Outdoor space is the biggest advantage of villas that distinguish them from ordinary houses, so it is also an important part of villa planning and design. Due to the diversification of the villa market, the planning and design of villas with various plot ratios make the villas have a variety of outdoor space patterns.
As the outdoor space is an integral part of the villa, the feeling of the villa provided to people may be more important. The indoor space of the villa is two-story and three-story, which is no different from the duplex houses in the city. However, the environment outside of the villa building allows you to truly be in the private garden and enjoy the fresh and naturally beautiful scenery. How to make the outdoor space of the villa better meet the needs of different groups of people and better match the indoor space is a problem that designers need to consider carefully.
The planning and design of some villas in the early period, including now, paid more attention to the individual itself, the apartment type itself, and its luxurious style. The quality of outdoor space is often overlooked by people. People think that there is room for gardening to grow flowers and grass, dig pools, and stack stones. enough. In fact, this only solves the problem of whether there is a courtyard, and it has not reached the level of the creation of courtyard privacy and the refinement of the use of functions, let alone the height of artistry. In the design of outdoor space, it is necessary to emphasize its extension and penetration in the horizontal and vertical directions. It is necessary to take care of the relationship between balconies, terraces, and courtyards, as well as to consider the useful functions and spatial effects of the courtyard space area. Then there is the integration of indoor and outdoor spaces. At the same time, the outdoor spaces of adjacent villas influence each other, even if it is a private courtyard, it must be coordinated with the community landscape space system.
As a complete villa, its indoor living space and outdoor space should be unified and inseparable. It may seem that the outdoor space is sufficient, but the villa should be considered as a living space, not as a carrier for showing off wealth. Its outdoor living space is very important, so that its design, including its privacy, can effectively use the space. The consideration of size and other aspects is more practical.
1. Different users have different space requirements
As a general term for high-end residences, villas should have a transitional product from the highest to the lowest. These products are aimed at different customer groups and determine the diversification of the villa market, and more division into different levels. Different groups of people have different lifestyles and concepts. The effect of lifestyle on apartment types is completely different in ordinary apartment and villa products. Ordinary apartment houses seek common ground while keeping small differences. However, due to the ample and flexible indoor and outdoor space, the villa seeks big differences and keeps small differences. When people choose villas, they also choose a new way of life. Similarly, to develop and design a villa is to design a container that adapts to a new lifestyle.
At the beginning of villa planning, it is necessary to study in detail the characteristics of its possible customer groups, understand its living habits, cultural concepts, value orientation, and spiritual pursuits, and other human factors, as well as use characteristics, consumer characteristics, and many other aspects. For example, in the research and analysis of market demand for high-end villas in Beijing, it was found in the survey on the use time of resort properties that 83% of the respondents use it more than once a month, of which 28% use it once a week. Living in resort-style properties on weekends has become an important choice for their leisure and entertainment in the suburbs. In a survey of people using vacation properties, it was found that 92% of the interviewed people like to spend less than 10 people on holiday together. These holiday crowds also like to use small gatherings to share their free time with everyone, so they pay more attention to indoor public spaces. For people who use villas as their second residence, they buy villas to enjoy a higher quality of life. Therefore, they pay more attention to private courtyards and surrounding natural environments than holiday-type people, and focus on returning to the spiritual realm of nature. The necessary and detailed investigation helps to grasp the overall space design.
2. The privacy of the outdoor space of the villa
In the past, the outdoor space of many villas was left after planning. The privacy and functions of the villas were not considered. They only had the area of the courtyard to grow flowers and grass. However, such space often cannot guarantee that the owner can avoid interference when using it. . At the beginning of the villa planning stage, a unified consideration should be given to the outdoor space, how to ensure the privacy of the courtyard, and to ensure a good line of sight to the outside in the courtyard.
Many people still miss the characteristics of Siheyuan. In fact, the feature of Siheyuan is that it provides a particularly private outdoor living space. Its social network system is centered on the home courtyard, the neighborhood is the mainline, and the community area is the plane. It conforms to the unique traditional cultural concept of the Chinese, which is unique to the courtyard house and is also a characteristic of China. Living in a courtyard house can create a cohesive and harmonious atmosphere between people, as well as a sense of security and stability and a sense of belonging.
The most unfavorable distance between independent houses is about six meters, which is not conducive to the opening of side windows and the use of side yards. Unfortunately, most of the current independent residential projects are just like this. The distance between houses is either farther or closer. Adjusting the location of bedrooms and a good community planning layout can effectively improve the privacy of independent houses. From the design analysis, the distance between independent houses should be appropriately expanded on the basis of six meters, using elements such as trees and hedges to improve privacy; the distance can also be appropriately reduced to make the misalignment of adjacent residential windows more obvious, and also increase Privacy. The setting of spacious roof terraces for independent houses is an important means for developers to increase their selling points. However, too many unreasonable terraces and balconies are designed to interfere with the line of sight of independent houses. Independent houses should emphasize “life on the horizon”, that is, the living space is concentrated on the ground floor, and the setting of too many terraces and balconies does not match this spirit. The design should try to ensure the privacy of the indoor and outdoor living spaces on the ground floor. Do not blindly imitate Western architecture, but pay more attention to the essence of the independent houses-the ground floor.
