5 Things to Know Before Buying multi level mezzanine

Effectively, a mezzanine is a partial floor – or a glorified balcony. As well as being a trendy addition, for many people a mezzanine is a great way to create an extension to the living space or add an extra room. Mezzanines can be quirky and unusual, as they often fit under the roof or eaves, and they act as a gallery over the floor below.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit our website.

Before you decide to open up your home upstairs, however, there are several things that are important to consider.

1. Planning your mezzanine

Adding a mezzanine does not affect the outside of a building, so planning permission is often not required. However, anything that changes the slope of a roof or adds a dormer will usually need planning approval, so it is always best to check with your local authority early on before any building or preparatory work starts. A quick call to a duty officer should enable you to understand if you’ll require planning permission for your project. Visit Planning Portal for more information, or check your local planning authority’s website, as rules vary depending on location and the type of property you live in; for example, if your home is listed.

Tina Bauman and Richard Hobson added a modern, industrial mezzanine into their Oxford townhouse. Before their renovation, the building had been made up of a series of bedsits and flats, so the resulting structural work created enough space to add a mezzanine.

The couple didn’t try to hide the industrial aesthetic of their addition. The supporting steels are visible and there is a clear distinction between the modern, glazed extension and the original Victorian structure.

‘The new part of the house is new, and we’re not going to pretend its not – It’s unashamedly modern.’ explains Richard.

2. Structural changes

Building work can be quite hefty, as a mezzanine will add additional weight to the supporting walls of your house, and will need its own supporting structure. Such an element can sometimes mean modifying the existing roof and ceiling, so it’s important that you consult an engineer to design the new mezzanine and provide calculations and information for building regulations to ensure work falls within legal requirements.

3. Building regulations

Building regulations approval will always be needed for a new mezzanine. The main issue that will affect the design is fire risk. Adding a mezzanine level may youmake r home a three-storey house, which will mean that your stairwell needs fire doors to all the rooms. So, normally, it is best to design your mezzanine so that your stairwell doesn’t need upgrading. Plus, your addition should typically be less than 50 per cent of the size of the space that it sits over, such as your downstairs living room. The edge of the mezzanine will also require guarding – a balustrade – to prevent falling from the edge, but in many cases this can be designed as a bookcase or storage wall, so it adds to the overall design and function.

4. Party Wall agreement

If you live in a semi-detached or terraced house and your new structure is attached to a wall that divides you and your neighbour, you will need a Party Wall agreement before work takes place.

The mezzanine living room and its glass balustrade, paired with the massive Visoglide windows, create a connection to the outdoors that the old Victorian house lacked. The mezzanine has created a multi-level open-plan living area in a house with a small footprint. Technically the home is still on three floors, but the link between the basement kitchen-diner and the mezzanine living area gives the impression of one huge room.

‘We could have made the extension bigger and built right across the patio, but that would have made the kitchen darker and we wouldn’t have has these big glass doors and the sense of openess onto the garden.’ says Tania

5. Think creatively

All of this may sound like an enormous amount of red tape, but it’s essential that you comply. Plus, importantly, some of the best design comes out of the greatest constraints and in the smallest spaces. Mezzanines are also great for home offices, where masses of head height may not be necessary, and can work well over bathrooms, if well planned, as they don’t typically need generous heights.

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from UNISTAR.

For The House That £100k Built, the team and I designed five bedroom platforms in a three-bedroom house for a large family, and we’ve smuggled them into all sorts of strange places. My favourite mezzanines include bed pods and sleeping platforms, often with reduced head height and restricted access. They are fun and children love them, particularly if the staircase feels secret.

The decision to incorporate multiple stories into a self-storage development is driven by cost, necessity and opportunity. As always, there’s a balancing act between the expense to build and the financial benefit. The additional revenue—and, more important, the profit—must offset the cost of components such as elevators, stairs and fire-protection equipment.

To add another floor to an otherwise viable single-level facility only to gain a bit more rental area would be a mistake. Yes, you might make more money, but you’d also likely wipe out your profit margin. On the other hand, you could generate almost triple the rentable area of a 40,000-square-foot footprint by going to three levels, and it wouldn’t create a significant increase to the price of foundation, roof, sitework, glass, entry doors and so on. Each site must be evaluated for multi-level potential based on its own merits.

Following are three popular ways to go vertical in self-storage. I’ll also discuss additional design considerations for these types of projects.

StoragePros in Southfield, Michigan, a multi-story conversion

Three Options

Multi-story self-storage is achieved through the following three primary tactics:

Conventional stacked floors. This is a common approach. Most municipalities allow for two to three stories in commercial and industrial districts. The sheer efficiency of site disturbance and required acreage drives most of the decision-making factors here. Three-story buildings are the most cost-effective since the steel structure need not be fire-rated until four stories and higher. Many companies provide pre-engineered building packages to fulfill the demand for this type.

Conversion with mezzanine. Warehouses, grocery stores, big-box retail and even sports facilities are all good opportunities for self-storge conversion. Usually, these buildings have thicker floor slabs and high ceilings, allowing the developer to add a simple mezzanine level within the building itself. Floor-to-floor height is critical in these cases, as lighting, fire suppression and air ducts are difficult to fit when the floors are too close together. I always recommend adding more than 10 feet between floors, with 11 feet as ideal.

These facilities also require elevators and stairs, which can eat away efficiency. Other cost implications include reworking HVAC, fire suppression, ceilings and lighting. If you’re in the conversion game for low cost and simplicity, multi-story might not make sense, even if you look up from one of your storage units and the ceiling is 20 feet above you.

Sloping site (two story into a hill). From a grading perspective, the natural topography of a property can create challenges for many building types, requiring fill and retaining walls. However, when you’re building interior, climate-controlled self-storage, a fair amount of slope can be a blessing. You can place an entry point on both a lower and upper level from different locations on the property. Although not always the case, this tactic can eliminate the need for stairs or elevators, providing an opportunity to maximize efficiency without the added cost.

Extra Space Storage in Eastpointe, Michigan, with conventional stacked floors

Additional Considerations

In all multi-level self-storage building, you must consider the location and quantity of elevators, floor-to-floor heights, and loading areas. Also, many cities now require a single or pair of unisex bathrooms on all odd-numbered floors, including the ground level. On the plus side, these taller buildings can display higher signage, which increases visibility. You may even have the opportunity to include upper-level windows through which passersby can see colorful unit doors.

Elevators should be centrally located or spread evenly throughout the facility. It may seem logical to put them near the ends or edges of the building, but certain locations could dramatically increase the walking distance for some tenants from the entrance to their unit. You must minimize that distance or risk objectionable upper-level units that struggle to lease up. When you find the need for multiple elevators, consider dispersing them for the same reason.

Interior or drive-through loading areas also present a dilemma in a multi-story self-storage project. To accommodate a vehicle or large truck, the ceiling must be taller than the conventional floor-to-floor height, which can add expense and thousands of cubic feet of unnecessary volume in the building design. You even risk the structure height exceeding what is allowable by zoning code. There are several strategies for resolving this, however, including drive aisles placed adjacent to one side of the building or only providing a popped ceiling in a pull-in/pull-out loading bay. In big-box conversions, existing loading docks can often be retrofitted.

A rendering of TD Self Storage in Greenville, South Carolina, which is built on a slope

Whether you’re looking to build self-storage on a small site, convert an existing single-story structure or just need to appease the local jurisdiction, multi-story development could be the answer. Explore the options and opportunities of this building type, then weigh the costs to determine if it’s right for your next project.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit multi level mezzanine.