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When designing a building, the most important factor is the intended use of....(Band 9 Sample Essay)

Updated: Aug 13

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.


Write about the following topic:


When designing a building, the most important factor is the intended use of the building rather than its outward appearance.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?


Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experiences.


You should write at least 250 words.


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IELTS Task 2 Band 9 Sample Essay - When designing a building, the most important factor is the intended use of the building rather than its outward appearance.

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IELTS Task 2 Band 9 Sample Essay

It is believed that the exterior appearance of the building is of less importance compared to its original use. I strongly agree with this statement because it is more of an output-oriented view, facilitating efficient service and economic development.


Prioritization of the intended use over appearance brings more value benefits to the users of the building because they can start exploiting it purposefully from the very beginning. Moreover, it is a win-win approach as it favours not only the people working in the building, but also the government, if it requested the construction. For instance, doctors can definitely start working in public hospitals and concentrate on helping or even saving people’s lives, even if the outward is rudimentary or even incomplete, since inward facilities are more vital for them. Furthermore, it is obvious that everybody benefits in this case. Patients receive the needed care; doctors have paid jobs and the government collects taxes on doctors’ salaries and VAT from the provided medical care. I believe that all these factors make such an approach advantageous.


In addition, if main emphasis is put solely on the interior, it helps bring the most out of it. Industrial areas can be a good example of this. Factories and administrative buildings with repetitive and plain outward design can successfully operate, though they might not look inspiring and breath-taking. In other words, when a factory focuses on its outer appearance, it might hamper its proper internal setup, because the production mechanism depends on how efficiently the machineries and manufacturing process function, not how they look like. That means, the buildings can appear less attractive, more grey and even soulless at some point, but still, they can add incredible value to the economy. Therefore, such establishments might be considered captivating neither for local residents nor for tourists; but still, because of their output and employment generation, they are the economic engines for the respective nations.


To conclude, this essay reasserts that the intended use of the building is of high importance in design, because it yields benefits for all the stakeholders by providing efficient workplace environment and overall national economic growth.


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