The Bachelor’s Pad Design, also known as loft apartment is a home-design concept that typical Nigerians do not agree with. I agree with most of their biases toward the plan, being an open plan, but as the popular saying goes, “Where there is a will, there is a way.”
A Bachelor’s Pad is a glorified self-contained room. A self-contained room is furnished with a bed, TV station, and kitchenette all seen at one glance. The only privacy is the toilet/bath area. The difference is that the plan layout is on two floors; ground and first floor.
A typical Nigerian will find it difficult to adapt to the open plan layout in a family standard single residential dwelling unit for various reasons. We want each space separate from the other with an access door.
The Nigerians whom I have seen adopt this open-plan design style are people who have lived or worked in foreign countries or they are people who desire minimalist designs.
They are also people who have adjusted to the culture and lifestyle required for an open plan. They have rules about visitation and entertain most guests outdoors.
I have worked with an Architect in the construction of three buildings for Nigerians in the Diaspora. When we presented the open plan design to them, they loved it. They have lived in foreign countries most of their lives and were considering coming back to Nigeria more often.
- Bachelor pad or Industrial style loft apartment2_©freepik by laci_2010
Some of the reasons Nigerians find the Bachelor’s Pad unattractive range from;
- The need for privacy; when sleeping or for intimate moments and you also need to entertain a guest.
- The type of meals we cook. Our meals are highly flavoured with strong aromatic ingredients such as when we use Ogili Igbo for bitterleaf/oha soup. You can’t close the door to your kitchen if you have a guest at such a time.
- Entertaining impromptu visitors.
Currently, the influx of young millionaires, the change in lifestyle requiring visitors to call before showing up, and the desire for minimalist designs, are causing people to accept the design style.
Also, some elements can be introduced to improve privacy, such as sandblasting glass walls, curtains, and louvered wall panels.
You may not build one of such for yourself, but it makes for a good shortlet apartment that yields good investments for you.
What about you? Is this a design style you could adapt? Let me know in the comments.
Do you have a really small plot of land? Want us to design a Bachelor’s Pad to be used as a shortlet apartment for you? Go here.
