How to Coordinate Apartment Reconfiguration: Designer Experience

When we review implemented design projects, sometimes questions arise: can this be coordinated? And most importantly, how? Today we share about the most popular changes in kitchen layouts.

Kitchen in the Hallway

To increase the number of rooms in an old apartment, designer Tatiana Bezverkhiya moved the kitchen cabinet to the hallway and joined the passageway area with the living room. A large kitchen-living room with a workspace, dining table, and relaxation zone was created.

How to Coordinate?

Moving the kitchen can be coordinated, as a hallway is a non-residential space. However, in older buildings, gas stoves were provided for. For the reconfiguration approval, you will need to 'put in work'.

You must obtain permission for additional electrical power, prepare a project of the new electrical installation, and complete several documents with the management and electricity companies.

At the same time, you must prepare a project for the reconfiguration and re-planning of the apartment and get it approved at 'Mosgas'. In the Moscow Housing Inspection, you must also coordinate the reconfiguration and re-planning. Eventually, the apartment becomes more eco-friendly, and electricity tariffs decrease by 30%.

"Everything is correct, the clients gave up gas, coordinated power additions, and installed an induction cooktop," - says Tatiana Bezverkhiya.

Furniture layout plan

What else to consider?

When relocating the kitchen to the hallway, you must plan the placement of utilities and install a pump for sewage; in some cases, you may need to raise the floor or create a platform. In this apartment, hot and cold water pipes were installed on the ceiling.

Kitchen-Living Room with Gas Stove

To transform a Stalin-era apartment into a cozy family nest, a capital renovation and reconfiguration were required. First, designer Tatiana Krasikova created an opening in the kitchen from the hallway and joined the kitchen and living room.

How to Coordinate?

"There is gas on the kitchen, so we provided a sliding door between the kitchen and living room. It's clear that it is not used constantly, but it is there. We did not hide the gas pipe behind false walls (this is illegal), but painted it to match the tile on the countertop. The gas valve was relocated to the upper cabinet by agreement. However, we decided to get rid of the garbage chute on the kitchen - and this also required additional approvals," - explains Tatiana Krasikova.

What else to consider?

If you want there to be no boundaries between the kitchen and living room, you will need to replace the gas stove with an electric one. How to do this, we wrote above.

Practice shows that some apartment owners ignore the rules for approval and designers' advice and, for the sake of savings, refuse to build partitions in kitchens with gas. They do all this at their own risk and peril.

What are the consequences?

• Complaints from neighbors may result in visits from TSC/management company staff. Seeing discrepancies, they might ask you to pay a fine and coordinate the layout or restore it to its original state. If you don't comply, a court decision will require you to restore everything to its original state. This also constitutes an administrative offense.
• Unapproved reconfiguration can be an issue when selling the apartment. The buyer may try to lower the price due to unapproved layout.

Sink by the Window

The main task in designing a project for an apartment in a panel house was to create convenient and functional furniture placement. Architect Evgenia Lykaso placed the kitchen cabinet so that the sink was by the window, and the remaining space accommodated a small folding table with chairs.

How to Coordinate?

You can move the sink away from the pipe along the wall without approval. However, moving it to the opposite wall or center of the room (with an island setup) can only be done after approval. For this, you need to submit an application, project (sketch), copies of documents on the apartment and technical passport to 'Single Window Service' at the local housing inspection. Approval will take 20–40 days.

What else to consider?

You need to plan utility connections using metal-plastic or polypropylene pipes from the risers. For drainage, you must ensure a slope, which means that in some apartments, the working surface by the window needs to be raised. If the window is far from the riser, install a forced sewage pump: it pumps water from the sink and sends it to the riser.

Another point: to place a sink by the window, you must move the radiator to another wall or remove it — in most cases, this is resolved with the management company. But there is another option: "In this kitchen, the radiator was not moved anywhere; it's located in a niche under the window. For ventilation, we provided slots at the top of the countertop and at the bottom of the kitchen cabinets — they are located in the base and are not visible at all. All this helped to establish proper ventilation. In such a case, additional approval is not required," - Evgenia Lykaso explains.