Good Layout vs Layouts to Avoid
Two units can be the same size and price, yet one lives twice as well as the other. The difference is the floor plan. Here is how to read one before you commit.
People obsess over price per square foot and forget that not all square feet are equal. A smart layout turns the same area into a home that feels bigger, brighter and easier to live in. Here is what I look at on a plan.
What a good layout looks like
✅ Good signs
- Regular, squarish overall shape
- Square, usable rooms (easy to furnish)
- Windows on more than one side — cross-ventilation
- Natural light reaching deep into the unit
- Short, minimal corridors
- Logical flow: entry → living → kitchen → rooms
⚠️ Red flags
- Dark core with no window in the middle
- Long, narrow “bowling-alley” corridors
- Odd angles, slivers, missing corners
- A bedroom reached only through another room
- Kitchen or yard squeezed in awkwardly
- Big share of area in walls and passage
Usable area — the number nobody quotes
Developers sell you built-up area, but you live in usable area. A plan heavy with corridors, thick walls, odd corners and a large share of columns can have a poor efficiency ratio — meaning a chunk of the square footage you paid for is not really livable. Two units at the same price per sq ft can give very different amounts of real, usable room. Always mentally subtract the dead space.
How to read a plan when viewing
- Trace the overall shape first — is it a clean rectangle or a jigsaw?
- Find the windows. Count how many sides get light and air.
- Walk the flow in your head: entrance to each room — any awkward detours?
- Mark the corridors and walls — how much of the area is just passage?
- Picture your furniture in each room; odd shapes reveal themselves fast.
- Ask what can be changed (non-structural walls) and what cannot (the core, the shape).
Send me the floor plan — I’ll read it with you
Before you fall for a show unit, let me point out the good, the fixable and the dealbreakers on the plan. I am Louis Koh, over a decade in Johor Bahru property.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a good floor plan?
A regular shape, good light and cross-ventilation, square usable rooms, minimal corridor, a logical flow, and a practical kitchen and yard.
What layouts should I avoid?
Dark central cores, long narrow corridors, odd or missing-corner rooms, pass-through bedrooms, and a low usable-to-built-up ratio.
What is layout efficiency?
The share of built-up you can actually use. You pay for built-up but live in usable — low efficiency means paying for space you cannot use.
Can a bad layout be fixed?
Some issues improve with renovation, but structural limits, the unit’s shape and the core position cannot easily change — so the base plan matters most.
Want to see actual projects?
From Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur, I keep a documented list of what is selling now — take a look and see what fits.