Robert J Morton
Robert J Morton |
A household can be divided into a set of connected environments, each of which supports a major domestic activity.
One activity may need a place of its own. Another, in order to fulfil its function, may need the run of several environments. Yet others (like cleaning and maintenance) are needed by the environments rather than the other way round. The following table associates the listed activities with environments suitable for them to take place in. Each environment's name is a link to further detail.
In order to support the activities which are intended to take place within them, each of these environments needs certain 'ducted' services. Some may also need protection from external interfering influences such as noise. These needs and protection requirements are summarised in the table below.
To function as a base for a complete microeconomy, these environments must be interconnected to form an integrated whole. The first and most important way in which they must be interconnected is to allow human beings to pass between them to perform activities and to change from one activity to another as shown below.
A green square indicates that people must be able to walk directly between the environment named above it and the environment named to the right of it.
Another way in which the environments need to be interconnected is through storage areas or cupboards. For example, it is convenient to have crockery and cutlery stored in a through cupboard in the wall adjoining a kitchen and a dining room. This makes it possible to conduct the activity of food preparation and serving entirely in the kitchen while conducting the activity of laying and clearing the table entirely in the dining room. Useful environment interconnections by through-the-wall storage are shown in yellow.