Abstract:
A central business district (CBD) is an area where there are many office buildings and most people are employees with moderate income. While living close to their workplace can help decrease expenses, the price of property in a CBD is quite high, Entrepreneurs who invest in property development, apartments in particular, have thus limited the size of rooms to have as many as possible in one complex and reduce rent accordingly so employees can afford the payment. Because of the small size of a room, the common area, or space, causes a problem when defining a room plan for different lifestyles. As a result, this research aims to explore area uses and room plans in Orchid Apartment, Soi Saunplu. The objective is to learn the living patterns, activities, and choices of furniture so that guidelines for improvement and room plans can be provided. It has been found that area uses and room plans depend on the characteristics of the tenants, such as gender, social status, and the number of the tenants in residence. Tenants are mostly working age and live by themselves, arrange their room plan and do not make maximum use of the area. They spend limited time in their room as they go to work in the morning and return in the evening. For those who study, due to their low income, two people usually live together to reduce the cost of their accommodation. These room area must usually serve double-function. Therefore, when furnishing, tenants have chosen mobile furniture to be able to adjust the area for other use. The results of this study reveal that females tend to make more use of the furniture and an area than males. For those who live with a friend of different gender, they tend to choose furniture which provides privacy when storing their belongings. Working tenants, in particular, use their furniture to divide their room into sections for privacy. The tenants living as a family have chosen mobile furniture for area adjustment for other users. Their rooms are neat and clearly divided into sections so that every member can use the area simultaneously. The room plan should be arranged for practicality. For a small-size room the tenants should be able to make use of the space horizontally and vertically. Arranging the furniture vertically will help increase the area horizontally and help the use of the area horizontally.