Floor Plans With Sunken Great Rooms

Floor plans with sunken great rooms are more popular in the Mediterranean because traditionally they have been reminiscent of ancient Roman architectures. The traditional Roman baths were sunken rooms set against a dramatic marble backdrop. However, when envisaging floor plans with great sunken rooms it is possible to add a dramatic depth to a house in a colder climate. The Roman baths tended to be sunken just one step and indeed many Southern Spanish houses especially in the port town of Malaga, Andalusia have the same feature. Here the sunken room has been used because it creates a colder draught around the ankles, cold air drops, and it is a beneficial naturally cooling feature.

However with modern designs and a little imagination that design feature which can be a design flaw in colder climates can be overcome.  Modern cold air returns can be placed in the wall or indeed on the last step. A sunken great room can be fantastically dramatic and stylish and it lends itself to many possibilities, either a large games room, or entertainment room. The green baize of a snooker table enhanced by lights can look theatrical against the backdrop of a sunken room.

Reviewing floor plans with sunken great rooms opens more possibilities than a games room not everyone wants a snooker table. A double breasted fire can separate and divide a large area especially a sunken room, without the restriction of walls.  Large plants around a sunken especially palms open up the room rather like the Palm Court in Raffles Hotel in Singapore, the eponymous setting for their breakfasts. Another famous part of their design is bird cages which bestow an attraction and elegance from another era. The appearance of tall narrow cathedral windows enhances the area especially those shaped with an arch at the top.

Don’t abandon the idea of a sunken room just because of the climate as they can be made as warm as toast as easily as they can cool a house, they are only limited to within the confines of your imagination. However do bear in mind that they are easier to incorporate into house plans rather than an existing house. It is not impossible but not always achievable without architectural modifications and that can make the floor plans with sunken great rooms more expensive.