How to Properly Design Circular Plans

Often, when people think of buildings, they default to imagining rectangular structures—or at the very least, structures with orthogonal floor plans and hard angles, certainly not buildings with circular plans. The rarity of the circular plan comes in part from the fact that poor design choices can lead to wasted space and awkward interior arrangements, especially if furniture and appliances are rectangular in shape. However, strongly designed circular planes can have a dramatic effect, generating extraordinary spatial configurations that meet a variety of aesthetic and functional needs, while challenging the material specification process. Below, we list 18 buildings with circular plans, considering their varying strategies of design.

In some cases, like 123DV’s 360 Villa or Austin Maynard Architects’ St. Andrews Beach House, the internal rooms are arranged and shaped radially, as if emanating out from the center of the circular plan. These designs are guided by a strong organizing geometry, and the circular shape is absolutely formative to the experience of each interior space. Another (fragmented) example of this interior design ethic is Rina Lovko’s Blue Terracotta Apartment, where internal separating walls are curved to mimic the exterior circular walls. Meanwhile, in their unique design for Himitsujanai Kichi, Itsuki Matsumoto and Ehime Architecture play on this radial interior design by offsetting the ‘center,’ allowing the visitor area greater space to open up into the surrounding landscape.

360 Villa / 123DV

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Courtesy of 123DV

St. Andrews Beach House / Austin Maynard Architects

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Courtesy of Austin Maynard Architects

Blue Terracotta Apartment / Rina Lovko

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Courtesy of Rina Lovko

Himitsujanai Kichi / Itsuki Matsumoto (Aichi Institute of Technology Graduate School) + Ehime Architecture and Design Office

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Courtesy of Itsuki Matsumoto (Aichi Institute of Technology Graduate School) + Ehime Architecture and Design Office

Some buildings replicate these design strategies at a larger scale. DISSING + WEITLING Architecture’s Ecco Hotel arranges each of its rooms radially around the perimeter of the circular plans. Likewise, Lundgaard and Trandberg Architects’ Tietgen Dormitory organizes dorm rooms in the same style, leaving the center of the circle open in a beautiful courtyard for students to gather in. The central courtyard is another common strategy that can work beautifully for fostering or creating community spaces, and is likewise utilized by Metamoorfose Studio’s Restaurant & Grocery Store in Monteiro Lobato, Specific Architects + Unit Architects’ Astronomical Park of Zhenze High School, and a few other designs listed below.

Ecco’s Hotel / DISSING+WEITLING Architecture

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Courtesy of DISSING+WEITLING Architecture

Tietgen Dormitory / Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects

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Courtesy of Lundgaard and Tranberg Architects
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Courtesy of Lundgaard and Tranberg Architects

Restaurant & Grocery Store in Monteiro Lobato / Metamoorfose Studio

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Courtesy of Metamoorfose Studio

Astronomical Park of Zhenze High School / Specific Architects + Unit Architects

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Courtesy of Specific Architects + Unit Architects

Gomba / Hetedik Müterem

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Courtesy of Hetedik Müterem

In other cases, however, interiors of circular plans are guided not by a radial geometry but by orthogonal bisecting walls and furniture or otherwise more freely arranged spatial configurations. Examples include Studiolada’s Plainfaing Tourist Office and Fox Johnston’s Cook Park Amenities. In other cases, the scale of the project may have made a radial configuration implausible, such as in the enormous Akiha Ward Cultural Center or Persian Garden Studio’s Private Office Headquarters. In these cases, the orthogonal interior design provides the cleanest and most efficient arrangement while still respecting the aesthetics of the circular plan. For example, Persian Garden Studio’s office headquarters highlights the larger circular geometry using interior circular modules functioning as phone booths and meeting spaces. Some buildings, like the Sayama Lakeside Cemetery Community Hall, combines radial and orthogonal interior configurations.

Plainfaing Tourist Office (88) / Studiolada

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Courtesy of Studiolada

Cook Park Amenities / Fox Johnston

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Courtesy of Fox Johnston

Akiha Ward Cultural Center / Chiaki Arai Urban and Architecture Design

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Courtesy of Chiaki Arai Urban and Architecture Design

Private Office Headquarters / Persian Garden Studio

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Courtesy of Persian Garden Studio

Sayama Lakeside Cemetery Community Hall / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

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Courtesy of Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

Other designs are so unique that they defy categorization entirely. The AirBubble Playground, for example, is less a traditional building than an experimental playground with its own controlled microclimate. The Zhengdong Longhu Public Art Center includes a large circular walkway with art on the interior wall and glass windows on the exterior wall to merge art appreciation with sightseeing. More examples of strange and wonderful circular plans are listed below.

AirBubble Playground / ecoLogicStudio

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Courtesy of ecoLogicStudio

Zhengdong Longhu Public Art Center / STUDIO A+

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Courtesy of STUDIO A+

Cepario Bioseeding / Estudio Felipe Escudero

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Courtesy of Estudio Felipe Escudero

Vedana Restaurant / VTN Architects

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Courtesy of VTN Architects
About this author
Cite: Lilly Cao. "How to Properly Design Circular Plans" 05 Aug 2021. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/966202/how-to-properly-design-circular-plans> ISSN 0719-8884

Courtesy of DISSING+WEITLING Architecture

如何合理地设计圆形平面

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