Building Typology

name building-typology description Identify and apply building typologies for residential, commercial, institutional, hospitality, industrial, cultural, and mixed-use buildings. Use when the user asks about building types, plan configurations, floor plate design, core arrangements, net-to-gross ratios, structural grids, floor-to-floor heights, unit mix, parking strategies, or exemplar buildings. Also use when comparing typological options, selecting an appropriate building form for a site, evaluating plan depth and daylight, or analyzing how a typology affects density, efficiency, and user experience. Covers detached houses through supertall towers, hospitals through hotels, museums through mixed-use podium-tower developments. Building Typology Skill You are an expert in building typology with encyclopedic knowledge of plan types, structural systems, dimensional standards, and exemplar buildings across every major use category. You understand how typological choices drive density, efficiency, daylight, construction cost, user experience, and urban form. Every recommendation is grounded in measurable metrics and real-world precedent.

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Residential Typologies 1.1 Detached House Metric Value Plan Depth 8 - 12m (deeper with central corridors or lightwells) Storeys 1 - 3 typical Plot Width 8 - 20m Typical GIA 80 - 300 m2 Density 10 - 30 DU/ha NTG Ratio 0.85 - 0.92 (minimal common area) Structural System Load-bearing masonry, timber frame, light steel frame Parking On-plot garage or driveway, 1-3 spaces Daylight All rooms can have windows on 2+ sides; excellent daylight Private Amenity Front and rear gardens, 50-200+ m2 Exemplars: Farnsworth House (Mies van der Rohe, 1951, Plano IL) -- universal open plan, glass pavilion, 140 m2 Maison Bordeaux (OMA/Rem Koolhaas, 1998) -- split-level, hydraulic platform, 500 m2 Moriyama House (SANAA/Ryue Nishizawa, 2005, Tokyo) -- cluster of discrete volumes, 263 m2 total 1.2 Semi-Detached House Metric Value Plan Depth 8 - 10m Storeys 2 - 3 Plot Width 5 - 8m per unit (pair = 10-16m) Typical GIA per Unit 70 - 150 m2 Density 25 - 50 DU/ha Party Wall Min 100mm cavity masonry, STC 45+ Parking On-plot driveway, 1-2 spaces per unit Daylight Three aspects (front, rear, side); party wall is blank Exemplars: Donnybrook Quarter (Peter Barber Architects, 2006, London) -- contemporary semi-detached with courtyard variants, 65 DU/ha Accordia (Feilden Clegg Bradley / Maccreanor Lavington / Alison Brooks, 2008, Cambridge) -- mixed semi-detached and terrace, 47 DU/ha 1.3 Terrace / Rowhouse Metric Value Plan Depth 8 - 12m Plan Width 4.5 - 7m per unit Storeys 2 - 4 Typical GIA per Unit 65 - 140 m2 Density 40 - 80 DU/ha NTG Ratio 0.85 - 0.90 Structural System Load-bearing party walls (masonry/concrete block), timber floors Parking On-street, rear mews court, or integral garage (reduces habitable area) Daylight Two aspects only (front and rear); max depth 12m for adequate rear room daylight Private Amenity Rear garden 20-60 m2, front yard 3-10 m2 Key Dimensions: Min width for 2-bed: 4.5m (internal); 5.0-5.5m preferred Min width for 3-bed: 5.5m; 6.0-7.0m preferred Stair width: 850mm min clear, 900mm preferred Hallway: 900mm min clear Exemplars: Georgian Terrace (Bath, London, Edinburgh, 1714-1830) -- 5-7m wide, 12-15m deep, 3-4 storeys, the prototype Borneo Sporenburg (various architects, 2000, Amsterdam) -- 5.1m wide, 3 storeys, courtyard within plan depth, 100 DU/ha Goldsmith Street (Mikhail Riches, 2019, Norwich) -- Stirling Prize, Passivhaus terrace, 5.2m wide, south-facing orientation 1.4 Walk-Up Apartment (3-5 Storeys) Metric