The Outdoor Room Concept
Landscaping
Chapter 6
Objectives
• Identify indoor and outdoor use areas
• List and define the features of the
outdoor room
Categories of Use of the Home
• Public Area
– Portion of the home that is seen by anyone coming in
• Includes—entry foyer, reception room, enclosed porch
• Family Living Area
– Rooms that are used for family activities and entertaining
friends
• Living room, dining room, family room, game room
• Service Area
– Rooms that are used to meet the family’s operating needs
• Laundry, sewing, kitchen, utility rooms
• Private Living Area
– Rooms that are only used by the family for personal activities
• Bedrooms, if present dressing rooms
Outdoor Use Areas
• Areas of the landscape are identified by
their location
• Should instead by identified by the
function it is to fulfill
• Function of the areas should be
physically linked as closely as possible to
the same areas of the home
Outdoor Public Area
• Usually refered to as the front yard
• In regard to its region on the landscape—it
is the area that is seen by everyone who
passes the home or approaches it
• 3 functions
– Put the house in an attractive setting
– Identify the point of entry
– Provide access to the entry
• Fig 6-2, p. 86
Outdoor Public Area
• Should connect with the front porch,
entry foyer or reception room and
attatched garage
• Does not need to be large
• Sun orientation is not as sensitive as
other areas of the landscape
Outdoor Family Living Area
• Place where designers plan for the patio,
outdoor dining, swimming pool and spa, lawn
games, children’s play and assorted other uses
• Should link with the house in a way that allows
for uninterupted continuation of social activities
from indoors to out
• Typically linked through large windows
• Usually the largest area
• Should be oriented to maxamize the number of
hours each day and the number of days per year
that the area can serve its residents
– Best orientation—south and west
Outdoor Service Area
• Home to storage sheds, dog yards,
gardens, clotheslines, compost piles,
storage for campers, wood storage
• Should be placed as close to the kitchen
and laundry room as possible
• May be more than 1
• Size varies
• Sun orientation depends on its use
Outdoor Private Living Area
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Typically adjoins the master bedroom
Purpose is to allow total privacy
Not large
Should be screened
Best oriented on the east side of the
house, second best is the south
The Outdoor Room
• Composition is the same as the indoor
room
• Comprised of
– Outdoor Wall
– Outdoor floor
– Outdoor Ceiling
Outdoor Wall
• Defines the limits or size of the outdoor
room
• Can slow or prevent movement in a certain
direction
• Should not be placed in the middle of lawns
• Materials used for form outdoor walls may
be natural or man made
– Shrubs, small trees, ground covers, flowers,
fencing, masonry
Outdoor Floor
• Provides the surfacing for the outdoor room
• May be natural or man made
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Grass
Ground covers
Sand
Gravel
Water
Brick
Concrete
Patio blocks
tile
Outdoor Ceiling
• Defines the upper limits of the outdoor
room
• May offer physical protection or provide
shade
– Trees
– Awnings
– Aluminum coverings
Examples
• P. 91-93
Assignment
• Practice Exercise B
• Homework Exercise—
– Take pictures of each area of the property
around your house that seems to have a
different purpose. Print the pictures and
bring them to school. Remember try to find
one of each of the four use areas described
in the chapter. Have your pictures here on
Monday March 1.