The Hidden Cost of Poor Layouts

Last week I was asked to quote on interior design work for a couple of projects. And I spotted an issue that often comes up. There is a focus on tile selections, tapware, appliances etc, but the floor plan still needs work.

A lot of new build floor plans tick the buildability and council compliance boxes, but the layout hasn’t been finessed.

Interior designers focus on end users - that’s designer-speak for buyers or clients.  Optimising floor plans matters just as much to us as finishes selections.

Professional design considers the following:

• Traffic flow - rooms should connect logically and ideally users shouldn't need to cross through functional spaces.

• Strategic adjacency - which rooms need to be next to each other for practical reasons.

• Zoning - public versus private areas.

• Being efficient with circulation square meterage and eliminating dead space.

• Natural light and ventilation – strategically maximise access to both.

• Furniture plans early in the design process - this forces everyone to see what's actually wasted space.

• Joinery and lighting integrated from day one, not afterthoughts.

• Borrowed space - an example of this is connecting indoors to outdoors so rooms feel larger without adding square metres.

• Views from room to room and from key public areas.

• Treats materials as part of the spatial design, not as separate elements.

Here is some maths:)  A good, well resolved floor plan = smaller footprint = lower build costs = better user experience.  A well designed 160m2 floor plan outperforms a 180m2 floor plan with a mediocre layout.  At $2,500/m² build cost, the difference between 180m² and 160m² is $50,000 per dwelling—a substantial saving.

Floor plan optimisation is foundational to good design. I'll share more practical tips in future emails, because even beautiful, expensive finishes cannot fix a poor floor plan.