Planning a double story home on a 5 marla plot? You’re not alone. Thousands of families across Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Karachi face the same exciting and sometimes overwhelming challenge every year. The good news? A 5 marla house design double story gives you far more living space than most people expect. Done right, it can comfortably house a full family with a drawing room, master bedroom, attached bathrooms, a proper kitchen, car porch, and even a lounge area all within a modest plot.
This guide walks you through everything. From plot dimensions and floor plans to front elevation ideas, construction costs, and interior design tips consider this your one-stop resource for building smart in Pakistan’s top cities.
Before diving into designs, let’s get one thing straight understanding your plot is the foundation of everything. A 5 marla plot size in square feet equals roughly 1,125 square feet, based on the standard measurement of 25 × 45 feet. However, this isn’t uniform across all cities in Pakistan. Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Karachi each follow slightly different standards depending on the housing authority or scheme managing the area.
In DHA Lahore or Bahria Town, a 5 marla plot often measures 25 × 45 ft or sometimes 25 × 50 ft. In Islamabad’s CDA sectors, you might find 30 × 40 ft layouts. Karachi typically measures residential plots in square yards rather than marla, where 5 marla roughly equals 120 square yards. Knowing your exact dimensions before you sit with an architect saves a lot of confusion and wasted time.
| City | Standard 5 Marla Size | Common Variation |
|---|---|---|
| Lahore | 25 × 45 ft | 25 × 50 ft |
| Islamabad | 25 × 45 ft | 30 × 40 ft |
| Rawalpindi | 25 × 45 ft | 26 × 45 ft |
| Karachi | 120 sq yd | Varies by scheme |
Here’s what excites most homeowners a double story 5 marla house can deliver anywhere between 1,600 and 1,900 square feet of covered living space across both floors. That’s nearly double what a single story offers on the same footprint. Think about that. Same land. Twice the home. Families in Lahore’s Johar Town, Islamabad’s G-sectors, and Rawalpindi’s Satellite Town have been doing exactly this for decades and the trend is only growing stronger.
The common mistake people make is looking at a 5 marla plot and thinking small. Don’t do that. With the right residential plot layout and a smart 5 marla house plan Pakistan, you can fit a 3 to 4 bedroom home, two or three bathrooms, a proper drawing room, a separate TV lounge, a functional kitchen, a car porch, and even a servant quarter all without the house feeling cramped. Vertical building is your best friend here. When land is limited, building upward is simply the logical move.
This is the question every homeowner wrestles with first. And honestly, the right answer depends on your family size, budget, and long-term goals. But for most Pakistani families especially joint families or those with growing children the double storey 5 marla house design wins every time.
A single storey house design works beautifully for smaller families, elderly homeowners who avoid stairs, or people building on a very tight budget. It’s simpler to construct, faster to finish, and easier to maintain. However, it gives you only one floor of living space. On a 25 × 45 ft plot, after accounting for mandatory setbacks, your ground floor covered area comes to roughly 850–950 square feet. That’s livable but tight for a family of five or six.
A single storey 5 marla house is the right call when your family includes elderly parents with mobility issues, when your construction budget stays under 50–55 lacs, or when you’re building as a rental investment and targeting a lower rental bracket. It’s simpler, quicker to build, and requires less structural engineering. Many homeowners in older areas of Rawalpindi and parts of Karachi still prefer single storey homes for these very practical reasons.
The double storey house map changes everything. Suddenly, you have a ground floor dedicated to common family spaces — drawing room, kitchen, lounge, one bedroom — and an entire upper floor for private bedrooms. Parents get their master bedroom with an attached bathroom upstairs. Kids get their own rooms. The joint family setup that’s so common in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Islamabad becomes genuinely comfortable rather than cramped. Plus, the resale value of a well-designed double story house is noticeably higher than its single story counterpart. Buyers in DHA Lahore and Bahria Town know this well.
| House Type | Built-Up Area | Approx. Cost (PKR) |
|---|---|---|
| Single Storey | ~900 sq ft | 45–60 Lacs |
| Double Storey | ~1,700 sq ft | 80–120 Lacs |
Yes, double story costs more upfront. But when you calculate the cost per square foot of living space, double story consistently delivers better value. You’re essentially getting twice the home for roughly 1.5x the price. That’s a deal worth considering seriously.
A 2D floor plan drawing is where your dream home first takes shape on paper. Before a single brick gets laid, your architect maps out every room, every wall, every door and window position. Getting this right is everything. A poor floor plan creates awkward spaces, wasted square footage, and a home that never quite feels comfortable no matter how beautiful the finishes are.
