5 pros and 4 cons of open plan layouts: Which is right for your renovation?

The open plan living / dining / kitchen area in an extension designed by VATRAA works to maximise access to daylight in a project that is mostly below ground level.

When we talk about "open plan," we're referring to a layout in which multiple functional spaces within a home, such as the living room, dining area, and kitchen, are combined into one open and interconnected area.  One of the most common renovations is to take an older home with a traditional 'cellular' layout, with multiple smaller rooms, and remove walls to allow spaces to flow into one other, often combined with an extension that expands the living space.  In this blog post we're going to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of changing a home in this kind of way.  

During our careers as architects Kirstie and I have worked on the layouts of hundreds of different homes. While open plan often emerges as the preferred choice, it's not a one-size-fits-all solution. Every home is unique, and every client has distinct needs and preferences.  

Interestingly, while open plan layouts may seem like a relatively recent development in the design of the home, it could be said that open plan was THE original layout and that homes with cellular layouts of multiple rooms are the more recent invention, at least here in the UK.  Over centuries, the single-room homes of the early Middle Ages evolved into multi-room structures as societies prospered and homes expanded and improved.  The popularity of larger multi-functional spaces has fluctuated over the last century because there are both advantages and disadvantages to combining functions within a home, and the relative importance of those pros and cons has shifted with societal changes.  

Advantages of Open-Plan Layouts:

1 - Space efficiency and space perception: One of the main benefits of open plan layout is that it allows for more efficient use of circulation space, meaning that with open plan you can effectively do more with less. Circulation space is the area that is needed to move around a building or room - corridors and entrance halls are primary examples, but also the space around a dining table, or in front of a sofa, or between kitchen countertops. Without walls, circulation space can do double duty, serving as both the way of moving between zones but also of moving around furniture.

Traditional cellular layouts vs open plan layouts: Open plan layouts can be much more space efficient

In the traditional cellular layout illustrated above, a large proportion of the floor area is devoted to the corridor, where its only function is to allow people to reach the kitchen. In the open plan layout, that space has been taken into the living room, where it still allows people to reach the kitchen, but also to move around the sofa.  By removing walls and doors, the open plan layout has effectively made the dining space larger. This makes it very useful for smaller homes.

However it's not just about square meters; it's also about the perception of space. An unobstructed view through a building can significantly enhance the feeling of spaciousness, even without any measurable gains in usable floor area.

2 - Natural light, ventilation and views out: As well as making better use of circulation space, open plan allows for better use of windows as well.  Windows provide three vital amenities for buildings - light, air, and views out. Open plan allows all three of these amenities to be spread across a greater area from the same window.  The result are brighter spaces that have better daylight, and, if windows are in opposing or perpendicular walls, sunlight at multiple times of day.   This can lead to energy savings from reduced use of artificial lighting during the day.

Traditional cellular layouts vs open plan layouts: Open plan layouts can allow for cross ventilation and better sunlight and daylight penetration.

Multiple windows serving one larger space can be especially helpful for ventilation. If a space has windows on opposite walls, natural cross ventilation can be used to create a breeze and to help cool down the building at night.  While this effect still works for traditional cellular layouts, removing walls and doors helps improve air circulation (and prevents those doors from slamming shut when the wind blows!)

3 - Social interaction: Open plan living encourages social interaction and communication among family members and guests. With fewer physical barriers, people can easily interact while cooking, dining, or relaxing, creating a sense of togetherness even while people engage in separate activities.  More than anything open plan turns the kitchen into a highly social space, especially when paired with kitchen islands or peninsulas.  When hosting parties or gatherings, hosts can socialize with their guests while preparing food or drinks, creating a more inclusive and interactive atmosphere.

4 - Flexibility and versatility: The absence of fixed walls can offer greater flexibility in arranging the functions of a home through furniture placement. When each function in the home is given its own room, introducing new functions or activities can lead to difficult choices and compromises.  When those functions are defined by furniture rather than walls, space can be adapted within minutes.  

For example, when I wanted to set up a home gym area in my open plan living / dining / kitchen space, all I had to do was reposition the dining table and sofa to create an open zone between dining and lounge with enough space to workout, and then introduce a new piece of storage furniture in that zone for the gym equipment.  If I had guests around then the dining table could be pulled back into the centre of the space again to maximise the number of seats available.   

