CA1264406A - Multiple-dwelling structure - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A multiple dwelling structure, comprises lower and upper stacked living units, each providing a residence dwelling separate from the other unit. First and second vehicular parking areas respectively are associated with the lower and upper living units, the first and second parking areas disposed in end-to-end relationship, with the vehicular access opening to said first parking area being at an opposite end to the vehicular access opening to the second parking area. A first passageway extends from the first vehicular parking area to an entranceway to said lower living unit, and a second passageway extends from the second vehicular parking area to an entranceway to the upper unit. The passageways are isolated from one another to define private walkways between each living unit and associated parking area which are not in common, nor shared, with one another.

Description

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MULTI PLE-DWELI,ING STR11CTllRE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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1 1. Field of the Invention

2 The present invention relates to a multiple-dwelling

3 structure wherein a plurality of individual dwellings are con-

4 structed in stacked fashion, one on top of the othex, and more I particularly to a multiple-dwelling structure having an upper and 6 I lower unit positioned vertically with respect to one another and 7 ¦ directly above respective garage areas.
8 1 2. Description of the Prior Art 9 I Multiple-dwelling structures in common use today are of j the typical apartment or condominium style, wherein "flats" are ¦
11 I stacked one upon the other, and wherein a common garage area is 12 ¦ shared by all. Additionallyt some o the "flat9' type structures 13 I lncorporate co~on hallways or passageways to the respective main 14 I entrances thereof, in addition to the common passageways or j walkways connecting the common parking area t~ the individual 16 I dwelling unit.
17 ¦, Dwelling structures of the "townhouse" type generally 18 ¦¦ have private garage areas and private walkways connecting the 19 I garage area and dwelling unit; however, typical "townhouse" units are not stacked one upon the other, but rather are generally two j 21 ¦ story units having the bedroom area(s3 directly above the living, 22 kitchen or garage area.
23 The drawbacks of these two typical types of multiple 24 dwelling structures are that (1) the condominium type -structures-lack sufficient privacy and security in that they utilize common 26 j parking areas and shared walkways, and (2) the townhouse type, 27 while having a greater degree of privacy, generally makes very 28 inefficient use of the land area.
29 It is therefore a principal object of the pre~ent invention to provide a multiple-dwelling structurle ~hich affords ,"
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~Z~ 6 a large degree of personal privacy and security, as well as providing a high dwelling unit per given area density.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a multiple dwelling structure that includes a private garage area for each dwelling uni-t.
I-t is a still further object of the present inven-tion to provide a multiple dwelling structure of the stacked, multi-story type, having separate passage~ays uniquely connecting the individual dwelling units with their respective garage areas, thereby optimizing the privacy and security of each individual dwelling unit, and maximizing eEficient use of land area.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One broad aspect of the present invention rel.ates to a multiple dwelling structure, comprising: (a) lower and upper stacked li.ving units, each of said units providing a residence dwelling separate from the other unit, (b) first and second vehicular parking areas respectively associated wlth said lower and~upper living units, said first and second parking areas disposed in end-to-end relationship, with the vehicular access opening to said first parking area being at an opposite end to the vehicular access opening to said second parking area; and (c) first and second passageways, said first passageway exten.ding from said first vehicular parking area to an entranceway to said lower living unit, said second passageway : ~ extending from said s~econd vehicular~parking area to an entranceway to said upper unit; (d) said first and second passageways being isolated from one another to define private walkways between each living unit and associated parking area which are not in common, nor shared, with one another. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, each dwelling unit additionally includes a second stairwayr preferably ... ..

