06-19-2023, 03:17 PM
I always like using this below example when I am discussing balconies with developers and other clients.
What would you rather have more? A place to stand out for a smoke, drink a coffee or store your bike etc on a little protruding concrete plate that will rarely get used because its use function is limited by many variables? Or would you rather have that space become more adaptable and usable space inside the home itself? I show this and other images that help illustrate just how much space you lose by having a balcony but how much more you gain for your actual home if that space is not wasted on a balcony.
Here is an example of a 1 bedroom + den condo/apartment unit with a large balcony. It then shows how instead of having this balcony remain a nearly void, unusable space it could be readapted. Suddenly, that 1 bedroom + den unit has a lot more potential. It goes from a 1 bedroom unit capable of housing 2 people, to having the space to build a unit that can house 4 people, a gain of about 33%.
![[Image: icH0OnO.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/icH0OnO.gif)
Here are some other examples using different unit sizes, showing what percentage gain you could achieve if instead of using protruding balconies, you instead either a) enclosed them, or more ideally b) simply increased the floor plate of the building itself.
![[Image: 8U5lCk9.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/8U5lCk9.jpg)
Now of course building design guidelines that cities impose on developers unfortunately play a huge role in how a building can be designed. A big reason why so many residential towers and skyscrapers in Toronto, such as the one I live in, have these balconies that wrap around the entire building is because there are rules to how big the floorplate of a building can be which causes everything from design challenges to physics challenges (picture a computer CPU heatsink...yeah the building is doing the exact same thing as that in terms of energy). The cities in the Region of Waterloo also have their own guidelines that offer real unfortunate challenges and limitations. But provided those didn't exist or were loosened up, then you could begin to design and construct residential towers that can actually offer people more space. I think this is something that really needs to be looked at if we want to keep suburbs from growing. If we want people to have their families live in urban areas of cities, then we need to be able to provide spaces for them.
What would you rather have more? A place to stand out for a smoke, drink a coffee or store your bike etc on a little protruding concrete plate that will rarely get used because its use function is limited by many variables? Or would you rather have that space become more adaptable and usable space inside the home itself? I show this and other images that help illustrate just how much space you lose by having a balcony but how much more you gain for your actual home if that space is not wasted on a balcony.
Here is an example of a 1 bedroom + den condo/apartment unit with a large balcony. It then shows how instead of having this balcony remain a nearly void, unusable space it could be readapted. Suddenly, that 1 bedroom + den unit has a lot more potential. It goes from a 1 bedroom unit capable of housing 2 people, to having the space to build a unit that can house 4 people, a gain of about 33%.
Here are some other examples using different unit sizes, showing what percentage gain you could achieve if instead of using protruding balconies, you instead either a) enclosed them, or more ideally b) simply increased the floor plate of the building itself.
Now of course building design guidelines that cities impose on developers unfortunately play a huge role in how a building can be designed. A big reason why so many residential towers and skyscrapers in Toronto, such as the one I live in, have these balconies that wrap around the entire building is because there are rules to how big the floorplate of a building can be which causes everything from design challenges to physics challenges (picture a computer CPU heatsink...yeah the building is doing the exact same thing as that in terms of energy). The cities in the Region of Waterloo also have their own guidelines that offer real unfortunate challenges and limitations. But provided those didn't exist or were loosened up, then you could begin to design and construct residential towers that can actually offer people more space. I think this is something that really needs to be looked at if we want to keep suburbs from growing. If we want people to have their families live in urban areas of cities, then we need to be able to provide spaces for them.