Duplex flats came up as a solution for those who want to experience the comfort of a detached house in an apartment building without the difficulty and stress of the maintenance of a house in recent years. They are among the most preferred property types.
The shortest and clearest definition we came up with is: ‘A flat in an apartment building consisting of two separate floors connected by its own internal staircase.
These flat types range from 1 + 1 to 6 + 1 or even 7 + 1 rooms. In other words, these kind of flats are not only preferred by big families, but also by small families and even singles.
Floor plans of duplex buildings differ, such as;
Reverse Duplex
It is the type of apartment where the floor plan of a common duplex structure is reversed.
The living room and kitchen are located on the upper floor of the flat. Bedrooms and bathroom are on the ground floor.
Reverse duplex buildings are known to be heated relatively easy in winter. In addition, it is said to be indispensable for those looking for a quieter sleeping and resting area. Preferring to buy this type of reverse duplex instead of a smaller flat for the same budget will please the buyer.
Designing the whole building according to the plan of a reverse duplex with the entry at the upper floor is a common practice for buildings with reverse duplexes. The assumption is that the idea was based on the necessity to utilize basement space to create more rooms for flats especially when the construction is at a sloping land.
Garden Duplex
The entrance to garden duplexes is from the upper floor. On the entrance floor, there are usually kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms. The living room is the only room at the lower floor and has direct access to the garden. Garden duplexes are similar to reverse duplexes in terms of their structure.
Garden duplex flats usually have the advantage of using the garden. However, the parking space is an important issue to watch out. Should the part of common area called “garden” be used with the intention of parking by other neighbors it could easily turn into a disadvantage. In this case the owner will not be able to benefit from the garden or will experience discomfort to some extend whenever neighbors try to park or start their cars. Therefore, the issue of parking spaces and garden use should be clarified before the purchase to avoid disappointment.
Roof Duplex
A roof duplex is also a two-storey flat as with the other types of duplexes. The difference here is that the attic has been utilized to create bedroom/s and bathroom/s at this floor. Roof duplexes usually have a terrace on the upper floor as well. The entrance floor will have kitchen and living room, and a small bathroom. Depending on the size of the flat there might be more bedrooms on this floor as well. Singles generally prefer roof duplexes with one bedroom at the attic and a living room/open plan kitchen at the ground floor.
A penthouse duplex flat is ideal for big families although it is said that the cleaning of penthouse duplex apartments is difficult.
Roof duplexes usually are blessed with sunshine throughout the day. If there is insufficient insulation, it can get quite hot in the summer. Heating of penthouse duplexes in winter consume a lot of energy and this can lead to high costs.
Those living in a penthouse duplex are the least affected by the outside noise. Buildings that do not have an elevator to reach the penthouse duplex can become a great problem especially after a certain age. A lot of roof duplexes are for sale just for this reason.
Duplex Villa
Duplex villa is a common expression for a detached 2- floor house with a landscaped garden. The villa is called a duplex villa if it has 2 floors and a triplex villa if it has 3 floors.