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~264~L~6 external, leading from the ground level oE the garage up approximately one-hal:E story to -the main entranceway of that dwelling unit.
In another broad aspect, the present inven-tion relates to a multiple dwelling structure, comprising- (a) lower and upper stacked livlng units, (b) first and second garage areas respec-tively associated with said lower ancl upper living units, said -first and second garage areas disposed in end-to-end relationship, with the vehicular access opening to said first garage area being at an opposite end to the vehicular access opening to said second garage area; and (c) a first passageway interconnecting an entranceway to said lower living unit with said first garage area, a second passageway i.nterconnecting an entranceway to said upper living unit with said second garage area; said first and second passageways being isolated Erom one another, and the general direction of traversal of the passageway from said first garage area to the entranceway to said lower living unit being in a direction opposite to the general direction of traversal of the passageway from .said second garage area to the entranceway to said upper living unit;
(d) the grade level of said second garage area being higher than the grade level o said first garage area.
In a further broad aspect, the present invention relates to a multiple dwelling structure, comprising: (a) lower and upper stacked living units, ~b) first and second garage : areas respectively associated with said lower and upper living units, said firs-t and second garage units disposed in end-to-end relationship, with the vehicular access opening to said first garage area being at an opposlte end to the vehicular access 3a opening to said second garage area; and (c) a first passageway interconnecting an entranceway to said lower living unit with said first garage area, a second passageway interconnecting an 2(a) -' ~ ~
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~Z6~ 6 entranceway to said upper livlng unit with said second garage area; said Eirst and second passageways being isolated from one another r the beginning of said first passageway at said first garage area being laterally spaced from the beginning of said second passageway at said second garage area; (d) the grade level of said second garage area being higher than the grade level of said first garage area.
In accordance with a specific feature of the invention, the ground level of -the garage communicating with the upper level unit is at a higher grade than the ground level of the garage communicating with the lower level unit, thus reducing the vertical distance to be traversed to the upper level unit.
In particular, such grading is maintained to be at least a half story differential, thus llmiting the vertical distance between the ground level oE the garage for the upper unit and the living area of the upper unit to no more than one and one-half stories.

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1 In accordance with the present invention, individual 2 units of a multiple dwelling structure incorporate separate, 3 unique stairways interconnecting the respective garage areas and 4 dwelliny units in a manner to ensure privacy and security of each individual dwelling unit r the structure having one dwelling unit 6 stacked above the other, both being positioned directly over the 7 garage areas for both, thus maximizing the density of dwelling 8 units per given unit area of land.

For a detailed description of preferred embodiments of 11 the present invention, reference is made to the accompanying 12 drawings in which, 13 FIG. lA is a perspective view of the ground level 14 segment of a first preferred embodiment of the multiple-dwelling ¦ structure of the present invention, showing the two garage units 16 I associated with the upper and lower dwelling units;
17 I FIG. lB is a perspective view of the lower dwelling 18 ~ unit of the structure sho~n in FIG. lA;
l9 ¦ FIG. lC is a perspective view of the upper dwelling ¦ unit of the structure shown in FIG. lA;
21 ¦ FIG. 2A is a plan view of the segment of the structure 22 ¦ shown in FIG. lA;
23 I FIG. 2B is a plan view of the unit shown in FIG. lB;
24 FIG. 2C is a plan vlew of the unit shown in FIG. lC;
: 25 FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the first pre-26 ferred embodiment of the multiple-dwelling structure of the 27 ¦ present i.nvention;
28 I FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the floors of the 29 garaye unit, lower unit and upper unit, showing the relationship of the stairways interconnecting the respective garage areas and 31 living areas;
32 FIG. 5R is a perspective view of the ground level 33 segment of a second prefexred embodiment of the multiple dwelling 34 structure of the present invention;

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FIG. 5B is a perspective view of the lower dwelling 2 unit of the embodiment of the structure sh~wn in FIG. 5A;
3 FIG. 5C is a perspective view of the upper dwelling 4 unit of the embodiment of the struc~ure shown in FIG. 5A;
FIG. 6A is a plan view of the segment of the structure 6 shown in FIG. 5A;
7 ~IG. 6B is a plan view of the unit shown in FIG. SB;
8 FIG. 6C is a plan view of the unit shown in FIG. 5C;
3 FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the second pre-ferred embodiment of the multiple-dwelling structuxe of the ll present invention; and 12 FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the floors of the 13 garage unit, lower unit and upper unit, showing the relationship 14 of the stairways interconnecting the respective garage areas and jliving areas of the second preferred embodiment of the multiple-16 ¦dwelling structure of the present invention.

