Photo: iStockphoto.com/Liudmila Chernetska
Previously, the ceiling height of 2.55 m was considered the norm for the economy class apartment market. Over time, the comfort of new buildings grew, and with it the ceilings — now developers mainly offer heights from 2.7 m and above, and it is unlikely to increase much — it just doesn’t make much sense.
Although standards for different classes of housing are not fixed anywhere, according to established practice, ceilings in economy class usually average 2.5 m, in comfort — about 2.7 m, and in business and elite classes — from 3 m, says Bulat Mirzakhanov, head of product development at A101 Group in St. Petersburg.
— The most common class of housing in the St. Petersburg market is comfort class, and the average ceiling height in it is 2.7 m, – he said.
According to current regulations, the ceiling in residential premises cannot be lower than 2.5 m.
— For several more years, the ceiling height at 2.55 m was considered the norm for the market, and this indicator was perceived by customers as completely acceptable, — said Natalia Kukushkina, head of the product and analytics Department of the CDS Group. — But over time, it changes in the direction of increase. Now the ceiling height at 2.75 m is considered the norm in the mass segment.
— In accordance with our climatic zone in St. Petersburg, the minimum allowed ceiling height is 2.5 m. You can go higher, you can’t go lower,” explained Yulia Gusakova, chief architect of the Dalpiterstroy IC.
— According to our data, the average ceiling height in apartments in new buildings in St. Petersburg is 2.75 m, — agreed Maxim Tomashevich, head of the product management department of Glavstroy St. Petersburg. — Some kind of unified standard of housing class, which would specify, among other things, criteria for ceiling height, has not yet been developed. Now each developer is guided by internal quality standards, the requirements of supervisory authorities, as well as their own experience and customer orientation.
According to the St. Petersburg Real Estate Consulting Center, the ceiling height in new buildings in St. Petersburg varies from 2.65 to 3.5 m.
— Residential complexes and apartment complexes in reconstructed buildings periodically enter the market, including, for example, in historical industrial buildings, former PBX and others, where the ceiling height is 4-4.5 m and above, which allows us to offer unique two—level lots to the market, – said Olga Trosheva, director of the St. Petersburg Real Estate Consulting Center (Setl Group).
Ekaterina Ulyanova, Director of marketing and PR at GloraX, added that lots with a ceiling height of more than 3.6 m are extremely rare, except in projects with attics.
— In St. Petersburg, it is not uncommon for several heights to be regulated for one building, most often located in the city center, — she explained. — The reason is that from different points of view the house should not overlap a certain view. Therefore, sometimes attic floors appear in projects, in such apartments the upper point can reach up to 5-6 m in height, and the lower point can be 2.5 m. Depending on how strong the slope of the roof is, the height difference of the ceilings in the apartment changes.
Reach your ceiling
At the same time, the height of rooms may differ from different developers and even in different projects of the same company, although in general there are certain parameters that become the standard.
— In our projects, the ceiling height varies from 2.7 to 2.8 m, and in recent years it has not changed, — comments Yulia Gusakova.
According to Bulat Mirzakhanov, most of the A101 Group projects are implemented in comfort class, while the ceiling height in them is 2.7-2.85 m, but they also have three–meter apartments, which, as a rule, are located on the upper floors.
— Also, in some houses on the ground floors, we have provided a ceiling height of 4.5 m, which allows residents to build a mezzanine in them — a cozy semi—floor with natural light, – he added. — This design creates many opportunities for very interesting design solutions.
Olga Trosheva also said that apartments with higher ceilings are often designed on the top floors.
— At Setl Group, for example, apartments on the top floors are designed according to the High Flat standard — the ceiling height in such apartments is from 3 m. In addition, such apartments have enlarged window openings to best emphasize the view, — she gave an example. — For example, most apartments in the residential complex “Palace Facade” have ceiling heights on the upper floors from 3 to 5.5 m. The windows in such apartments are enlarged, and the ceiling height allows you to create a special two-level layout with a mezzanine floor, a multifunctional staircase or create a classic grand interior with multi-level light.
High ceilings up to 5.5 m can also be found in city villas – such apartments are usually located on the first floors of the courtyard of a residential complex, have their own separate entrance and exit to the terrace — Setl Group has such an apartment format in the Imperial Club residential complex on Vasilyevsky Island.
— In our residential complexes “Severnaya Dolina” and “Yuntolovo” at the beginning of the implementation, the ceiling height was about 2.55 m, now the average value ranges from 2.75–3 m, — Maxim Tomashevich notes. — The changes are related to the development of projects and a gradual increase in the class of both buildings under construction and residential complexes in general. In addition, we focus on the needs of our target audience.
— In our residential complexes it is 2.7 m for comfort class, and in business class it is 3 m, — said Natalia Korotaevskaya, commercial director of the Aquilon Group in St. Petersburg and LO. — The Aquilon Group has the TOP FLAT standard, within which lots with ceilings above 3 m are presented in a number of projects — usually these are high-class projects such as Tesoro and Promenade by Akvilon, but we also implement this option in business-lite and comfort class projects. For example, TOP FLAT was implemented in our project “SolntsPARK” in the Pushkin district, which was commissioned back in 2019, there are apartments with high ceilings and in the implemented business-light class project “Art Quarter.Aquilon.” Today, lots with an increased ceiling height can be purchased in our Aquilon Leaves business light class project, which is located in the Moskovsky district.
