ᐅ Floor Plan and Layout Concept for a Family Duplex Apartment: Where Should Everything Go?

Hello everyone!

We need some advice on room layout for an old maisonette (ceilings about 3.10m (10 ft) high, wooden beam ceilings). Overall, there are many rooms and a lot of space, but we are unsure about how to arrange them. Since the renovation is planned anyway, we currently have quite a bit of freedom regarding room functions. The stairwell is separated and therefore part of the apartment.

The room labels in the sketches are provisional. Our current thoughts are:

• We want to combine the living room/dining room/kitchen into one open-plan living/dining/cooking area, so the walls there will be opened up accordingly.
• Installation of a roof loggia on the top floor.
• A wall with a door is to be built between the right "children’s room" and the "playroom" to create a separate children’s bedroom and playroom and divide the space accordingly.

In particular, we still need ideas on how to accommodate the following:

• 2 children’s bedrooms (preferably not directly next to each other, as the kids are very sensitive to noise)
• 2 home office workstations (in separate rooms; ideally on different levels to allow for phone calls)
• Ideas for a physical activity area for the kids (climbing wall? Swing? Gym bar?)
• Ideas for the roof loggia: What should it look like? Should about one meter (3 feet) at the front be kept as room space, possibly for a small coffee/fridge corner (to serve the roof loggia) or a workspace?
• Wardrobes for the parents? Where to put them?

There is also an (currently unfinished) attic that could possibly be used as a play or creative area for the children (but due to the height, it is not suitable as a study).

Thank you all in advance! We welcome creative ideas—even outside the box—and are open to suggestions 🙂

Multi-family house?
Approval from the homeowners' association?
Structural engineering?
Where does the wastewater from the attic bathroom flow through the upper floor below?
Budget?
Complete renovation?
Orientation/location plan?
Playroom with noise right between the children's bedrooms where "noise-sensitive" children live?
And so on.

Please tell us much more about the property and your life plans.

I’m happy to do that. This is a multi-family house, and we own the 2nd floor and the attic above it. Both floors are accessible via the stairwell, which we will separate off just before the 2nd floor (so it will essentially be a “house within a house”).

• No issues regarding condominium ownership rights, as it is straightforward.
• Structural integrity: Open question. Wooden beam ceilings from around 1910.
• Budget: Since the property needs modernization, we have planned accordingly. However, because of small children, we do not want a “luxury” renovation but rather a moderate one, aiming to preserve as much as possible (e.g., avoiding moving walls unless absolutely necessary).
• Full renovation: Definitely electrical, plumbing, heating, and windows. That also means new floors and walls.
• Orientation: Kitchen faces east (slightly north), children’s room faces west (slightly south).
• Roof loggia is important since there is no garden. There is only a small balcony in front of the kitchen (2nd floor), which is missing from the sketch.

We want to live there as a family (2 adults, 2 children). The kids are still young and will probably stay with us for at least another 15 years. Until now, we have lived in a poorly laid out 100sqm (1076 sq ft) apartment, which has become unsuitable due to 2 children plus 2 home office workspaces.

I hope this clarifies the context. I look forward to ideas and suggestions.

Without the information that nordanney has already requested, it is not possible to provide a qualified statement regarding the renovation wishes. You mention a maisonette apartment, but I do not see an internal staircase. The stairwell cannot be meant here: in a multi-family building, such a combination of two apartments via the stairwell (first means of escape) into a "maisonette" apartment would not be permitted under building regulations. In a two-family house, you would need to obtain planning permission to convert it into a single-family house. Therefore, there is still a need to clarify the initial situation.

Apart from that, you will need an architect for the renovation (roof loggia/alterations to load-bearing components, etc.). For their project planning, they primarily require current as-built plans, which are best created through a 3D building scan by an engineering firm specialized in this area, along with 2D as-built plans developed from the scan as a basis for planning. Based on this, a building survey will be carried out to clarify all structural/static issues related to the renovation planning. Afterwards, the architect would prepare a realistic preliminary design with a cost estimate in consultation with you, which must be suitable for obtaining a building permit/planning permission.

This is the professional approach that is most likely to produce a project plan that can actually be realized later.

PS: I had not yet seen the latest information regarding the property.

Thank you for the feedback! That helps to clarify things. As-built drawings are of course available. And clearly, we need an architect for the roof loggia and staircase. Nevertheless, the question of the spatial design remains...

The spatial design concept will be developed by the commissioned architect – that is what they are paid for. They work based on a realistic planning foundation, as previously described. By existing drawings, I do not mean the original building permit plans, but rather recently created measured drawings that reflect the current condition.

Apart from that, it is naturally necessary to check in advance whether the attic apartment you are referring to was already approved as such in the original building permit, or if it was merely the “dry storage space,” possibly with one or two “chambers,” but not a separate apartment. If that is the case, the conversion of the attic into living space must be examined for compliance with building regulations.