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18 ¦ Turning now to the drawings, wherein like parts are 19 ¦indicated throughout the specification and drawings with the same ~reference numerals, and more specifically to FIGS~ lAr- l~ and lC, 21 ~a first preferred embodiment of the multiple-dwelling structure 22 lof the present invention is shown. It will be appreciated that 23 Ithe multiple-dwelling structure is shown in exploded pictorial 24 ¦form in FIGS, lA, lB and lC, and that it is to be understood that Ithe structure is constructed to be stacked in that ordex, i.e., 26 ¦the ground level portion which is the garage unit 12 ~FI~. lA) is 27 ¦constructed flrst, with-- the lower dwelling unit 1~ (FIG. lB) 28 ~constructed directly above the garage unit~ and the upper dwell-29 ling unit 16 (FIGr lC) is constructed directly above the lower jdwelling unit. To aid in the understanding the layout of the 31 respective units 12, 14 and 16, the plans of said units are shown 32 ~at FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C, respectively.
33 The multiple-dwelling structure of the present inven-34 tion incorporates a dual ground level garage unit 12 ~FIG. lA) ,..

E~- 50(13 K~ G / ~f ~2~ 6 1 ¦Ihavlng a lower garage 18, associated with the lower dwelling unit 2 ¦l14, and an upper garage area 20 associated with the upper dwel-3 ¦ling unit 16. As shown in FIG. lA, and as best shown in FIG. 3, 4 ¦the lower garage area 18 is at a first ground level or grade I
¦22, and the upper garage area 20 is at a second ground level or ¦
6 grade 24 slightly elevated from the first ground level. These 7 separate ground levels 22, 24 are attained by selective grading 8 of the land prior to beginning construction on the ¦
9 multiple-dwelling structure of the present invention. As a ¦
particular advantageous feature, the second ground le~el 24 is at 11 least one-half story higher than the first ground level 22, in 12 order that the vertical distance between the floor of garage 20 i 13 and the floor of the entranceway of the upper dwelling unit 16 be 14 no more than one and one-half stories. Furthermore, maintaining Ithe grade differential at approximately one-half story limits the j 16 ¦vertical distance between living levels of any one unit to , 17 ¦approximately one-half story.
13 I Referring again to FIG, lA, the lower garage area 18 19 ¦has a staircase 26 leadlng up from the floor of the garage to an lintermediate plaza area 28. As best shown in FIG. 3, the level 21 lof this plaza area 28 is very close to that of the second ground 22 llevel 24 li.e., approximately one-half story above the first ;
23 Iground level 22~. The lower unit plaza area 28 also includes a 24 Imain entranceway 30 for providing easy access equally to the , ¦lower unit garage area 18 and the lower dwelling unit 1~ as will 26 ¦be described in--greater ~etail hereinbelow. I
27 ¦ As best shown in ~IGS. lB, 2B and 3, the lower dwelling , 28 unit 14 includes a second stairway 32 interconnecting the lower 29 unit plaza area 28 with the lower dwelling unit 14. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the s~aircases 31 leading from the lower garage area 18 to the lower dwelling unit 32 14, and the intermediate plaza area 28 associated therewith, 33 define a separate, unique s~airway in~erconnecting the garage 34 larea and the dwelling unit which is not in common with or shared jwith any other passageway or walXway connecting various parts of ~--50~)3 KRG/pm~

