Death of the Open Floor Plan
Our newest Brooklyn renovation project encouraged us to reckon with a question that has been at the forefront of interior designers’ minds for the last few years; is an open floor plan a viable design for how families utilize their homes today? The open concept came into existence as a reaction to a change in social structures due to industrialization. Improvements in construction practices and ventilation systems as well as a decreased need for separate in-home staffing, allowed architects to begin designing with more spatial freedom. Frank Lloyd Wright is often credited with being an early advocate for this concept in residential buildings.
Our project is an 1830’s Brooklyn Heights brownstone that we were tasked with redesigning while maintaining the historic charm of the building. Our challenge was on the first floor of the building, which contains the kitchen, dining and living rooms. In our initial concept, we explored ways to find a connection between these three rooms; should they be kept in their historic and disconnected layout or reconsidered without partitions, combining the rooms into one dynamic floorplan?
From a design perspective, the uncluttered schematic provided flexibility and an efficient use of space and flow. With the removal of walls, natural light could illuminate previously obstructed space and give the impression of a larger square footage. As we continued to consider the space, we realized how much an open floor plan would allow for greater integration between spaces leading to a more connected home life. However, the pandemic exposed the failings of an open plan – boundaries. Suddenly homes were being utilized for offices, school rooms, and spaces to convalesce, so the lack of separate, defined spaces became a burden. Issues with privacy, kitchen odors, and too much collaborative noise are common complaints from open concept homeowners. To tackle these issues some designers have begun to include an out-of-sight functioning kitchen to tackle the messiness of cooking and a bare-bones open kitchen for entertaining and aesthetic.
For our project though, we opted for a more fluid hybrid: Our final layout features a grand set of parlor pocket doors which divide the living room from the dining room to easily bring privacy for use as an office or even a guest bedroom. Additionally, we opted to streamline the architectural detailing between the kitchen and dining room unifying the spaces. A kitchen island helps to create a subtle visual divider between the two spaces, but a parent cooking dinner can be readily available to answer homework questions from a child at the dining table while someone takes a Zoom call in the living room. This scheme allows for flow between rooms when wanted and privacy when necessary.