Value Plan Depth 10 - 14m (single-loaded corridor: 6-8m) Core Type Single staircase serving 4-8 units per floor (no lift required below 5 storeys in many codes) Units per Core 2 - 4 per landing (stair access type); 6-12 per floor (corridor type) Typical Unit Size 45 - 90 m2 NIA Density 60 - 150 DU/ha NTG Ratio 0.78 - 0.84 Structural System Load-bearing masonry, cross-laminated timber (CLT), reinforced concrete frame Parking Surface, undercroft, or basement; 0.5-1.0 spaces/unit Daylight Dual-aspect achievable with stair-access type; single-aspect common in corridor type Core Configurations: Stair Access (no corridor): Single stair with 2-4 units per landing. Most efficient, best dual-aspect potential. Common in continental Europe (Berlin, Paris, Vienna). Single-Loaded Corridor: Corridor on one side, units on the other. All units face same direction. Good daylight but less efficient (NTG 0.72-0.78). Double-Loaded Corridor: Corridor in centre, units both sides. Most area-efficient but single-aspect units on both sides. Plan depth 12-15m. Exemplars: Silodam (MVRDV, 2003, Amsterdam) -- mixed walk-up and maisonette, 157 units, harbour location Ely Court (Alison Brooks Architects, 2015, London) -- brick walk-up, stair-access cores, dual-aspect 85 Falkner Street (shedkm, 2018, Liverpool) -- CLT walk-up apartments, Passivhaus 1.5 Mid-Rise Apartment (6-12 Storeys) Metric Value Plan Depth 12 - 18m (double-loaded corridor) Floor Plate 600 - 1500 m2 GIA Core Type 1-2 lifts + 1 firefighting stair + 1 escape stair (code-dependent) Units per Core per Floor 4 - 10 Typical Unit Mix 30-40% 1-bed, 35-45% 2-bed, 15-25% 3-bed Density 100 - 250 DU/ha NTG Ratio 0.75 - 0.82 Structural System RC frame, flat slab (most common), RC shear walls + flat slab, CLT (up to ~10 storeys) Structural Grid 6.0m x 7.5m typical (residential) Floor-to-Floor 2.85 - 3.15m Parking Basement or podium; 0.3-1.0 spaces/unit Daylight Mix of dual-aspect (corners, ends) and single-aspect (mid-block); plan depth critical Key Design Principles: Corridor length should not exceed 30m from core (fire egress) Minimum 2 units as dual-aspect per floor (corners) North-facing single-aspect units should be avoided (poor daylight and solar gain) Refuse chute within 30m of every unit entrance Accessible units (Part M Category 2 min, 10% Category 3) spread across floors Exemplars: Via Verde (Grimshaw + Dattner, 2012, Bronx NY) -- 222 units, stepped profile, rooftop agriculture, mixed affordable One Folgate Street (Alison Brooks Architects, 2018, London) -- 8 storeys, brick, dual-aspect, mixed tenure The Interlace (OMA/Ole Scheeren, 2013, Singapore) -- 31 blocks of 6 storeys, stacked at angles, 1,040 units, 170,000 m2 1.6 High-Rise Residential Tower (13+ Storeys) Metric Value Plan Depth Point tower: 18-24m diameter; Slab tower: 12-16m depth Floor Plate 400 - 900 m2 GIA (point tower); 800 - 2000 m2 (slab) Core Size 80 - 150 m2 (lifts + stairs + lobbies + risers) Core-to-GIA Ratio 20 - 28% (point tower); 15 - 22% (slab tower) Lifts 2 per 80-120 units (min), +1 firefighting lift Units per Core per Floor 4 - 8 (point tower); 8 - 16 (slab tower) Density 200 - 600+ DU/ha NTG Ratio 0.68 - 0.78 (point tower); 0.72 - 0.82 (slab tower) Structural System RC core + flat slab, RC core + post-tensioned slab, RC core + steel perimeter Floor-to-Floor 3.0 - 3.3m (standard); 3.5 - 4.0m (luxury) Wind Wind analysis required above 10 storeys; corner balconies problematic above 15 storeys Parking Basement podium (2-5 levels); 0.2-1.0 spaces/unit Core Design for Towers: Scissor Stair: Two interleaving stairs in a single shaft -- compact, satisfies two-stair egress. Common in UK, used up to ~30 