the upper dwelling unit 16. This second stairway 32 leads up 2 jfrom the plaza area 28 to the living, dining and ki~chen area of 3 ¦the lower dwelling unit, generally illustrated at 34, which is 4 ¦positioned, as shown, directly above the lower garage area 18, ¦and at a first occupied level above ~he garage area approximately 6 ~one~half story higher than the lower unit plaza area 28. In this 7 jmanner, from the entry level at the main entra~ce~ay 30, it is 8 approximately one-half story down to the ground level of the 9 garage 18 and approximately one-half story up to the first occupied level of the lower unit living, dining and kitchen area ll 34 via the unique staircase 26, 32.
12 ¦ Referring ayain to FIGS. lB and 2B, the lower dwelling 13 lunit 14 also includes a ~edroom area 36 at a second occupied 14 !level approximately one-half story up from the level of the ¦living, dining, kitchen area 34. These two areas of the lower 16 Idwelling unit 34, 36 are interconnected by a staircase 38 which 17 ~leads from the living, dining and kitchen area up to a hallway 18 jleading into the bedroom area 36. The bedroom area 36 is posi-19 ¦tioned directly above the garage area 20 for the upper dwelling lunit 16. As best shown in FIG. 3, the bedroom area 36 is at an 21 elevation approximately one-half story above that of the lower 22 lunit living, dining and kitchen area 34.
23 I Returning once again to FIGS. lA and 2A, the upper 24 Igarage area 20 associated with the upper dwelling unit 16 is Ishown. in essentially spaced end to-end relationship with the 26 ¦lower garage area 18. As in the lower gara~e area 18, the upper 27 !garage area 20 incIudes a fi-rst staircase 40 leading from the 28 second ground level 24 of the upper garage to a upper unit plaza 29 area 42. As best shown in FIG. 3, this upper unit plaza area ~2 is at a level approximately one-half story above the second 31 ground level 24, therefore approximately on the r~a:me level with 32 the lower unit livi.ng, dining and kitchen area 34. Additionally, 33 as shown in the drawings, the upper dwelling unit 16 also 34 includes a main entranceway 44 opening into the plaæa area 42.
¦The plaæa area 42 further includes a second staircase 46 leading i E-5~03 KRG / ~? -rif ¦ I i 7/18 , 1 ¦~P from the upper unit plaza area 42 to the upper dwelling uni~
2 ¦16 (see FIGS. lC and 2C)o As in the case of the lower dwelling 3 unit 14, this staircase 46 leads up to and opens into the upper 4 unit living, dining and kitchen area 43. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that each of the sets of staircases 6 comprising the passageways connecting respective garage areas and 7 living areas ~26, 32 in the lower dwelling unit 14, and 40, 46 in 8 the upper dwelling unit 16) is unique or exclusive to its partic-9 ular dwelling unit in that the set of staircases leading to the upp~r unit is independent, separate and apart from the set of ¦
11 staircases leading to the lower dwelling unit.
12 As shown in FIGS. lA and 2A, the stairway 46 includes a 13 twister 45, 49 to enable the stairway to turn the corner from the 1~ plaza area 42 up to the upper unit living, dining and kitchen area 48. A third staircase 50 tSee FIG~ lC) leads from the 16 living, dining and kitchen area 48 via a hallway 52 into the I
17 upper unit bedroom area 54, as in the corresponding lower unit ¦
18 ¦staircase 38; the bedro~m area of the upper unit is at a level I
l9 ¦approximately one-half story above the level of the living, j ¦dining and kitchen area~ as in the lower unit l4, and is posi-21 ¦tioned directly above the lower unit.
22 I It should be noted that because the upper unit main 23 lentranceway 44 is at a level approximately one-half story above I
24 Ithe ground le~el 24 entrance to the upper---garage~ ar~ea 20, the j distance from the upper level main entranceway 44 to the upper 26 level living, dining and kitchen area 48 is -approximately one , 27 story. In this manner, those residents of the upper unit (effec- , 28 tively, the second story unit~ travel up only ~ne story fr~m the 29 main entranceway to the living,~- dining, kitchen area, as opposed I
Ito two stories of travel for those residents llving in second ¦

31 story units having parking areas below the first story unit.
32 As best shown in FIG. 2A, the garage areas 20, ~2 are I
33 separated by a wall or partition 56 for total separation and ¦
34 privacy. As noted, adjacent this wall 56, and on either side ¦
thereof, are the respective lower and upper unit plaza areas 28, 1 ~:_C~)03 KF~G/pr~f 7/18 3 ~