For a 5 marla house plan with 3 bedrooms in a double story layout, the ground floor typically handles all the social and service spaces. Think of your ground floor as the “public” zone of your home where guests arrive, where daily cooking happens, and where the family gathers in the evening. The upper floor becomes your “private” zone bedrooms, bathrooms, and personal spaces away from the front door.
A well-planned ground floor for a double storey house map in Pakistan generally includes a car porch at the front (essential — don’t skip this), a drawing room that greets your guests right at the entrance, one bedroom with an attached bathroom for elderly parents or guests, a kitchen that connects smoothly to the dining or lounge area, and a small staircase tucked efficiently to one side. Some homeowners also add a servant quarter at the back of the ground floor, which adds huge practical value, especially in Lahore and Islamabad where domestic help is common.
The staircase design for a small house on a 5 marla plot needs special attention. A straight staircase consumes less space than an L-shaped or spiral one but can feel steep. An L-shaped staircase is the sweet spot it fits neatly into a corner, uses space efficiently, and feels safe and comfortable to climb every day. Avoid placing the staircase at the front of the house. Tuck it toward the middle or rear to preserve your drawing room and car porch space.
The upper floor of your 5 marla double story house design is where you gain the most. With the full footprint of the ground floor available, your first floor can comfortably house a master bedroom with an attached bathroom, two additional bedrooms, a family TV lounge, and a small balcony or terrace design overlooking the street or garden. Many families in Lahore’s Gulberg and Islamabad’s F-sectors choose to make the TV lounge the heart of the upper floor a shared family space surrounded by all the bedrooms.
The terrace design on a 5 marla double story house is something many people underestimate. A well-designed terrace adds outdoor living space, improves air circulation through the upper floor, and gives you a perfect evening sitting area. In Lahore especially, where summer evenings can be social affairs, a covered or partially open terrace on the first floor is a genuine lifestyle upgrade.
| Plan Type | Bedrooms | Special Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Standard 3-Bed | 3 | Separate drawing & TV lounge |
| 4-Bed Compact | 4 | Open kitchen + dining combo |
| Corner Plot Layout | 3–4 | Dual facade, extra windows |
| Basement + Double Story | 3–4 | Basement for office or gym |
A 3D house rendering does something a flat 2D plan simply cannot it shows you what your home will actually look like standing in real life. Colors, textures, window proportions, roof lines, the gate, the boundary wall all of it comes together in a three-dimensional visual that you can rotate, zoom, and present to your contractor. For anyone serious about getting their 5 marla house design double story right, investing in a 3D render is money very well spent.
The most popular exterior styles in Pakistan’s major cities right now lean toward contemporary and transitional designs. Clean horizontal lines, large windows with dark frames, flat or slightly pitched roofs with parapet walls, and textured plaster or face brick combinations dominate new construction in DHA Lahore, Bahria Town Rawalpindi, and Islamabad’s newer sectors. This clean modern aesthetic photographs beautifully, ages gracefully, and works wonderfully on a 5 marla double story house where you want to maximize the visual impact of a relatively narrow 25-foot facade.
Think of a 3D map as a test drive before you buy the car. It lets you catch design problems a window that blocks natural light, a car porch column that feels too bulky, a roofline that clashes with neighboring houses before any construction begins. Fixing a design mistake on screen costs nothing. Fixing it mid-construction costs lakhs and causes delays. Every serious homeowner building a double storey 5 marla house design in Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, or Karachi should insist on seeing a full 3D render before approving the final plan.
Your house front elevation Pakistan is your home’s face to the world. It’s the first thing guests see, the first thing buyers evaluate, and honestly the thing your neighbors will talk about. On a 5 marla double story house, the front facade is typically 25 feet wide and rises two stories high. That’s a canvas of roughly 25 × 25 feet. What you do with it defines your entire home’s character.
Modern front elevation ideas Pakistan for double story 5 marla homes fall into three broad categories. Contemporary designs use clean plaster finishes, dark-framed aluminum windows, cantilevered canopies over the entrance, and minimal ornamentation. Classical designs lean on arch details, brick columns, decorative cornices, and symmetrical window arrangements. Transitional designs the most popular category across Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Islamabad blend both. A clean plaster base with a band of exposed brick, modern windows, and a traditional arched entrance strikes the perfect balance between timeless and fresh.
Lahore homes in areas like Johar Town and Gulberg tend to favor bolder, more expressive elevations with strong gate designs and decorative boundary walls. Islamabad’s CDA sectors favor cleaner, more restrained aesthetics that blend with the city’s overall planned character. Karachi’s coastal climate pushes homeowners toward lighter colors and heat-resistant cladding materials that don’t fade or crack under intense sun. Rawalpindi sits between the two extremes a mix of traditional and modern styles coexists comfortably in most neighborhoods.
