A regulation for minimum mandatory dimensions of balconies in residential apartments in the city of Rasht from the perspective of spatial usability

Today, for various reasons, a small and inadequate floor area is often allocated to private semi-open spaces in apartment housing in Iran. This allocation results in a significant reduction in the efficiency of these spaces. Consequently, the potential of the space to accommodate the daily presence and use by the residents is almost lost. The present study aims to specifically address this issue from the perspective of the development control system and to consider the role of building regulations in ensuring the minimum acceptable usability of these spaces.

In this research, in the first step, 10 international examples of building codes related to the minimum allowable dimensions of residential balconies in some developed countries of the world including England, Ireland, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Dubai, Luxemburg, and the Netherlands are studied and an attempt is made to identify the logic of calculating these values. In the second step, a review of building codes related to the minimum dimensions and floor area of semi-open private spaces in the current development control system of Iran and specifically the city of Rasht is performed. In the following, an attempt is made to provide a definition of the “usable minimal balcony” for the city of Rasht and to calculate its required area and dimensions. In the next step, the current status of balconies design in the apartment housing in Rasht is examined. To do this, the apartment plans approved by the plans control department of the Iran Construction Engineering Organization (IRCEO) of Rasht City were used and we examined all the apartment housing plans of three floors and above, which were approved in this organization in the period of three months from January to March 2021. During this period, 340 apartment units with a total of 401 balconies were approved by the organization. In the final step, an attempt was made to make a comparison between the minimal balcony dimensions defined in the present study and the existing balconies in the statistical community.

Based To define the minimal usable balcony dimensions, the specific conditions of the target community must be considered. Otherwise, the possibility of enforcing this rule will be reduced. It should be noted that currently in the city of Rasht, there are no regulations regarding the minimum dimensions of these spaces. On the other hand, the current common dimensions of balconies in the housing market of Rasht City are significantly smaller than the standards of the studied countries. This has its own economic, social, and cultural reasons and the study of these issues is outside the scope of the present study. However, it can be concluded that the required dimensions and floor area of the balcony in Rasht apartment housing should be defined as smaller than the countries studied. Based on these considerations, the required dimensions of balconies depend on the number of bedrooms, the number of people living in the residential unit, and, in some cases, the geographical orientation of the balcony in the studied countries. However, in the present study, the minimum dimensions of the balcony in all apartment units are considered a fixed value. Thus, an efficient minimal balcony is considered one that has the necessary area for the installation and proper operation of a small set of a table and chairs for two people, a barbecue, and a gas boiler. Accordingly, the standard is formulated as follows: “In every residential apartment unit, it is necessary to provide a balcony with a minimum clear width of 1.25 meters and a minimum useful floor area of 3.75 square meters.”

Based on the findings of the survey, it can be concluded that, firstly, a small percentage of the current balconies have the required area for proper use by residents. This is due to the small and unsuitable dimensions of these balconies. To be more precise, in one-bedroom residential units, only 16%, in two-bedroom units, 11%, and in three-bedroom units and more, 25% of the balconies can accommodate a table and chairs for two people, a gas boiler, and a barbecue. This finding is in line with the findings of researchers who, based on their qualitative research, have introduced inadequate dimensions of balconies as one of the main reasons for the inefficiency of balconies in apartment housing in Iran today. Secondly, it will have a relatively better perspective for application in the Rasht development control system, if regardless of the number of bedrooms in a residential unit, the minimum standard dimensions and area for balconies is formulated as a minimal two-person balcony. Currently, the proportion of two-bedroom units with a minimal four-person balcony is only 7% of the total (compared to 11% for two-person balconies) and the proportion of three-bedroom units with a minimal six-person balcony is only 11% (compared to 25% for two-person balconies).