1 142, and the respective lower and upper unit main entranceways 30, 2 l44~ leading thereinto at a level of approximately one-half story ¦
3 above the respective ground levels of the upper and lower garage j 4 areas 22, 24. As shown, the lower and upper units further include respective outer stairways 58, 60 that lead up rom 6 respective first and second ground levels 22, 24 to the lower and 7 upper unit plaza areas 28, 42. Alternatively, the land could be 8 contoured in this particular area to have a sloping sidewalk to 9 replace either or both of the outer stairways 58, 60, or parts ¦
thereof, to result in the same effect of each of the lower and ¦
11 ¦upper dwelling units having the entranceway 30, 44 at a level ¦
12 approximately one-half story above the respective garage levels. I
13 From these respective levels, in the preferred embodiment, it is 14 approximately one-half story up to the lower unit living, dining and kitchen area 34, and in the upper unit, it is approximately 16 one story up to the living, dining and kitchen area 48.
17 The interrelationship of the various interconnecting 18 stairways in this embodiment of the multiple dwelling structure 19 of the present invention are best shown in FIG. 4. It should be understood that FIG. 4 is not complete in terms of structure of 21 ¦the dwelling units (those details being shown in the previous 22 ¦figures), but rather shows only the individual stairways connect- , 23 ¦ing the respective garage areas and lower and upper dwelling .
24 ¦units, and those portions of the floors necessary to enable one Iskilled in the art to easily understand these .relationships. As 26 shown, the stairway 26 leading from the lower unit garage area 18 27 connects the garage area and the lower unit--plaz-a area 28. The 28 staircase 32 connects the lower unit plaza area 28 and the lower 29 unit living, dining and kitchen area 34, and enters the area 34 at the location thereof shown by the phantom lines 62. Also as 31 shown, the stairway 38 interconnects the lower unit living, 32 dining and kitchen area 34 to the lowex unit bedxoom area 36.
33 The stairway 40 connects the upper unit garage area 20 34 with the upper unit plaza area 42. A stairway then leads from the upper unit pla~a 42 by way of the twister 45, 49 to the upper / F~n-~t ~2~

1 I living, dining and kitchen area 48. As shown, this upper unit 2 ¦ staircase 46 is located directly above the corresponding lower 3 unit staircase 32, therefore, the upper unit staircase 46 entersl 4 the upper unit living, dining and kitchen ar~a 48 at exactly at¦
the same location as in the lower unit, this location designated 6 by the phantom lines 66 indicating the connection of the upper 7 step of the staircase 46 with the upper unit living, dining and 8 kitchen area 48. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that 9 the upper unit staircase 46, being directly above the correspond-ing lower unit staircase 32, does not occupy any appreciablell space of the lower unit. In this manner, even though the stair-12 case 46 interconnecting the upper unit garage area 20 and the 13 living, dining and kitchen area 48 passes "through" the floor 14 plan of the lower unit, very little usable space is taken up in so doing.
16 In this first preferred embodiment, the lower dwelling 17 unit 14 is shown as a smaller unit than the upper dwelling unit 18 16, the former having one bedroom and the latter having two l9 bedrooms. Those skilled in the art-will appreciate that each of the units may be essentially identical, or one- of .the _units may 21 ¦ be considerably larger than the other, resulting in either open 22 ¦ or covered balconies on either end for either the upper or the 23 ¦ lower unit.
24 ! A second p.referred-embodiment of the multiple ~dwelling ¦
¦ structure of the prese~t invention is shown in FIGS. 5-8. As in 26 ¦ ~he ~irst preferred embodiment of the multiple dwelling structure 27 ! shown in FIGS. 1-4, this second pre~erred embodiment..is con-28 I structed in the same sequence as the first preferred embodiment, 29 that is the garage unit 72 ~FIGS. 5A,--6A) is constructed first,.
with the low r dwelling unit 74 (FIGS. 5B, 6B) constructed 31 directly above the garage unit and the upper dwelling unit 76 32 (FIGS. SC, 6C) constructed directly above the lower dwelling 33 unit. The garage unit 72 includes a lower garage area 78 and an 34 upper garage area 80. These separate garage areas are located at a first ground level 82 and a second ground level 84, slightly E-,0~3 K~G/r~n!f 7/18 3 ~ ~ ~6~