3. Neighborhood space outside the villa
3.1 Neighborhood Space
Residential space is not only a spatial combination of a certain functional building in the urban regional space but also a social-space system integrated by people’s lives and residential activities. Residential space is essentially a kind of social space. The urban residential community is a social and spatial unity integrated by basic units such as families and neighborhoods. The family is the most basic organizational unit and has several close contacts and relationships. A family with stable communication and interaction forms a neighborhood, and the organic integration of several neighborhoods forms a complex social and spatial system, that is, a residential community. The relationship between neighbors and households has changed greatly. In some areas, the neighbors just nod and say hello; in some areas, the relationship is very close, and they often talk and help each other; some women often discuss and exchange information together, and sometimes a family is out. Neighbors will also comfort and take care of things. Generally, in the event of a crisis, neighboring households have a climax in the relationship between neighbors and households to defend their common interests. Keller mentioned the content of neighborhood activities in his book “Urban Neighbourhoods” in 1968: helping each other in dangerous situations and exchanging information, especially on topics related to everyone’s common interests. The frequency of contact between neighboring households is much lower in the city than in the countryside. Neighboring households in the city may meet at home, on the street, or in community facilities such as schools and shops. Compared with ordinary houses, villas have weaker neighborhood relations. Maybe community villas also need neighborhood space as human living space, but they are different from the neighborhood space in general residential areas and need to pay more attention to the privacy between residents. It is necessary to actively create a space suitable for neighborhood communication, but also to ensure that residents are not disturbed.
3.2 How to create neighborhood space in the villa through design
The neighborhood space of villas is often overlooked in the design. Designers tend to pay more attention to privacy than neighborhood relations. However, with the development of the times, the customer groups who buy villas have changed a lot in ideology and concepts. They have gone from simple pursuits in the past to very high requirements now. They all communicate with friends and neighbors. Share the joy of their success. Therefore, buying a villa is not just buying a house, but more importantly, buying a group of like-minded friends with similar experiences as your own as neighbors, and interacting in a warm and affectionate neighbor atmosphere. This is the recent development trend of the villa market, so there should be a new form of organizational space to meet their requirements. Different neighborhood space patterns should be consciously adopted in the design, with special attention to the creation of small groups.
To create neighborhood relationships, there should be flexible planning and layout. Parallel neighborhood relationships will not be too close. For example, a large row of houses is a big road when you go out. When people do not touch each other, the neighbor relationship is naturally not cordial and relatively independent. After the independent house encloses a shared space, the situation changes. As long as the perspective and perspective relationship is handled well, the neighborhood will feel closer.
To create a neighborhood atmosphere, first of all, there should be an outdoor environment where people are willing to be in it. Only by staying can communication and neighborhood relationships be possible. Neighborhood space emphasizes the sense of place, that is, people’s recognition of the place. The space design should be based on the convenience of people’s participation, such as the gravel trails, wooden planks, shallow rivers and river stones, and wooden benches in the central courtyard, and design multiple channels for participation in the landscape. In addition, convenient and comfortable community clubs are also a good way to build neighborhood relations. The issues discussed in the clubs can be very broad and practical. This is also a soft environment for creating a harmonious community. They can even discuss some things related to public interests frequently. Generate a sense of belonging and responsibility to the community. Of course, there is also a need to grasp the appropriate degree.
4. The transition of indoor and outdoor spaces
Among all the building types, the villa is the best integration of indoor and outdoor space, because there are the most opportunities to create a rich and varied transitional space between indoor and outdoor, and due to the complexity of the space, the transitional space between indoor and outdoor villas is also the most difficult to deal with One type of.
Due to the disconnection in the planning and design of many villas, the planning, architecture, and landscape were completed by different designers, resulting in some blind spots and some gaps. For example, where the building and the outdoor meet, the detailed design of the terraces, platforms, balconies, building entrances, door buckets, rain covers, etc. are often neither the architect’s work nor the landscaper’s work. Therefore, it lacks in-depth design processing. These locations constitute a very important part of the owner’s life experience. The research of environmental behavior studies shows that people are willing to stay in semi-public and semi-private spaces so that they can not only have a sense of participation in public spaces but also see the crowds outside or various activities in nature, such as on the balcony. Look into the distance, look out of the window, etc. A good transitional space design can greatly improve the availability and flexibility of the space. The more adequate the transition space, the more room there is, the stronger the privacy of the home, the less external interference, and the more helpful it is to reflect the status and dignity of the owner, and of course the more it can reflect its residential value.
5. Conclusion
With the increasing development of the villa market, people have higher and higher requirements for villa products, from the simple display of wealth in the past to the spiritual pursuit of a higher level of life quality. The planning and design of villas is also moving closer to humanity, and the outdoor space is also being paid attention to by more designers. As a designer, the concept of outdoor space design should be integrated into the design in various design requirements. It is not just a slogan in the text, the design requires more detailed research, starting from the most basic problem-human needs, to create a more humane living environment.
