Vertically stacked floors

Abstract

A building structure suitable as a pair of floors each contains at least one pair of stacked units, which may be incorporated into a variety of multi-storey commercial or residential buildings. The structure includes two or more vertically stacked units which each define a respective self-contained space. As a floor module, the building structure extends downward from a planar ceiling surface, which forms the ceiling of an uppermost unit to a planar lower floor surface of the second lower other unit. Together, the pair of stacked units has an overall height equal to two and one-half to three full storeys, and a height selected between twenty-three and thirty-six feet, depending upon the respective building structure (7.5-12 feet). An interior dividing bearing wall is positioned within each of the units between the load-bearing sidewalls, and which divide each unit into primary and secondary living areas or spaces.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 372,948 filed on Feb. 26, 2003, which claims priority to a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 046,898, filed on Jan. 17, 2002, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.SCOPE OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a building, condominium or townhouse structure, which includes at least two floors, containing one or more vertically stacked building units. Specifically, the present invention relates to a stacked building unit construction consisting of at least two self-contained units. Most preferably, the units are part of a typical floor plan size of particular architectural project, each unit having areas with both conventional ceiling height and areas with higher cathedral or loft-type ceilings. The units are further characterized by a planar parallel horizontal uppermost ceiling and lowermost floor surface arrangement....

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention provides a building structure consisting of vertically stacked units with cathedral ceilings that can be easily incorporated into the layout of a building without requiring additional reinforcement or design changes. The building structure has increased adaptability, allowing for the placement of specialized units at different locations in a building and providing the opportunity for mid- or bottom-storey placements. Additionally, the building structure allows for the formation of upgraded building modules with cathedral ceilings and secondary living areas for specific floor plan requirements, while also providing economical options for remaining portions of the building.

Problems solved by technology

The nature of vertically stacked building unit construction makes it difficult to include, within the building customized units, individual rooms with higher cathedral or loft ceilings or which otherwise have a differing vertical height from either vertically and / or horizontally adjacent units within the building, or for that matter separate living areas within the unit itself.

As a result of concerns of structurally weakening the building, there has been a reluctance to include within buildings, units having differing ceiling height configurations, for fear that this would necessitate additional structural reinforcement and architectural input.

Although some developers may include customized units, which have increased ceiling height, such units are typically restricted solely to the uppermost floor of a building, such as penthouse suites.

Images