1 ¦elevated from the first ground level. These separate ground 2 ~levels 82, 84 are attained by selective grading of the land prior 3 ¦to beginning construction on the dwelling structure. As in the 4 first preferred embodiment, the second preferred embodiment ~
incorporates the second ground level 84 at a level at least, and ¦
6 preferably approximately, one-half story higher than the first I
7 ground level 82, in order to minimize the vertical distance I
8 between the ground level of the garage for the uppPr unit and the 9 living area of the upper unit to no more than one and one-half stories. I
11 The interconnecting stairways of the second pre~erred 12 embodiment structure are slightly different from those of the j 13 first preferred embodiment. Considering first the ground level 14 garage unit 72 (see FIGS. 5A and 6A), a staircase 86 leads up , from the first ground level 82 to an optional doorway 88. This , 16 staircase 86 is enclosed by an outer wall 90 and main entranceway 17 92. The staircase 86 leads up to a lower unit double twister 94 ~
18 which then is connected to a second stairway 96 (See FIG. 5B~ i 19 connecting the twister with the ~ower unit living area 98.---- As in the first preferred embodiment, the staircase 86 leadin~ from the i 21 lower garage area 78 -to the lower--~welling--un-it 74, the double 22 Itwister 94 and the staircase 96 ]eading from the double twister 23 Ito the living area 98, define a separate, unique passageway 24 !interconnecting the garage area and the living space of the lower I
¦dwelling unit, which-passageway is not in common wit-h, or shared I
26 with, the passageway (stairway or walkway~ connecting the garage 27 area and living space of the upper dwelling unit 76 28 The lower unit living area 98 (See FIGS. 5B, 6B) is 29 positioned directly above the lower garage area 78 at a first occupied level above the garage area which is approximately 31 one~half story or less higher than the lower unit double twister 32 94. In this manner, from the level at the optional doorway 88, 33 it is approximately one-half story down ~o the ground level of 34 the garage area 78 and approximately one-half stoly or less up to the first occupied level of the living area 98. This concept is r,~
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1 ¦best shown in FIG. 7. Also, as best shown in FIG. 8, an addi-2 Itional feature of the present dwelling structure is that it 3 lincorporates a multi-level floor plan for the dwelling unit 74.
4 Therefore, the risP is incremental, rather than continuous, between the living area 98 and the bedroom area 100.
6 Returning again to FIGS. 5A and 6A, the upper ga.rage 7 area 80 associated with the upper dwelling unit 76 is shown in 8 essentially end--to-end relationship with the lower garage unit 9 78. As in the first preferred embodiment, a wall or partition 102 separates the garage areas 78, 80, th~ difference in the 11 second preferred embodiment heing that the garage areas are in 12 abutting, although vertically offset, relation with each other, 13 while in the first preferred embodiment the garage areas are 14 laterally spaced apart, the structure of the first embodiment thus defining a space in between the garage areas which is 16 ¦capable of being utilized, for example, for housing heaters, 17 !laundry facilities, etc. The overall length of the multiple_ 18 Idwelling unit shown by the second preferred embodiment is conse-19 .¦quently somewhat shorter than the overall length of the unit of Ithe first prefer~ed embodiment.-21 I As in the lower garage area 78, the upper-garage area 22 l80 includes a staircase 104 connecting a garage door 106 with the 23 jupper unit main entranceway 108. ~See FIG. 7) The upper unit 24 ¦main entranceway 108 is approximately one-hal~ story above the jsecond ground level 84, therefore approximately one story or less 26 below the floor of the upper unit living area 110. The upper 27 unit main entranceway 108 is positioned on a landing 120 which, 28 as stated hereinabove, is approximately one story (or less~ below 29 ¦the upper unit living area 110. A second staircase 115 leads up from the landing 120, through a twister 112, a staircase 115, and 31 on up to the main living area 110~ This staircase 115 is identi-32 cal to and directly above the corresponding lower unit staircase 33 96 connecting the plaza area and living area.
34 ¦ As in the lower dwelling unit 74, the uppPr dwelling ~unit 76 incorporates a multi-level floor plan ~to provide an ~;R5/p~
7/1~ 2~ 6 1, , 1 lincremental rise between the upper unit living area 110 and the 2 ¦bedroom area 116 (FIGo 8). Additionally, as in the corresponding 3 lower unit 74, the bedroom area 116 is approximately one-half 4 story above the level of the living area 110.
The stairway 104 leading from the garage area to the 6 upper unit main entranceway 108 is located physically outside of 7 the garage area 80. Although the stairway 104 depicted in the 8 drawings is shown as an exterior stairway leading up to a main 9 entranceway 108 of the upper unit, it should be understood that alternatively, the external wall 90 may be extended in order to 11 enclose the stairway 104 and the main entranceway 108 positioned 12 ¦at the bottom thereof to the right of the doorway 106 leading 13 jinto the garage area, in order to to~ally enclose the garage area 14 Idoorway within the main entranceway into the upper unit.
¦ The upper unit staircase 104, 114, 115 from the ground 16 ¦level to the living area 110 includes a landing 120-approximately 17 lone-third of the way up. In the embodiment shown, the upper unit 18 main entranceway 108 is positioned upon this landing 120. In 19 this manner, the maximum distance from the -main entranceway 108 to the living area 110 is one-story or less. ~See FIG. 7~ I*
