Residential building with non-breezeway entrances to side first floor units

Abstract

A multi-story apartment building has breezeways and apartment units with breezeway entrances, but also includes a plurality of first floor apartment units with non-breezeway entrances. The first floor apartment units with non-breezeway entrances may be single-bedroom apartment units without compromising the ratio of rentable area to breezeway area in comparison to conventional multi-story apartment buildings with breezeways.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates generally to building structures and more particularly to a multi-level residential building that includes one or more breezeways and one or more single-bedroom apartment units on the first floor with non-breezeway entrances.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Many conventional apartment buildings include a plurality of apartment units with entrances in breezeways. A breezeway is a corridor that runs through the building from front to rear, affording occupants easy access to and from the front and rear of a building. In multi-level buildings with breezeways on the first floor, breezeways are typically provided on the floors above the first floor to provide symmetry and meet building code exit requirements.

[0003] While breezeways facilitate entering and exiting, they do so at a cost. In particular, breezeways consume valuable area that can otherwise serve as rental space. Additionally, breezeways, result in increased traffic and noise around apartment entrances, compromising privacy.

[0004] To help alleviate the lost area problem, conventional designs typically provide multi-bedroom apartment units, with breezeway entrances, along the sides of the first floor of the building, thus augmenting the ratio of rentable area to breezeway area. Such conventional designs typically do not provide single-bedroom units, with breezeway entrances, along the sides of the first floor of the building, as doing so would yield a building with a smaller footprint and a lower ratio of rentable area to breezeway area.

[0005] Consequently, such conventional designs provide a limited number, if any, single-bedroom apartment units on the first floor where they are often needed most.

[0006] Many elderly tenants on a limited income rent single-bedroom apartments, as they may not need and cannot afford multi-bedroom apartments. They often prefer or require first-floor apartments to facilitate entering and exiting their apartment and the building. Such tenants particularly desire first floor apartments in buildings without elevators, to avoid the stress and risk of climbing stairs.

[0007] To provide disabled tenants equal access to multi-bedroom apartment units in buildings without elevators, many buildings include one or more such units on the first floor. While doing so helps achieve a laudable goal, it further constrains the number of single-bedroom apartments that may be located on the first floor.

[0008] Conventional buildings that incorporate breezeways generally do not provide private non-breezeway entrances to apartment units. Instead, entrances are located along breezeways, which are heavily traveled by other tenants, delivery personnel, maintenance staff and visitors. In addition to creating noise, such traffic compromises the privacy of tenants. Some tenants, particularly elderly tenants, feel insecure or threatened in the presence of unknown persons such as visitors and delivery personnel passing through the breezeway.

[0009] Consequently, it would be desirable to provide a multi-level apartment building that offers some apartment units with non-breezeway entrances. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide a multi-level apartment building that accommodates a plurality of single-bedroom apartments on the first floor, some that have non-breezeway entrances, without compromising the ratio of rentable area to breezeway area.

SUMMARY

[0010] The present invention provides a multi-level apartment building that has breezeways and apartment units with breezeway entrances, but also includes some apartment units with non-breezeway entrances. Additionally, the apartment building includes a plurality of single-bedroom apartments on the first floor, some of which may have non-breezeway entrances, without compromising the ratio of rentable area to breezeway area.

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-level apartment building that has breezeways and apartment units with breezeway entrances, but also includes some first floor apartment units with non-breezeway entrances.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-level apartment building that has breezeways and apartment units with breezeway entrances, but also includes a plurality of single-bedroom apartments on the first floor, some of which may have non-breezeway entrances.

[0013] A further object of the present invention is to provide a multi-level apartment building that has breezeways and apartment units with breezeway entrances, but also includes a plurality of single-bedroom apartments on the first floor, some of which may have non-breezeway entrances, without compromising the ratio of rentable area to breezeway area.

DRAWING

[0014] These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, where:

[0015] FIG. 1 conceptually shows a floor plan for a first floor of an apartment building in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 2 conceptually shows a floor plan for a first floor of an apartment building in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] FIG. 3 conceptually shows a floor plan for a second floor of an apartment building in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

[0018] FIG. 4 conceptually shows a floor plan for a third floor of an apartment building in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Each apartment unit shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 includes a number in the lower right-hand corner that represents the number of bedrooms intended to be included in the unit. In general, the number of bedrooms is a function of the size of the unit in accordance with conventional apartment unit designs. Though FIGS. 1 through 4 depict generally rectangular units in three distinct sizes, units of various shapes and sizes may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus, apartment buildings that include extremely spacious units, and/or relatively small units, and/or studios and/or units with more than three bedrooms, may come within the scope of the present invention.

[0020] For illustrative purposes, the present invention is referred to as an apartment building herein and the residential units are referred to as apartment units. However, it is understood that the present invention may apply to other residential buildings such as condominiums, co-operatives and extended stay hotels, and such other implementations come within the scope of the present invention.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 1, a floor plan for a first floor of an apartment building in accordance with an exemplary implementation of the present invention is shown. A plurality of apartment units 105 through 160 arranged in two rows are also shown, with each unit having an entrance, shown as 105e through 160e. A front row includes even numbered units 110 through 160. A rear row includes odd numbered units 105 through 155.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 1, the floor plan includes two breezeways 185 and 195; though one, three or more breezeways may be used. Additionally, while the floor plan shows four apartment units having entrances from each breezeway (115, 120, 125 and 130 from breezeway 185; and 135, 140, 145 and 150 from breezeway 195), a different number (preferably an even number) of apartment units may have entrances from each breezeway. In such case, the floor plan may include more than two rows of apartment units. “Outer-most” apartment units have at least one side along the left side or right side of the building. The outer-most apartment units 105, 110, 155 and 160 on the first floor have non-breezeway entrances 105e, 110e, 155e and 160e. This is an advantage of the present invention and a departure from conventional apartment buildings. Conventional buildings with breezeways typically do not include units without breezeway entrances. Rather, the outer-most units of conventional buildings typically have breezeway entrances. While non-breezeway entrances (105e, 110e, 155e and 160e) are shown in FIG. 1 along the left and right sides of the building, they may instead be located along the front and rear sides of the building.

