Looking to expand your square footage but aren’t sure how to achieve more space in your existing house? A vertical addition can be a fantastic way to do that without sacrificing your layout or requiring more property. Especially in a volatile housing market like the San Francisco Bay Area, improving your current space by building upward can be the smartest way to expand your livable space.
What makes vertical additions appealing?
- If your house footprint is close to the maximum buildable area, this can often be the only way to add space
- Going up is usually much more desirable than ground or below ground space, especially as you’ll capture light, air and views by going higher
- This option forgoes “land locking” your existing house in the way that a rear addition would, meaning all existing windows remain as is and light and air to the existing spaces is uncompromised
A vertical addition can provide you with more light, air, and views
But as with every major change, there are some things to think about when considering this option:
- This can be one of the more expensive ways to add area to your property and will affect other parts of the home with the addition
- The process of permitting and building can be more complicated than other additions
- As a more visible change to your house, there is the potential for neighbor and planning opposition and scrutiny
Let’s dive into those complications a little bit more, to help you think through the right solution for your home.
When you add a story to a house, it can impact the existing structure in a multitude of ways, from needing to find a place for a stairway, triggering sprinkling or additional exits, or requiring a new foundation. Because we’re in earthquake country in the San Francisco area, this renovation can impose lateral loading on the existing building, which requires foundation and opening up walls and ceilings that stack below the additions walls.
Additional planning processes can be necessary for a vertical addition. Potential steps can include a historic resource evaluation, which is a study needed to see if the house can be exempted from historic protection, heightened design guideline compliance driven by planning, as well as long city approval processes (12-18 months). These extra needs will require more time and money so are important factors to be aware of before embarking on a project.
Lastly, building up can cause shading and privacy issues for neighbors, which can trigger scrutiny and opposition, as a result. Being mindful of how your addition will impact your neighbors can mitigate these concerns.
Gain more space with a vertical expansion
If you’re interested in exploring adding a vertical addition to your home to gain more space, additional natural light, and better views, your next step is to discuss options with an architect.
We’d recommend signing up for an initial consultation with Sven Lavine Architecture, a San Francisco architecture firm to discuss your solutions and have us conduct a Feasibility Study, where we will forecast the cost and process for multiple scope options based on your specific needs. This proactive approach eliminates the uncertainty (and frustration!) often associated with the traditional design process commonly associated with other San Francisco residential architects, where you don’t have a handle on cost until late in the design process. Instead, we’ll give you the information you need upfront to confidently move forward with a vertical expansion!