Project of reconstruction of a single-family house into a two-family house

In modern architectural practice, requests for dividing a large living space are becoming increasingly relevant. A well-designed house reconstruction project allows for transforming an existing building to meet the new needs of a family, organizing completely autonomous zones for multiple generations to live together, and optimizing utility costs without purchasing a new land plot.

Fig. 1 General view of the existing building in the garden cooperative before modernization.

Initial Layout Analysis and Property Condition

The initial object of design was a two-level country house measuring 6.5 x 8 m, located in a garden cooperative in Yurivka village (Kyiv region). The building had previously been repeatedly extended and remodeled without a unified architectural plan. As a result of chaotic alterations, the clients ended up with a large two-story house with dimensions of 11 x 15 m and an integrated two-car garage, but with an extremely inefficient layout. There were many rooms, but most of them turned out to be too cramped (with an area of 9 to 14 m²), had an unsatisfactory level of natural light, and communication between levels was carried out via a dangerous steep staircase.

Fig. 2 Initial floor plans with isolated cramped premises and a narrow kitchen-dining area.

Before the work began, the ground floor accommodated a narrow kitchen with an area of 9.6 m² (where the stairs were also squeezed in), an adjacent dining room of 10.8 m², two living rooms (13.5 m² and 13.9 m²), a microscopic shower room (2.6 m²), a spacious boiler room (11.0 m²), and a solid garage with an area of 37 m². On the second level, there was a hall with an area of 12.4 m², two bedrooms of 12.3 m² each, and a small bathroom (3.4 m²). Engineering and visual inspection of the structures confirmed that the existing strip foundations were in excellent condition, the brick walls had no cracks or deformations, and the interfloor ceiling was made of reliable reinforced concrete panels. The interior decoration was completely finished, and a family lived in the cottage permanently.

Technical Assignment and Development of a New Concept

Who is the house reconstruction project in Yurivka suitable for?
This project is designed for families who want to divide a single building into two independent living zones. The main goal of the modernization is a professional reconstruction of a single-family house into a two-family house to create a cozy, barrier-free, and completely autonomous ground-floor apartment for elderly parents with its own entrances and amenities.

The main requirements of the owners for designing an autonomous apartment for the older generation were:

• Organization of a single open and spacious living room combined with an ergonomic kitchen-dining area;
• Arrangement of a bright bedroom with separate access to an individual bathroom and a walk-in closet;
• Design of a new, low-pitched, and maximally safe staircase for communication with the second floor of the main house.

To successfully implement the technical assignment without disturbing the main layout of the living rooms in the old part, our architects proposed building a two-story solid extension from the backyard side.

Fig. 3 New zoning of premises after the construction of the two-story extension.

In the new layout solution, a bright entrance hall with a comfortable staircase and part of a modern kitchen-dining area are located on the first level of the extension. On the second floor of the extension, the architects arranged a comfortable parental bedroom with an isolated walk-in closet and a bathroom. Meanwhile, two children's bedrooms, a shared hall, and an additional bathroom remained within the structures of the old house, undergoing only cosmetic remodeling. Thanks to this approach, a full-fledged two-room apartment for parents with a separate entrance was formed on the ground floor of the existing building.

Engineering Analysis of Roof Reconstruction Options

How to reconstruct a house without dismantling the old roof?
To protect the house from precipitation during construction works, we developed a special solution that excludes the complete demolition of the roof truss system. The new roof of the extension is integrated into the existing roof using a complex valley joint. This allowed for preserving the interior decoration of the living rooms from flooding and reduced the overall estimate.

While working on the object, the architectural bureau developed two structural options. The first version of the project involved radical changes:

Fig. 4 First version of the exterior, which required complete dismantling of the roof over the old part.

To implement this sketch, it was necessary to completely dismantle the existing roof truss system over the living area and remove the brick gables of the attic. The main risk was that during prolonged construction work, the existing living rooms, where people constantly stayed, would be under threat of major flooding by summer downpours. For the clients, such a scenario turned out to be absolutely unacceptable.

Given the limitations, we promptly developed a second reconstruction project option, which allowed building the extension without demolishing or exposing the old roof:

Fig. 5 Approved final reconstruction option with preservation of the existing roof.

In this option, the internal layout and useful area of the extension remained unchanged, but the geometry of the roofs was adapted for a delicate connection of the structures. The project successfully passed approval and was handed over to the clients for implementation on the construction site in 2019.

Expert Conclusion and Internal Linking

Converting a single-family residential house into an autonomous two-family cottage is a complex engineering task that requires a detailed survey of foundations, calculation of the distribution of new loads, and professional joining of roof nodes. Architect Andrey Kalyaev and the "Akvilon PRO" bureau team have extensive practical experience in solving such problems.

If your plot has a ready underground part and you are looking for similar architectural solutions, we recommend studying our house reconstruction project on a ready foundation with a double car box. You can also familiarize yourself with other engineering solutions by browsing all house reconstruction projects in our specialized catalog.