TECHNICAL ADVICE

​Broken Plan Living VS Open Plan Living: Which is Better?

Open plan living has dominated architectural home design for the last couple of decades. Majority of homes across the country have sought to knock down separating walls and extend their home to create large open plan kitchen-dining living spaces.

This home design can help the space to appear bigger and brighter, and families with children are able to keep an eye on them whilst making dinner or watching TV.

Broken plan living, a growing home design trend, still loosely follows an open plan design but with spaces segmented through the clever placing of half walls and internal glazing.

The pandemic kickstarted the rise in demand for this home style as many people needed separate areas of their home for things such as work and exercise, which normally would have been done away from the home.

Whether you’re building a new home or extending an additional one choosing the right layout can be tricky, but luckily the team at Sieger are here to help.

double internal glass pivot door with slim glazing bars for an elegant steel look design and a broken plan living layout

For a long time, open plan layouts were the go-to for many homeowners. This home design combined with slim framed glazing systems helps interior space appear bigger and gives large internal spaces a strong connection to the outdoors. Having this style of home also makes a great space for entertaining guests.

Before the pandemic, many people used their home as a space to relax in the evenings and have family and friends over at the weekend. In 2020 when the gyms and pubs closed and many people had to work from home, houses became so much more.

These spaces now had to be multifunctional, acting as a workspace, school space, workout area and a place to relax. For homes with open plan layout this proved difficult, but internal glazing and a broken plan layout can fix this.

home gym with a double sieger legacy casement door surrounded by a fixed glass façade with glazing bars
internal glass pivot door an fixed glazing used to create a broken plan living space in a family home

Since the first COVID-19 lockdown, the demand for broken plan living spaces has increased rapidly. People needed segmented living spaces to be able to separate the different areas of their lives.

Being able to work in one room and then when you leave that room for the day, it mimics the feeling of leaving work is extremely important. This way any work life stress can stay there, enabling people to be able to relax in other parts of the home.

By using half walls and internal glass doors, this provides internal living spaces with a certain degree of separation without completely closing off rooms.

Incorporating rooflights and roof glazing systems into a broken-plan home design and using clear internal glass doors or partitions is an ideal choice as it still allows light to flow into and through the home, preventing any spaces from becoming dark and dull.

Sieger’s new MIRO internal glazing range can be specified with sandblasted glass for privacy, with a clear glass pane to allow light flow through or with glazing bars for an industrial style aesthetic.

We also offer five different types of slim framed aluminium rooflights and roof glazing solutions, ranging from lantern rooflights, to flush conservation rooflight systems and even an automated venting rooflight system.

At Sieger our range of internal glass doors gives homeowners the options to benefit from both and open plan and a broken plan home.

Our internal glass sliding doors can be specified in a pocket configuration, depending on the building structure, allowing to space to be separated when closed, but when the doors are open and concealed within the internal walls the spaces can be completely merged creating one open place area.

All of our internal glass doors come within a range of glazing options so whether you need a space where privacy is required or desire a decorative glazing style which can turn the internal glazing into a design feature in itself, our systems are the right choice.

open plan living space with biparting sliding patio doors and gable end windows with glazing bars for a steel look design
garden room with two Sieger bifolding doors and fixed glazing

If the only issue with an open plan layout is needing a separate space to work from home or exercise, an alternative option could be a garden room.

These small external buildings tend to use floor to ceiling glass doors to form wrap-around glass walls, giving the space a calm atmosphere thanks to the scenic views and strong connection to the outdoors.

Garden rooms can be multifunctional spaces, but over the past year, many have been designed to act as areas for work or exercise. This means people can still have an open plan layout in the main home and a separate space for these activities.

Sieger has a wide range of slim framed sliding doors, bifold doors, casement doors and pivot doors. All of our aluminium glazing systems have flexible designs and are manufactured bespoke to fit specific design requirements. This means that no matter the project, our systems can be designed to enhance the space.

Overall, it’s difficult to say if one layout is better than the other as there are many factors that need to be considered such as homeowner’s preferences and their use for the home.

If all occupants go into work during the day and exercise at the gym, a broken plan layout may not be necessary.

At Sieger we lean towards favouring a broken plan layout as utilising internal glazing, these spaces can still be merged when need to but there is the option to separate spaces by closing the doors, especially with a decorative or sandblasted glass finish.

Whatever the plan for your project, Sieger’s glazing can help to enhance the space. Whether you need a slim framed, oversized patio floor to connect an open plan space with the garden or internal glazing Is needed for a broken plan living arrangement, we’re here to help.

 

Get in touch with the team today who will be able to advise you on the best glazing solutions for your project.

Call 01494 722 882 or email [email protected]

 

internal glass bifold door used to create a broken plan living space in a family home

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