Small villa designs in Jordan: ideas for 300 to 500 m2 plots

Small villa design in Jordan: what a 300 to 500 m2 plot gives you

Plots between 300 and 500 m2 are the most common in the newer neighbourhoods of Amman and its suburbs, and most people who ask me about small villa designs own a plot of this size. The first question is always the same: is it enough? The answer is yes, provided the plan is designed for this plot, not as a shrunken version of a larger house.

The area you can build is not set by the plot size alone. It comes from the zoning class (A, B, C or D), the building ratio and the setbacks recorded on the site plan. These values differ between areas and the reference is the Greater Amman Municipality or the local municipality, which is why I do not quote numbers here. But the general rule holds: after subtracting the setbacks on all four sides, the footprint left is smaller than you imagine, and the number of floors, the basement and the roof level make up for it.

The compact plan: how to lay out a small villa without feeling cramped

A successful small villa rests on three decisions in the plan.

First: one open living space instead of a formal salon, a family room and a living room as separate rooms. Combining kitchen, dining and sitting in one space saves walls and corridors and makes the ground floor feel larger than its actual area. Guests are received in the part nearest the entrance, the family uses the part furthest from it.

Second: corridors cut to a minimum. Every metre of corridor is a metre you pay for and never use. Arranging bedrooms around a small distribution hall instead of a long corridor saves real area.

Third: services grouped together. Bathrooms stacked above each other, the kitchen near the guest toilet, laundry near the bedrooms. This shortens the service runs, lowers cost and frees the rest of the plan.

Double-height living in a small villa

One of the most effective tools on a small plot: opening part of the ground floor ceiling so the living space rises through two floors. This adds no square metres, but it changes how the whole house feels, brings daylight from a high window deep into the plan, and connects the first floor to the ground floor visually.

The price: losing part of the first floor area, and the need to study sound and heating because warm air rises. In my work I usually place the double-height space above the family sitting area rather than the kitchen, and size it so it does not swallow a full bedroom above.

Using the roof level and basement to gain area

The roof level (the top floor set back from the facade) in most areas of Amman gives you extra area under its own setback rules. In a small villa it can be a second living room with an open terrace, a suite for an older child, or a quiet workspace. The open terrace on the roof makes up for a small garden at ground level.

The basement, in turn, gives area that in many zones is not fully counted in the building ratio, and it suits the garage, storage and laundry, or a large majlis for occasions if the ground level allows natural light into it. The reference for roof and basement conditions is the zoning recorded for your plot.

Parking on a small plot: three options

The car takes a large share of a small plot if it is not planned from the start. The usual options:

• A basement garage entered from the street by a ramp, which frees the ground floor and the garden entirely. It needs a suitable slope and a wide enough entrance.
• A covered carport in the front setback where the zoning allows it, the simplest and cheapest solution, but it takes from the front garden.
• An open parking space with a light canopy for owners who do not want another built mass, which leaves the facade cleaner.

The decision depends on the slope of the plot, the position of the street and the number of cars. I settle it in the first design session because it shapes the entire plan.

A villa facade on a narrow frontage

A small plot often has a narrow frontage to the street, and that forces the main facade to be simple. The common mistake is to crowd a narrow front with too many elements: arches, columns, cornices and more than one type of stone. The result is a busy facade that looks smaller than it is.

What I do in architectural facade design for small plots: one clear volume, one large window that gives the facade its identity, Jordanian stone in a calm cut, and horizontal lines that stretch the facade visually. The entrance is marked by depth or a simple change of material, not by ornament.

Where to save in a small villa and where not to

Good small-plot design knows where the budget should go.

Save on: built area itself (a smaller well-designed house beats a larger one with rooms nobody uses), the number of bathrooms, facade details, and false ceilings in every room.

Do not save on: thermal insulation and window glazing (a small house heats up and cools down quickly, and poor insulation shows immediately), kitchen design because it is used every day, natural light, and a complete set of construction drawings. In a small villa every site mistake is expensive because there is no room to correct it.

A sample layout for a small two-storey villa with a roof level

A layout that recurs in my work on plots of this size, adjusted for each family and each zoning:

Ground floor: entrance with guest toilet, an open living space with sitting, dining and kitchen, a guest room or study that can become a bedroom later, and a door from the living area to the garden.

First floor: a main bedroom with bathroom and wardrobe, two bedrooms with a shared bathroom, and a small family sitting area overlooking the double-height space.

Roof level: a multi-use room with a terrace, and sometimes the laundry.

Basement: garage and storage, or a majlis if the level allows.

This is one layout among many. The point is that every space has a defined use and there are no spare rooms you pay for and never enter. More on the working method on the villa design page.

What to prepare before asking for a small villa design

The zoning site plan for your plot, the number of family members and bedrooms needed, the number of cars, and whether you want a roof level and a basement. With this information I can tell you in the first session what the plot really supports.

If you own a plot between 300 and 500 m2 and are thinking about a villa, send the site plan and your family's needs and I will reply with a first consultation and a written quote.