The layout of a single larger space can evolve as the needs of the household change, with greater freedom to plan accessible layouts for people using wheelchairs and walking aids.

5 - Parental Supervision: For families with young children, open plan layouts allow parents to keep an eye on their kids from different areas of the house. How important this is - or even whether you think this is a good or bad thing - will depend on your parenting philosophy, but there is no doubt that placing multiple important functions in one space means that parents and kids are more likely to be in that space at the same time.  That could be mum and dad preparing dinner while kids do their homework at a desk, or parents entertaining their friends around the dining table while the kids play videogames on the sofa. 

 Disadvantages of open plan layouts:

1 - Containment of noise, smell, clutter and mess:  Sometimes you want to be able to see and hear what other people are doing in the house, and sometimes you really don't! Walls and doors do a good job at blocking out sounds, making it easier for parallel noisy activities to take place at the same time. Entertaining friends around the dining table while the kids play videogames may sound like an excellent balance of adult and child friendly activities in a shared space, until the shouting at the screen starts to drown out the conversation at the table. 

 Similarly cooking smells can be delicious, but do you really want that pan-fried salmon smell lingering in the living space for the rest of the evening?  Clutter and mess are the visual equivalent of noise and smells, and with traditional layouts a mess in one area can be visually isolated behind closed doors.

2 - Furniture: A lot of furniture, especially storage furniture, is designed to be placed against a wall. The same goes for artwork, technology and appliances. Pictures are almost always hung on a wall, sit on a shelf on a wall, or lean against a wall. TVs, so often the focal point of contemporary lounge spaces, are now usually wall mounted.  Walls are the natural habitats of these kinds of objects, and without enough walls it may be difficult to lay out a room in a way that provides a home for all your artwork, or, if you're like me, your bookshelves. 

3 - Fire safety: Part B of the UK building regulations deals with fire safety, and part of the standard approach to making homes safe is to provide a degree of fire compartmentation between rooms. This means separating spaces with walls and doors that provide a minimum level of fire protection, allowing people enough time to escape in the event of a fire.  Removing walls, especially those that would enclose an escape route, can require other compensatory provisions to be put in place, such as sprinklers or fire curtains, which can add significantly to the cost of a renovation.  The extent to which these types of features would be needed is highly dependent on the specifics of the building being renovated, including the height and layout, and it will not matter in many cases, but it is something to bear in mind.

4 - Hosting guest sleepers: The privacy afforded by walls and doors might not be needed for cooking, eating and relaxing on the sofa, but it comes into its own when you need to put up a guest for a night or two on the sofa-bed. For those who typically have empty spare bedrooms this might not be a consideration, but in overstuffed homes the ability to give a guest their own room, while family life continues as normal in the dining room, is a contemporary urban luxury.  If you have the kind of person that has far flung guests turning up at their doorstep, then removing walls to create an open plan space could be reducing your ability to host them in comfort and privacy.

A dedicated lounge room in Phoebe’s House, by MW Architects, a design which creates dedicated functional spaces organised around a central stair.

So which is right for you?

Should you create an open plan layout with your renovation? The answer will depend a lot on how much space you have available and your lifestyle. The benefits of open plan layouts in terms of space efficiency and flexibility are undeniable, and the smaller the amount of space there is to use the more that will matter. If, on other hand you have a home large enough to provide separate rooms for each function while giving each function as much space as it could ever need, then the spatial benefits of open plan living are inconsequential.   Other questions to ask yourself are: Are the rooms well-lit and well ventilated, or would they benefit from an extra source of sunlight or unobstructed cross ventilation?  

Think about your style of entertaining. Are you a sociable cook? Or do you feel the need to focus while cooking, with your partner taking care of the guests.  Do you work from home a lot, or a little - the importance of a dedicated, enclosed study room over a desk in a niche in your open plan space will depend on how often you rely on it.  Are your kids  at the age when you feel the need to keep an eye on them at all times, or would you prefer to keep their ruckus contained?  Finally, think about your furniture - if you don't have any free wall space at the moment, where will those pieces of furniture or art go when the walls are gone?

A lot of interior magazines and websites will say that open plan is a trend whose time is up (or conversely, it’s a trend that shows no signs of slowing down). We'd advise you not to be swayed by trends, but to think about how you actually live your life, and how you want to live your life, and then design a space that deals with both.

Ready to begin planning your own renovation? Get started with Preview Studio.