[0023] The outer-most apartment units 105, 110, 155 and 160 on the first floor are preferably single-bedroom units. This is another advantage of the present invention and a further departure from conventional apartment buildings with breezeways, which typically have multi-bedroom outer-most apartment units to provide a desired building footprint and achieve a desired ratio of rentable area to breezeway area. In the exemplary implementation of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the outer-most units in combination with the adjacent units having breezeway entrances (105 and 115, 110 and 120, 155 and 145, 160 and 150) as shown in FIG. 1, may provide as much or greater rentable space than the outer-most multi-bedroom units of conventional buildings. The adjacent units may be single or multi-bedroom apartment units.

[0024] In an alternative implementation of the present invention some or all of the outermost units may have multiple bedrooms. For example, referring to FIG. 2, outermost units in the rear row (205 and 255) may be two-bedroom apartment units. Likewise, units 125 through 140 on the first floor may be single or multi-bedroom units.

[0025] The center apartment units 125 through 140 may include single or multi-bedroom apartments, such as the group of single-bedroom units shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Typically, center apartment units are stacked, with the center units on an upper floor being the same size as and positioned directly above the center units on the floor directly below it.

[0026] Another advantage of the present invention is the ability to accommodate access by disabled persons. Many apartment buildings are elevated, with steps leading to the first floor breezeways. It may be far less aesthetically pleasing and more expensive to install a ramp to facilitate access to a breezeway than it may be to install a ramp to facilitate access to an outer-most unit having a non-breezeway entrance.

[0027] In a preferred implementation of the present invention, the building includes a plurality of floors. Stairways may be included, such as 165, 170, 175 and 180 in FIGS. 1 and 2, to provide access to and from a second floor, as depicted in FIG. 3. Additional stairways may be included, such as 365, 370, 375 and 380 in FIG. 3, to provide access to and from a third floor, as depicted in FIG. 4. Buildings having more than 3 floors are often subject to more rigorous building code requirements, resulting in higher construction costs. Additionally, as the number of apartment units increase with additional floors, so does the required number of parking spaces. For a suburban apartment building with a parking lot for tenants, a three-level building having approximately 24 to 36 units is preferred.

[0028] Upper floors include apartment units having breezeway entrances. Breezeways of each upper floor are preferably located directly above breezeways of the floor below it to facilitate stairway access. The footprint for each upper floor is preferably approximately the same or smaller than the footprint of the floor below it to facilitate construction and yield an aesthetically pleasing building.

[0029] Upper floor apartment units of various sizes and layouts may be located directly above units of the floor below. In general, two single-bedroom apartments occupy approximately the same area as a three-bedroom apartment, and more area than a two bedroom apartment. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, three-bedroom units 305, 310, 345 and 350 can be located on a second floor above first floor single-bedroom units 105 and 115, 110 and 120, 155 and 145, and 160 and 150. Alternatively, two-bedroom units can be located on the second floor in lieu of the three-bedroom units 305, 310, 345 and 350, yielding a smaller footprint and/or allowing space for other features, such as balconies.

[0030] Two-bedroom units 415, 420, 445 and 450 may be located on a third floor above the outer-most units 315, 320, 345 and 350 of the second floor. Four single-bedroom units may be located on the third floor above the center single-bedroom units 325, 330, 335 and 340 of the second floor. In an alternative embodiment, the center units on each floor may be multi-bedroom units.

[0031] A building in accordance with the preferred implementation of the present invention may be constructed using conventional building materials and construction methods known in the art.

[0032] The detailed description of a particular preferred embodiment, set forth above to enable one to implement the invention, is not intended to limit the enumerated claims, but to serve as a particular example thereof. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the concepts and specific embodiments and implementations disclosed as bases for modifying or designing other buildings for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent buildings do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

Claims

1. A multi-level residential building including:

a. a breezeway,

b. a first floor and a second floor,

c. a plurality of residential units, including a plurality of units having breezeway entrances and at least two outer-most units on the first floor, at least one of said outer-most units on the first floor having a non-breezeway entrance.

2. The multi-level residential building according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of said outer-most units on the first floor having a non-breezeway entrance is a single bedroom unit.

3. The multi-level residential building according to claim 2, said building further including a plurality of multi-bedroom residential units on the second floor located above the outer-most units on the first floor.

4. A multi-level residential building including:

a. two breezeways,

b. a first floor and a second floor,

c. a plurality of residential units, including a plurality of units having breezeway entrances and at least two outer-most units on the first floor, said outer-most units on the first floor having non-breezeway entrances.

5. The multi-level residential building according to claim 4, wherein at least one of said outer-most units on the first floor having non-breezeway entrances is a single bedroom unit.

6. The multi-level residential building according to claim 5, said building further including a plurality of multi-bedroom residential units on the second floor located above the outer-most units on the first floor.

7. A multi-level residential building including:

a. two breezeways,

b. a first floor and a second floor,

c. a plurality of residential units, including a plurality of units having breezeway entrances and four outer-most units on the first floor, said four outer-most units on the first floor having non-breezeway entrances.

8. The multi-level residential building according to claim 7, wherein the four outer-most units on the first floor having non-breezeway entrances are single bedroom units.

9. The multi-level residential building according to claim 8, said building further including a plurality of multi-bedroom residential units on the second floor located above the outer-most units on the first floor.