Problem
Unless the spaces in a building are arranged in a sequence which corresponds to their degrees of privateness, the visits made by strangers, friends, guests, clients, family, will always be a little awkward.
Solution
Lay out the spaces of a building so that they create a sequence which begins with the entrance and the most public parts of the building, then leads into the slightly more private areas, and finally to the most private domains.
Related Patterns
… if you know roughly where you intend to place the building wings - Wings of Light (107), and how many stories they will have - Number of Stories (96), and where the Main Entrance (110) is, it is time to work out the rough disposition of the major areas on every floor. In every building the relationship between the public areas and private areas is most important.
At the same time that common areas are to the front, make sure that they are also at the heart and soul of the activity, and that all paths between more private rooms pass tangent to the common ones - Common Areas at the Heart (129). In private houses make the Entrance Room (130) the most formal and public place and arrange the most private areas so that each person has a room of his own, where he can retire to be alone - A Room of One’s Own (141). Place bathing rooms and toilets half-way between the common areas and the private ones, so that people can reach them comfortably from both - Bathing Room (144); and place sitting areas at all the different degrees of intimacy, and shape them according to their position in the gradient - Sequence of Sitting Spaces (142). In offices put Reception Welcomes You (149) at the front of the gradient and Half-Private Office (152) at the back …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 610.