Great home interior design Pakistan on a 5 marla double story house is really about one thing making every square foot work harder. You don’t have space to waste on awkward corners, poorly planned storage, or furniture that overwhelms a room. Every design decision should serve both function and aesthetics simultaneously. The good news is that Pakistani interior design has matured enormously over the past decade, and you can achieve genuinely stunning results on a reasonable budget.
The most important interior design principle for a 5 marla house plan is the separation of public and private zones. Your drawing room should welcome guests without exposing your family’s private living areas. Your lounge area upstairs should feel like a genuine retreat comfortable, personal, and away from the front door energy. Getting this zoning right at the floor plan stage makes interior design decisions far easier at every step that follows.
Kitchen design Pakistan on a 5 marla plot typically works with a space of roughly 100–140 square feet. That sounds tight, but it’s workable with smart planning. An open kitchen that flows directly into the dining or family lounge creates a sense of spaciousness and keeps the cook connected to family activity. A closed kitchen hides the mess and is preferred by many Pakistani families who entertain frequently. Both approaches work the choice comes down to your family’s cooking habits and social style.
L-shaped and parallel kitchen layouts work best in the elongated spaces typical of 5 marla homes. L-shaped maximizes corner storage and leaves good central working space. Parallel or galley layouts work well when the kitchen is long and narrow. Modular kitchen systems now widely available in Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi from brands like IKEA alternatives and local manufacturers offer excellent quality at 3 to 8 lacs depending on material choice. Overhead cabinets, pull-out drawers, and under-counter appliance housing are essential storage strategies in any compact kitchen.
The master bedroom in a 5 marla double story house ideally measures a minimum of 12 × 14 feet with an attached bathroom. This gives you room for a queen or king bed, side tables, a wardrobe, and comfortable movement around the furniture. Built-in wardrobes save significant floor space compared to freestanding almirahs and they look infinitely cleaner. A built-in wardrobe with sliding doors in the same color as the walls creates an almost invisible storage solution that makes the room feel larger.
Bedroom layout small house design in Pakistan increasingly leans on false ceilings with integrated lighting to create height and drama without any additional construction cost. A well-designed false ceiling with perimeter cove lighting transforms even a modest bedroom into something that feels luxurious. Light paint colors soft whites, warm creams, pale greys — reflect light and visually expand the space. Dark accent walls work beautifully in master bedrooms when used on a single feature wall behind the bed.
Let’s talk numbers because ultimately, this is what makes or breaks a project. House construction cost Pakistan has risen significantly over the past three years due to material inflation, rupee depreciation, and increased labor rates. As of 2026, building a quality 5 marla double story house in a major Pakistani city will cost you between 80 and 120 lacs for a standard to mid-range finish. Premium finishes push that number to 130–150 lacs and beyond.
Understanding where your money goes is the first step to budgeting intelligently. The grey structure foundation, columns, beams, walls, roof slab typically consumes 40–50% of your total construction budget. Finishing costs tiles, paint, woodwork, ceiling work, kitchen, and bathrooms take another 30–40%. Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC (air conditioning provision) take the remainder. Never make the mistake of budgeting only for grey structure and underestimating finishing. This is the single most common budget trap Pakistani homeowners fall into.
| Item | Estimated Cost (PKR) |
|---|---|
| Grey Structure | 35–50 Lacs |
| Finishing (tiles, paint, woodwork) | 20–30 Lacs |
| Electrical & Plumbing | 8–12 Lacs |
| Kitchen & Bathrooms | 8–15 Lacs |
| Gate & Boundary Wall | 5–10 Lacs |
| Architect/Design Fee | 1.5–3 Lacs |
| Total Estimate | 80–120 Lacs |
Construction material rate varies meaningfully across Pakistan’s major cities. Lahore’s DHA and Bahria Town command a premium due to higher labor expectations and stricter finishing standards. Islamabad construction costs are elevated by CDA approved map requirements and often higher architect fees. Rawalpindi offers slightly lower costs than both, making it attractive for budget-conscious homeowners. Karachi’s construction costs fluctuate based on material supply chains from the port some materials are cheaper, others carry transportation premiums to inland cities.
| City | Avg. Cost per Sq Ft (Standard Finish) | Avg. Cost per Sq Ft (Premium Finish) |
|---|---|---|
| Lahore (DHA/Bahria) | 3,500–4,500 PKR | 5,000–7,000 PKR |
| Islamabad | 3,800–5,000 PKR | 5,500–8,000 PKR |
| Rawalpindi | 3,000–4,000 PKR | 4,500–6,500 PKR |
| Karachi | 3,200–4,200 PKR | 4,800–6,500 PKR |
The contractor decision might be the single most important choice you make. A turn-key construction Pakistan contractor handles everything materials, labor, supervision for a fixed price. This protects you from material cost fluctuations and reduces your day-to-day management burden enormously. The labor contractor Pakistan model, where you supply materials and the contractor provides only labor, gives you more control over material quality but demands far more of your time and attention.
