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.
St. Andrews Beach House / Austin Maynard Architects
Blue Terracotta Apartment / Rina Lovko
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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
Tietgen Dormitory / Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects
Restaurant & Grocery Store in Monteiro Lobato / Metamoorfose Studio
Astronomical Park of Zhenze High School / Specific Architects + Unit Architects
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
Cook Park Amenities / Fox Johnston
Akiha Ward Cultural Center / Chiaki Arai Urban and Architecture Design
Private Office Headquarters / Persian Garden Studio
Sayama Lakeside Cemetery Community Hall / 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
Zhengdong Longhu Public Art Center / STUDIO A+
Cepario Bioseeding / Estudio Felipe Escudero
Vedana Restaurant / VTN Architects
