In a residence, design begins inside a finished shell rather than on empty ground. Structure, service shafts, the façade and neighbour acoustics decide what is possible on day one. This article explains what can be changed in an apartment, what never changes, and how the constraint becomes an advantage.
In a villa project design usually starts with a void: the plan, the massing, the façade — everything sits on the table. In a residence apartment the situation reverses. The shell is fixed, columns stand where they stand, the service shaft was cast long ago, and touching the façade glazing is out of the question. In a residence, interior design is a discipline that begins with constraint.
That is why the first meeting should discuss limits rather than aesthetics: what can we actually change? The seven topics below explain which decisions stay open, which are locked, and how a locked one turns into an advantage. The scope of the service is collected on our residence design in Ankara page.
1. Ask for the drawings first: no decision without the architectural project
What you see on a first visit is walls; which of them carry load is invisible. A plastered reinforced-concrete shear wall and an aerated-block partition look identical. In a serious project the first task is therefore obtaining the building's architectural and structural drawings from the management or the contractor.
Without drawings, decisions rest on guesswork, and guesswork is expensive: a plan built on a wall that cannot come down collapses once work starts. Where no drawings exist, the correct route is a structural survey on site and treating every suspect wall as load-bearing until proven otherwise.
2. Structure: which walls can go, which never can
In a reinforced-concrete building, load travels through columns, beams and shear walls. None of these may be touched — not drilled through, not thinned, not opened for a door. The only elements that can be removed are partitions: brick, aerated block or plasterboard walls carrying nothing but their own weight.
In practice this means the wall between living room and kitchen usually goes, walls around wet areas partly go, and thick walls running perpendicular to the façade usually stay. The decision follows the structural drawings, not an aesthetic preference. A doorway cut into a shear wall is a safety matter for the building, not for the apartment.
- Columns and beams: fixed beyond discussion — concealed with cladding, never removed.
- Concrete shear walls: fixed; they carry seismic load and take no openings.
- Partitions: removable; glazed screens, joinery or an opening can replace them.
- Wet-area walls: removable, but plumbing and tanking must be rebuilt.
- Façade and balcony parapet: counted as common property; condominium law forbids altering them.
3. The shaft reality: the limit on moving kitchens and bathrooms
"Let us move the kitchen to the other side" usually breaks against the service shaft. Waste water runs on a gradient; the further you move from the shaft, the higher the drain sits, and the higher it sits, the more floor build-up you need. Past a certain distance the result is a step in the middle of the living area.
The practical rule: fresh water and electricity travel almost freely, waste water does not. Bathrooms and kitchens are therefore rearranged around the shaft; they do not relocate, they change shape. Swapping a bath for a shower, rotating the counter run through 90 degrees, or moving the washing machine into a dedicated niche all deliver a large gain without touching the shaft.
Our bathroom renovation guide covers sanitaryware and wet-area layout, while the kitchen renovation guide gives dimensions and sequencing.
4. Glass instead of walls: opening space without demolition
The most common request in a residence is "a more spacious living room". Yet not every wall can go, and not every removed wall gives a good result: an open plan opens sound and cooking smells along with the space. The middle path is often a glazed screen — a steel-framed, floor-to-ceiling surface that unites space visually while keeping it separate acoustically.
The image below comes from a villa we designed in Batıkent; the principle holds for an apartment too. The black-framed glazed screen between the dining area and the adjoining volume keeps the two rooms facing each other while preserving the division.
A glazed screen makes a division transparent where the wall cannot or should not come down — spaciousness is won without demolition.
5. The open-kitchen decision: where does the extract go?
An open kitchen is the most popular request in a residence and the decision that produces the most regret later. What decides it is not design but ventilation. In an apartment without a flue, or with a limited flue connection, an open kitchen means cooking smells settling across the whole living area and into textiles.
The decision follows this order: (1) does a flue or extract duct exist, and what is its capacity; (2) if not, does a recirculating carbon-filter solution match daily cooking habits; (3) can the ceiling height and power supply support an island extractor. If all three answer yes, an open kitchen works; otherwise a semi-open layout — a sliding glazed screen or a wide opening — is the right answer.
An island extractor is a ceiling and services decision rather than a furniture choice; unless its position is set in the drawings, the island cannot move later.
6. Neighbour acoustics: complaint number one in residences
The real problem of vertical living is not the view but sound. In a residence, noise arrives by three routes: impact through the slab (footsteps above), airborne sound through walls (a neighbour talking), and flow noise through services (a waste pipe running at night). Each demands a different remedy.
- Impact sound: a floating screed or acoustic underlay — the right underlay beneath flooring protects your own floor, not the one above.
- Airborne sound: lining the party wall with mineral wool and a double layer of plasterboard; a serious gain for 5–7 cm of lost depth.
- Service noise: insulating the shaft wall and lagging the pipes; the most neglected item and the most irritating one.
- Doors: a lightweight internal door is where sound passes most easily; a solid-core door with a drop seal is a cheap win.
We covered materials and detailing in our article on acoustic insulation in interiors.
7. Management, permits and schedule: the non-technical part that stops the job
Residence renovations stall most often not on structure but on the building management rules. Most developments restrict working hours, forbid weekend work, require lift protection and a deposit, and fix waste removal to set times. All of this stretches the programme directly.
The correct order: the design settles → a written application goes to the management → working hours, lift and waste rules come back in writing → the schedule follows those rules. Under condominium law, any intervention touching common property (façade, balcony parapet, heating risers, main services) requires a decision of the owners; knowing this upfront costs less than removing work afterwards. For the full sequence, see our article on the order of works in a renovation.
Turning the constraint into an advantage: storage
When the shell cannot change, the gain comes not from volume but from order. In a residence apartment the highest-return investment is almost always bespoke storage: full-height joinery, converting corridor depth into niches, turning one end of a bedroom into a dressing area.
A dressing area from our villa project in İncek. The same logic works at smaller scale in an apartment: an opening instead of a door, an island instead of shelves, one continuous surface up to the ceiling.
Note: the three images above come from our villa projects in Batıkent and İncek. They are not residence apartments; they appear here to show the principle at work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which walls can I remove in a residence apartment?
Only partitions — brick, aerated block or plasterboard. Columns, beams and concrete shear walls stay untouched. Which wall is which cannot be judged by eye; the decision must rest on structural drawings or an on-site survey.
Can I move the kitchen elsewhere in the apartment?
Fresh water and power can move; waste drainage in practice cannot. The further you go from the shaft, the more floor build-up the gradient demands. Kitchens and bathrooms therefore change shape rather than position: counter orientation, openings and cabinet layout are rebuilt.
Can acoustic problems be fixed later?
Partly. Wall linings and underlays can be added afterwards, but the most effective work on shaft and slab noise happens during the renovation. Postponing acoustics means paying for the same job twice.
Can work start without permission from the management?
It should not. Most building rules govern working hours, lift use and waste removal, while anything touching common property needs a decision of the owners. Work halted for lack of permission doubles the cost.
How do you make a small apartment feel larger?
Not by demolition but by simplifying order. Full-height single-surface joinery, corridor depth converted into niches, a continuous floor material and concealed lighting enlarge perception markedly without adding volume.
Let us discuss your project
Establishing what is possible in your apartment is the first and most valuable step of the design. Depending on your city, look at our residence design pages for Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa and Antalya, and to read your plan together, get in touch with us.
Text: Kaan Yalçınkaya, Kaya + Partners. Images are taken from our villa projects in Batıkent and İncek.