According to her, TOP FLAT allows you to make double lighting or arrange a mezzanine for a small dressing room, recreation area or bedroom.
Also, with increased ceilings compared to conventional apartments, there may be commercial premises where delivery points, cafes, shops, pharmacies and other necessary services are opened in new buildings.
— Ceilings in our commerce reach 4.5 m, — Natalia Korotaevskaya addedi. — They provide additional space and comfort to potential tenants and business owners and allow you to install high shelving inside the premises, expanding the range of goods per square meter.
— We have projects in which the ceiling height varies depending on the floor, increasing to three meters, — says Natalia Kukushkina. — However, we do not see that buyers are willing to pay extra only for a higher ceiling. Of course, many clients, other things being equal, will choose such an apartment. But when there is a choice — to pay extra for a high ceiling or save money — most buyers will prefer to save their money. In this regard, it seems that the value of some “ceiling solutions” is overestimated by developers. In reality, people are often not willing to pay for them.
According to her, this does not apply to the premium segment, where every detail matters: in elite facilities, the ceiling height starts from three meters and can tend to infinity.
— In piece objects, such solutions are justified, they are sold more expensive and find their connoisseurs, — Natalia Kukushkina summarized.
The more expensive, the higher
First of all, the ceiling height depends on the class of housing, and this dependence is direct, says Yulia Gusakova: the higher the class, the higher the ceilings — 3-3.5 m or more.
— The minimum ceiling is determined by standards and is limited to 2.5 m — it is impossible to build lower in St. Petersburg, — Bulat Mirzakhanov reminds. — The maximum is usually limited to the same 4.5 m. It is possible that in some individual projects, by way of exception, there are ceilings and higher. But, from my point of view, they already raise the question of the rationality of such decisions — they are very difficult to exploit. In addition, the area of the premises in apartments with extremely high ceilings should also be appropriate, otherwise you can easily create a well effect when a room with an area of 15 sq. m, having very high ceilings, begins to frighten with its dimensions.
Maxim Tomashevich identifies several factors that determine the height of ceilings in new buildings:
— Firstly, it is worth mentioning the class of the project and the marketing strategy: if this is a premium residential complex with low-rise buildings, built near the points of attraction — the bay, park, sea, then, of course, the ceiling height will be an order of magnitude higher compared to the “standard” or even “comfort” class, since The developer is interested in maximizing the specific characteristics of the lots.
Secondly, this parameter depends on the height limit in a particular location. If the Urban Planning Commission does not approve the height of the buildings proposed by the developer, then the company simply will not be able to start construction: it will have to reduce the size due to the number of floors, including the height of the ceilings.
Finally, the final ceiling height in new houses is influenced by the construction technologies used by the developer: some monolithic structures made in an industrial way have certain dimensional limitations.
Does not put pressure on the head
Buyers also pay attention to the ceiling height when choosing a home.
— The higher they are, the more attractive the lot is for the client, provided that the area of the apartment is in harmony with this height, — comments Ekaterina Ulyanova. — In larger apartments, high ceilings really look beautiful, visually increase the space, and in small apartments and rooms they will look unaesthetic and may even lead to the appearance of an echo.
For example, the standard height of an interior door is 2.1 m. If you imagine such a door in a room with a ceiling height of 4 m, then it will occupy only half the wall in height, which will create visual disharmony, she believes. This should also be taken into account in the design of the premises.
Bulat MirzakhanovHe noted that when making a purchase decision, much depends on previous experience: psychologically, it is very easy to move into apartments with ceilings higher than in previous housing, but it is as uncomfortable as possible to lower the ceiling height. However, according to him, for most clients, the height of 2.7–2.8 m is comfortable and allows you to feel enough space in the room.
— Everyone wants higher ceilings so that it is atmospheric, there is a lot of space and nothing from above “presses”, — says Yulia Gusakova.
According to the research of Glavstroy St. Petersburg, the optimal indicator for a comfortable stay is from 2.75 m and above.
Neither here nor there
It is not worth waiting for radical changes in terms of ceiling height, according to developers.
— The ceiling height of 2.7–2.8 m is comfortable, — explains Bulat Mirzakhanov. — There are no serious prerequisites for its growth, at least in the comfort class. In higher classes, ceiling height will continue to be an additional competitive advantage.
— I think the height will not change in the mass market, as it is economically unprofitable for developers, — agrees Yulia Gusakova. — Now a certain consensus has been reached with buyers of housing of this class, in which customers are satisfied with the height, which is the maximum for an economically profitable project for the developer. As for luxury housing, here, as they say, there is no limit to perfection, or rather, the ceiling height.
For example, a two—level apartment remains a rather rare product in the primary market of St. Petersburg, but in recent years developers have increasingly begun to bring to the market a new vision of two-level apartments – apartments with high ceilings and “second light”, available to buyers of various price requests, says Olga Trosheva.
— A relatively small area of housing with a high ceiling, thanks to the “second light”, makes it possible to realize the idea of a second floor and optimally zone the space, — she explained.
Natalia Kukushkina believes that if developers are forced to reduce the cost of construction as much as possible, the mass housing market may return to ceilings with a height of 2.55 m.
“Such measures may even find understanding among buyers,” she noted. — This trend is unlikely to affect the premium segment. Here, the quality of projects and the requirements for them are constantly growing, as buyers become more and more satisfied and demanding. But in this case, we are talking about single projects that will not set a trend in the mass segment.
Photo: iStockphoto.com/Liudmila Chernetska
Источник: www.fontanka.ru
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