For first-time builders especially those living abroad or working full-time turn-key is generally the safer, smarter choice. Ask any contractor you’re considering for a portfolio of completed projects, at least three client references you can actually call, and a detailed itemized quote before signing anything. Red flags include contractors who demand large advance payments without a proper contract, those who can’t show you completed work in person, and those who quote unusually low prices that seem too good to be true.
“The most expensive house you can build is one built by the wrong contractor at a cheap price“ A truth every experienced homeowner in Pakistan will confirm.
Getting LDA approval in Lahore or CDA approval in Islamabad for your building plan is not optional it’s legally required and practically essential. An approved map protects you from demolition notices, legal disputes, and complications when you eventually sell. A good architect will handle the approval process for you. Budget 6–10 weeks for the approval process in Lahore and 8–14 weeks in Islamabad and start this process before you’re ready to break ground, not after.
Most construction companies hand you a quote and disappear until something goes wrong. Aqsons works differently. We sit with you at the very beginning understanding your family’s lifestyle, your budget reality, and your long-term goals before a single line gets drawn on your 2D floor plan. That upfront investment in understanding you is exactly why our clients refer their friends and family to us, again and again.
Here’s what Aqsons brings to your 5 marla double story house project:
| Service | What Aqsons Delivers |
|---|---|
| Architecture & Design | Custom 2D plans, 3D renders, front elevation design |
| Approvals | LDA, DHA, CDA and local authority submission handling |
| Construction | Full grey structure to finishing, turn-key delivery |
| Interior Design | Kitchen, bathrooms, lounge and bedroom design |
| Project Management | Dedicated supervisor, weekly progress updates |
| Post-Handover Support | Defect liability period, maintenance guidance |
No substandard materials. No surprise bills. No excuses. Just a beautifully built home delivered on time and within the agreed budget.
Here’s something most construction companies will never offer you. Award Aqsons your construction project and we provide your complete 2D floor plans, 3D house rendering, and front elevation design at zero cost. That’s a saving of 50,000 to 150,000 PKR in design fees handed back to you simply for choosing to build with us. You get a fully visualized, architect-approved home design before construction begins. No guesswork. No surprises. Just clarity and confidence from day one.
This offer covers:
| Design Deliverable | Normal Market Cost | With Aqsons |
|---|---|---|
| 2D Floor Plans (Ground + First Floor) | 25,000–50,000 PKR | FREE |
| 3D Exterior Rendering (2 Views) | 20,000–40,000 PKR | FREE |
| Front Elevation Design | 15,000–30,000 PKR | FREE |
| Total Saving | 60,000–120,000 PKR | FREE |
“We don’t just build houses. We build the places where your family’s best memories will happen.”
In conclusion, a well-designed 5 Marla double story house offers an ideal blend of functionality and aesthetics, making it an excellent choice for families seeking a comfortable and stylish living space. With careful planning and attention to detail, such designs can maximize space and enhance the overall quality of life. For those interested in exploring various design options or seeking professional guidance, please contact us for more information. Your dream home awaits.
📞 Call or WhatsApp +92-3243-311-311 us today to claim your free design consultation. Your dream 5 marla double story house starts with one conversation.
After mandatory setbacks, each floor covers roughly 800–950 sq ft. Across both floors, your total covered living area comes to approximately 1,600–1,900 square feet nearly double what a single story offers on the same plot.
A 5 marla double story house comfortably fits 3 to 4 bedrooms. The ground floor usually holds 1 bedroom while the upper floor accommodates 2 to 3 bedrooms including a master bedroom with an attached bathroom.
As of 2026, building a standard to mid-range 5 marla double story house in Pakistan costs between 80 and 120 lacs PKR. Premium finishes push the total to 130–150 lacs. Costs vary by city Islamabad and DHA Lahore sit at the higher end while Rawalpindi offers slightly lower rates.
For most Pakistani families yes. A double story design delivers nearly twice the living space on the same footprint, better privacy between family members, and stronger resale value. Single story only makes more sense for elderly residents or very tight budgets.
Realistically, plan for 12 to 18 months from breaking ground to moving in. Grey structure takes 4–6 months. Finishing work tiles, woodwork, kitchen, bathrooms, paint takes another 6–8 months. Starting your approved map process early keeps the project on schedule.
Yes absolutely. LDA approval is mandatory in Lahore and CDA approval is required in Islamabad. Building without an approved map exposes you to demolition notices, heavy fines, and serious complications when selling your property later.