storeys. Twin Stair: Two separate stairs on opposite sides of core. Required by IBC and many international codes for tall buildings. Single Stair (with conditions): Allowed in some UK codes below certain height/occupancy thresholds. Each unit opens directly to stair lobby. Skip-Stop: Corridor every 3rd floor, maisonette units between. Reduces corridor area, increases NTG. (Unité d'Habitation model.) Exemplars: Unité d'Habitation (Le Corbusier, 1952, Marseille) -- 18 storeys, skip-stop corridor, 337 units, internal street concept Barbican Estate (Chamberlin Powell & Bon, 1969-76, London) -- three 42-storey towers, 2,014 units, brutalist 432 Park Avenue (Rafael Vinoly, 2015, New York) -- 85 storeys, 28.5m x 28.5m plan, 104 units, one of tallest residential One Thousand Museum (Zaha Hadid Architects, 2019, Miami) -- 62 storeys, exoskeleton structure, 83 units Bosco Verticale (Stefano Boeri, 2014, Milan) -- 2 towers (111m, 76m), 900 trees, 20,000 plants, 113 units 1.7 Maisonette Metric Value Plan Depth 8 - 14m Storeys per Unit 2 (duplex within apartment building) Typical GIA 65 - 120 m2 Access Corridor every other floor (skip-stop) or private external stair Advantage Dual-aspect living, internal stair gives house-like quality, reduced corridor area Disadvantage Internal stair consumes 3-4 m2 NIA per unit, accessibility challenge (entry level only) Exemplars: Alexandra Road Estate (Neave Brown / Camden Architects, 1978, London) -- stepped maisonettes, 520 dwellings Brunswick Centre (Patrick Hodgkinson, 1972, London) -- stepped maisonettes facing central street 1.8 Courtyard Housing Metric Value Plan Depth 6 - 10m wings around 6-15m courtyard Storeys 1 - 3 Typical GIA 60 - 200 m2 Density 40 - 100 DU/ha Courtyard Size Min 4m x 4m for light; 6m x 6m for usable outdoor space Advantage Privacy, microclimate, daylight to deep plans, cultural tradition Structural System Load-bearing walls (masonry, rammed earth, concrete) Exemplars: Salk Institute (Louis Kahn, 1965, La Jolla CA) -- courtyard as monumental space between lab wings Courtyard Houses Matosinhos (Souto de Moura, 1993-99, Portugal) -- minimalist courtyard villa Bait Ur Rouf Mosque (Marina Tabassum, 2012, Dhaka) -- courtyard as environmental mediator 1.9 Co-Housing Metric Value Community Size 15 - 40 households (optimal for social cohesion) Private Unit 40 - 100 m2 NIA (smaller than conventional, offset by shared spaces) Shared Spaces Common house: 150-300 m2 (kitchen, dining, lounge, laundry, guest rooms, workshop) Shared-to-Private Ratio 10 - 20% of total NIA is shared Layout Cluster around shared courtyard or garden; parking at periphery Density 30 - 80 DU/ha Exemplars: Trudeslund (1981, Birkerod, Denmark) -- one of the earliest, 33 households, one-storey Marmalade Lane (Mole Architects, 2019, Cambridge) -- 42 homes, common house, car-free street Lilac (2013, Leeds) -- mutual home ownership, straw bale construction, 20 households 1.10 Micro / Co-Living Metric Value Private Unit 10 - 25 m2 NIA (bedroom + en-suite or pod bathroom) Shared Spaces Kitchen, living, laundry, co-working, gym: 5-10 m2/unit Building Type Typically mid-rise apartment, repurposed hotel, or purpose-built Density 200 - 500+ DU/ha NTG Ratio 0.65 - 0.75 (extensive shared space) Target User Young professionals, students, digital nomads, short-term workers Exemplars: The Collective Old Oak (PLP Architecture, 2016, London) -- 546 units, largest co-living building in the world at completion Carmel Place (nARCHITECTS, 2016, New York) -- 55 micro-units, 23-33 m2, modular prefab construction StarCity (various locations, 2020+) -- co-living operator, units from 14 m2 with extensive shared amenity