A Floorplan For Co-Existence

After 15 years working in planning and design for a large land development company, I thought I knew a thing or two about the building industry.  When a new single family neighborhood was introduced D.J. and I would sometimes be asked to design a model home to get things rolling.  He was the architect in the bullpen, I was the illustrator.  We’d start with a simple bubble diagram within the site envelope.  As we began to fine tune the floorplan, we also began to notice our differences.  I found it odd that the laundry room was near the garage instead of the bedrooms where most of the laundry was generated from and returned to.  He found it odd that I didn’t consider a man cave at all.  And so it went, asking, sharing, learning, working together till we came up with a floorplan that suited all who would occupy the space.  We learned more about each other each time we went through the idea sharing process, an exercise in co-existence.

It’s been over 15 years since I’ve worked with a team and apparently I forgot a few things while working and living alone.  When I first saw the villa that Stephen found for us here in Doha, I immediately assumed the architect was incompetent at best, though those were not my exact words.  I did Stephen’s head in with “how could they have put this here and that there?  There’s no apparent rhyme nor reason for anything they’ve done here!”  Everywhere I went, the same reaction.  “This is insane!  They don’t know what they’re doing!  Nothing flows as it should.”  After a while (Stephen would say a very long while) I gave up and went with their flow, begrudgingly, above it all, what else could one do.

This week we went to check on our new villa for a third time, still under construction but almost finished.  At first I thought the big double doors at the end of the large marble front porch were the foyer entrance, but not so, they led to a large room with no windows, then into a hall area with double sinks like a master bath, with a full bathroom through a door to the left, then past the double sink hall area to another large room that looked perhaps to be a bedroom.  The single door on the wall to the right of the front porch double doors led to the living room, then past it another full bathroom, across the hall from the double sinks, and at the end of the hall is the kitchen with a back door that leads outside to two smaller buildings.  I’m still trying to figure where the dining room is.  We look upstairs, a 15′ x 15′ landing with a balcony, no door…a window to the balcony?  Three baths, Three bedrooms, one closet, more confusion but less than downstairs.  Up another flight to the rooftop terrace overlooking the Persian Gulf, what could be better than this…minus the half dozen ac compressors!

When we went back downstairs I found myself battering the poor realtor with questions that he can barely understand before it occurs to me, it’s not just my American English that is confusing him, it’s why I’m asking such questions at all!  To Stephen’s great relief, the light finally came on, I’m asking the wrong questions!  Instead of asking why they did this and how can we fix that, I should be asking how and what the rooms are used for!  So I did, and I got answers that finally made sense.  The room through the big double doors that I thought would be the entrance foyer is the Gentleman’s receiving room (their man cave!) from which they would next use either their full bath or simply wash their hands in the double sinks in the hall area before entering the dining room (which I’d thought was perhaps a bedroom).  Finally, I understand where the dining room is!  The single door that leads from the porch to the living room is the Ladies entrance and the full bathroom past the living room, and across the hall from the Gentleman’s double sinks, is for the ladies, then of course, the kitchen past that at the end of the hall.  The two small buildings outside behind the kitchen are the maids quarters and laundry.  It’s all starting to make sense now!  The homes are not designed for Americans, and why should they be, they’re in Qatar!  They are as much designed for Qatari’s lifestyles as our homes in America are designed for American’s lifestyles.

The realtor seemed genuinely pleased to explain to me the uses for each room and I found myself genuinely interested in his descriptions and examples of how a Qatari family lives.  Our attitudes and body language changed, frustration and irritation diminished.  We were communicating with more tolerance and acceptance.  He became more open to small changes we might make, I became more comfortable with the floorplan as it stood.  I considered that if I had ask the right questions and shared information on our first visit with him, we might have gotten the first unit we wanted!  As it is, we’re very happy with the one we got, and even if we don’t use the rooms quite the same as a Qatari family would, what does it matter?  What’s in a floorplan?  Well…maybe a garage?  No?  A car park awning it is…but why in front of the living room window?  Why not over by…and what’s with the upstairs landing balcony with no door?   Okay, sometimes I just can’t help being my own worst enemy, but I’m trying!  Maybe if men, women, even nations are meant to live together in harmony, we just need to get to know each other a little better and appreciate the differences as necessity for progress.  Maybe Martin Luther King Jr. was right, we may have come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now!