21 !should be-understood that the main entranceway 108 could be moved 22 Idown to the ground level 84-of the-garage, with the efIect that 23 Ithe maximum distance from the main entranceway 108 to the living 24 !area~-110 would-be -approximately one and one-half stories; and ¦such variation is to be contemplated---within-the scope of the 26 jpresent invention. In this embodiment as shown (i.e., with the 27 ~main entranceway 108 positione~ upon the landing 1?0~), the 28 !residents of the upper unit (ef~ectively, the second story unit~
2g ¦travel up only approximately one story from the main e~tranceway 108 to the living area 110, as opposed tc traveling up two 31 stories in the instance of those residen~s living in typical 32 second story units having parking areas below the first story 33 units.
34 In this second preferred embodiment, t:he land could be contoured in the particular area of the stairway 104 to define E-- ~, n KRG/r~,f 7/1& 3 I ~ ~6~6 1 ¦sloping sidewalks to replace all or part of the staircase 104.
2 This wculd not alter the effect of the upper dwelling unit having 3 a maximum vertical distance between the main entranceway 108 and 4 the living area 110 to be one and one-half stories.
The int~rrelationship of the various interconnecting 6 stairways in this second preferred embodiment are best shown in 7 FIG. B. As in FIG. 4, FIG. 8 is not complete in terms of struc-8 ture, but rather shows only the individual stairways connecting 9 the respective garage areas and lower and upper dwelling units, and those portions of the 100rs necessary to enable one skilled 11 in the art to easily understand these relationships. The stair-12 way 86 leading up from the lower unit garage area 78 and main ¦
13 entranceway 92 connects the garage area and the lower unit double 14 twister 94. This connection is shown by phantom lines 122. From I
the double twister 94, the stairway 96 leads up to the lower unit ¦
16 living area 98.
17 Regarding the upper unit, the-exterior stairway 104 18 connects the upper unit garage area- 80 with the upper unit I
19 twister 112, via the landing 120. This connection is shown ~y i phantom lines 12~. From there, the--stairway 115 connects the 21 twister 112 to the upper -unit living area 110. As shown, this I
2~ upper unit twister 112, interconnecting staircase 114 and living I
23 ¦area 110 is directly above the corresponding double twister 94, 1 24 ¦interconnPcting stairway 96-a~d-living area 98 of the lower-unit.-L
¦Those skilled in the art will-appreciate that-because of the 26 facts that (1~ the stairway 104 is exterior to the living unit, 27 and (2~ the twisters 94, 112 are in vertical alignment with each I
~8 other and separated by one story, no usable space in the lower 1-29 unit is taken up by the stairway from the upper unit garage -area ' to its respective living area. , 31 ~hose skilled in the art will also recldily appreciate j 32 that the multiple-dwelling structure herein achieves all of the ¦
33 ends and objectives herein set forth. Specifically, the 34 multiple~dwelling structure of the present invention provides a high density of units for a given area, each separate unit of the E-~()C~
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1 ¦building (i.e., the upper or lower unit) having an individual 2 ¦garage area and a separate, unique stairway interc~nnecting the 3 individual garage area to the individual living area, which 4 stairway is totally separate from the interconnecting stairway of the other dwelling unit ~i.e., the lower or upper unit), rather 6 than sharing a number of common garage areas, stairways, 7 ¦hallways, or other passageways. Those skilled in the art will 8 also readily appreciate that even thou~h the indi~idual dwelling 9 units of the preferred embodiments of the multiple-dwelling lG structure of the present invention are constructed one on top of 11 the o~her, with the garage areas being below both of the units, 12 Ithe distance between the level of the ground level entranceway to 13 the living area of the upper dwelling unit is a maximum of one 14 and one-half stories, and in the lower dwelling unit, this maximum distance is one story. In this manner, the 16 multiple-dwelling structure of the present invention complies 17 with typical city zoning and building regulations, while simul-18 ¦taneously therewith -prQviding maximum individual security and 19 ¦privacy for the occupants of each individual dwelling unit. I
20 ~ As an additional feature of-the-multiple-dwelling unit ¦
21 of the present invention, each unit-li.e., both the lower unit 22 and the upper unit) can be view oriented. Specifically, because 23 if the design of the invention, facilitated by the fact that the 24 ¦stairways of each unit enter the respective units at correspond-25 ~ing locations of-each unit, corre~ponding rooms ~for ~xample, the I
26 living rooms) of the units -may be in direct vertical alignm~nt, 27 thus enabling ~the- same exterior view from these coxresponding 28 rooms. This is possible even though, as described with respect 2~ to the first preferred embodimenty the` stairway from the garage l area to the living area of the upper unit passes "through" the j 31 lower unit.
32 Although preferred embodiments of the present invention 33 have been disclosed in detail herein, it will be understood that 34 various substitutions and modifications may })e made to the preferred embodimPnts without departing from the scope and spirit oE the present invention as recited in the appended claims.

