Nowadays, when the population of the developed world spends more than 90% of their time indoors, the quality of the environment in the interior of buildings is gaining in importance, especially in the case of residential development. How does the architectural concept of residential buildings affect the parameters of the resulting indoor environment? In the article, case studies of three residential buildings in Prague are presented: a tenement house from the late 19th century in a block development in Prague Vinohrady, a precast panel house in a neighbourhood from the late 20th century and a residential complex from the twenty-first century. The light, acoustic and thermal microclimate in the apartments is assessed in the context of current requirements, taking into account the requirements at the time of construction. In the nineteenth century, the requirements for the quality of the indoor environment were not explicitly set, with a few exceptions, but the parameters of the apartments in tenement houses often hold up in the current context. In the second half of the twentieth century, specific criteria for the indoor environment were already laid down in legislation, with demands for daylight and sunlight playing a disproportionate role in the architecture of buildings and the urban design of residential neighbourhoods. At present, the requirements for residential buildings are very complex, not only in terms of the quality of the indoor environment, and are usually met to the minimum necessary extent, with the economic aspect playing a key role. The architect plays the role of coordinator; whose task is to achieve a balance between a number of often conflicting requirements.