfaction from the close environment

Satisfaction from their individual dwelling

Perceiveness that their neighbours are similar to themselves

High density of social interactions.

Coherence with neighbours

5.2 Behavioural Needs

People’s need to form communities and communal living patterns has been since

the early ages of the humanity for practical, economical, sociological and psychological

reasons.



Fig 5.1 Interrelationship of the Design Criteria

The general planning aim should be to create functional dwellings which provide

comfortable, pleasant, suitable and homely living environments for prospective

occupants.



6.0 ZONING AND PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

6.1 Residential Zone

This is a “private zone” on the proposed site and the amount of land that will be

allocated to each dwelling will be governed by the sizes of dwellings to be built, their

typologies and by the net residential density required for the estate as a whole or for its

various parts.

The major factors for this land use are derived from the residents needs within the

building, immediate private space around the house and accessibility to other facilities

outside this private zone and the performance requirement is as follows:

Living Areas:

i.) The living should be separated from the street by a clearly defined buffer zone.

ii.) Circulation should be such as to separate activity from traffic routes.

iii.) Adequate wall spaces should be allowed for furniture arrangement by properly

locating openings.

Dining Areas:

i.) The dining area should be comfortable and should be roomy enough to take at

least four people for the 2 – bedroom typology and at least six for the four

bedroom typology.

Bedrooms:

i.) The bedrooms should be spacious enough to appropriately serve its primary

function of a sleeping area for users.



ii.) The bedrooms must be designed to adequately carter for other fundamental

retiring functions like dressing and undressing, personal care, cloth storage; and

circulation around these activities must be properly planned out.

Kitchen:

i.) The kitchen should be properly ventilated to allow easy flow removal of air.

ii.) The triangular work area design for kitchens must be maintained within a

properly coordinated furniture and sanitary ware arrangement.

iii.) The lighting to provide in the kitchen must be bright enough to serve the required

tasks and to prevent fatigue. It must be safe and pleasant to work with.

iv.) It should be serviced by a store for storage of foodstuff and other kitchen utensils.

v.) Access to main ancillary areas in the dwelling, like dining, the kitchen yard etc.

should be smoothly integrated into the flow.

Bathrooms:

i.) The primary activities such as toileting, bathing and washing of hands should be

properly catered for in the design of these bath/shower.

ii.) Sanitary units should be properly arranged with due consideration paid to

clearance and movement within the area.

iii.) High windows should be provided to ensure the correct privacy levels for such

areas and help throw natural light into the bathing area.

iv.) Proper ventilation should also be a key consideration in the design of these

bathrooms.

v.) Lighting should be bright enough for the activities.



Storage spaces:

i.) The proper design and definition of storage spaces like stores, closets and box-

rooms must be ensured to allow for maximum utility.

ii.) The storage spaces should be properly fitted out with elements of storage like

shelves, hooks and poles (were necessary) to ensure efficient utility.

iii.) Care must be taken to ensure that these storage spaces are properly located in

design and do not open directly onto circulation routes.

6.2 Commercial Zone

In any locality, a commercial zone is an important component which must be

specifically located to boost its intended activities and meet the need of inhabitants of the

proposed estate and people within the immediate environ e.g. shopping mall, cyber café,

eatery etc.

This is to be planned to effectively support the residential area especially for the

purpose of buying and selling i.e. were the occupants of the estate can easily purchase

necessary items. The performance requirement is as follows:

i.) Crystal clear show glass fronts should be designed to attract users to the wares on

display.

ii.) Proper arrangement of goods and wares in well-designed shelves and storage

spaces should be the principal marketing gimmick.

iii.) Properly located convenience should be incorporated into design in such a

manner that users of this facility can do so with ease and discretion.

iv.) These facilities should be properly coordinated within planned walkway grid to

encourage pedestrian shoppers.



6.3 Recreational Zone

This is a public area specially designed to enable people engage in enjoyable

activities and refreshment of their minds and body after work. Sporting facilities are

provided here along with a pleasurable environment for relaxation e.g. Lawn tennis

court, basketball court, football court, suya spot, swimming pool, club house. Club

House is a major unit in recreational zone and the performance requirement is as

follows:

i.) Adequate reception space/waiting is required.

ii.) Kitchen servicing the restaurant should be unobtrusively located and provided

with clearly defined service entrances.

iii.) The furniture arrangement for dinners should be orderly and should allow for

proper circulation of waiters and users. The restaurant should overlook the

swimming pool.

iv.) There would be a club manager office having a secretary.

v.) The lounge should be designed and arranged with furniture the give a relax

setting for the users.

Planning Tips for Housing Estate Development

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