diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPacking.melk b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPacking.melk
index e6139546c..cde949cc2 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPacking.melk
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPacking.melk
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ algorithm rectpacking(RectPackingLayoutProvider) {
     supports currentPosition
     supports inNewRow
     supports trybox
+    supports orderBySize
 }
 
 
@@ -203,3 +204,12 @@ option inNewRow: boolean {
     targets nodes
     default = false
 }
+
+option orderBySize: boolean {
+    label "Order nodes by size"
+    description
+        "If set to true the nodes will be sorted by the size of their area before computing the layout. The largest
+         node will be in the first position."
+    default = false
+    targets parents
+}
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPackingLayoutProvider.java b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPackingLayoutProvider.java
index 2fb18b557..45ca526fc 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPackingLayoutProvider.java
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/RectPackingLayoutProvider.java
@@ -217,6 +217,11 @@ private LayoutProcessorConfiguration<RectPackingLayoutPhases, ElkNode> getPhaseI
         configuration.addBefore(RectPackingLayoutPhases.P2_PACKING,
                 IntermediateProcessorStrategy.MIN_SIZE_POST_PROCESSOR);
         
+        if (layoutGraph.getProperty(RectPackingOptions.ORDER_BY_SIZE)) {
+            configuration.addBefore(RectPackingLayoutPhases.P1_WIDTH_APPROXIMATION,
+                    IntermediateProcessorStrategy.NODE_SIZE_REORDERER);
+        }
+        
         if (layoutGraph.getProperty(RectPackingOptions.INTERACTIVE)) {
             configuration.addBefore(RectPackingLayoutPhases.P1_WIDTH_APPROXIMATION,
                     IntermediateProcessorStrategy.INTERACTIVE_NODE_REORDERER);
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/IntermediateProcessorStrategy.java b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/IntermediateProcessorStrategy.java
index 8164c56b3..4afa4dbbe 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/IntermediateProcessorStrategy.java
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/IntermediateProcessorStrategy.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ public enum IntermediateProcessorStrategy implements ILayoutProcessorFactory<Elk
     /*
      * Before Phase 1
      */
+    NODE_SIZE_REORDERER,
     INTERACTIVE_NODE_REORDERER,
     MIN_SIZE_PRE_PROCESSOR,
     
@@ -43,6 +44,8 @@ public enum IntermediateProcessorStrategy implements ILayoutProcessorFactory<Elk
     @Override
     public ILayoutProcessor<ElkNode> create() {
         switch (this) {
+        case NODE_SIZE_REORDERER:
+            return new NodeSizeReorderer();
         case INTERACTIVE_NODE_REORDERER:
             return new InteractiveNodeReorderer();
         case MIN_SIZE_PRE_PROCESSOR:
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/NodeSizeComparator.java b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/NodeSizeComparator.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4466f4aaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/NodeSizeComparator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2024 Kiel University and others.
+ * 
+ * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+ * terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0 which is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0.
+ * 
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0 
+ *******************************************************************************/
+package org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking.intermediate;
+
+import java.util.Comparator;
+
+import org.eclipse.elk.graph.ElkNode;
+
+/**
+ * Node size comparator to compare nodes by their size
+ *
+ */
+public class NodeSizeComparator implements Comparator<ElkNode> {
+
+    /* (non-Javadoc)
+     * @see java.util.Comparator#compare(java.lang.Object, java.lang.Object)
+     */
+    @Override
+    public int compare(ElkNode node0, ElkNode node1) {
+        double area0 = node0.getWidth() * node0.getHeight();
+        double area1 = node1.getWidth() * node1.getHeight();
+        
+        return Double.compare(area1, area0);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/NodeSizeReorderer.java b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/NodeSizeReorderer.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e131e1979
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/rectpacking/intermediate/NodeSizeReorderer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2024 Kiel University and others.
+ * 
+ * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+ * terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0 which is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0.
+ * 
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0 
+ *******************************************************************************/
+package org.eclipse.elk.alg.rectpacking.intermediate;
+
+import org.eclipse.elk.core.alg.ILayoutProcessor;
+import org.eclipse.elk.core.util.IElkProgressMonitor;
+import org.eclipse.elk.graph.ElkNode;
+import org.eclipse.emf.common.util.ECollections;
+
+/**
+ * Sorts all child nodes by their sizes from largest to smallest while preserving any existing ordering.
+ * 
+ * <dl>
+ *   <dt>Precondition:</dt>
+ *   <dt>Postcondition:</dt>
+ *     <dd>Children are sorted in descending order from largest to smallest.</dd>
+ *   <dt>Slots:</dt>
+ *     <dd>Before phase 1.</dd>
+ *   <dt>Same-slot dependencies:</dt>
+ *     <dd>Before Interactive Node Reorderer</dd>
+ * </dl>
+ */
+public class NodeSizeReorderer implements ILayoutProcessor<ElkNode> {
+
+    /* (non-Javadoc)
+     * @see org.eclipse.elk.core.alg.ILayoutProcessor#process(java.lang.Object, org.eclipse.elk.core.util.IElkProgressMonitor)
+     */
+    @Override
+    public void process(ElkNode graph, IElkProgressMonitor progressMonitor) {
+        
+        ECollections.sort(graph.getChildren(), new NodeSizeComparator());
+    }
+
+}