Claims (9)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:-

1. A multiple dwelling structure, comprising (a) lower and upper stacked living units, each of said units providing a residence dwelling separate from the other unit, (b) first and second vehicular parking areas respectively associated with said lower and upper living units, said first and second parking areas disposed in end-to-end relationship, with the vehicular access opening to said first parking area being at an opposite end to the vehicular access opening to said second parking area; and (c) first and second passageways, said first passageway extending from said first vehicular parking area to an entranceway to said lower living unit, said second passageway extending from said second vehicular parking area to an entranceway to said upper unit;
(d) said first and second passageways being isolated from one another to define private walkways between each living unit and associated parking area which are not in common, nor shared, with one another.

2. The dwelling structure as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said first and second vehicular parking areas are at respectively different grade levels.

3. The dwelling structure as set forth in Claim 2 wherein both of said lower and upper living units extend over at least a portion of both said first and second vehicular parking areas.

4. The structure set forth in Claim 2, wherein the grade level of said second vehicular parking area is approximately one-half story higher than the grade level of said first vehicular parking area.

5. The dwelling structure as set forth in Claim 3 further comprising first and second plaza areas respec-tively associated with said first and second passageways, said first and second plaza areas being isolated from one another.

6. The structure as set forth in Claim 3, wherein corresponding living areas of both living units are in vertical alignment.

7. A multiple dwelling structure, comprising:
(a) lower and upper stacked living units, (b) first and second garage areas respectively associated with said lower and upper living units, said first and second garage areas disposed in end-to-end relationship, with the vehicular access opening to said first garage area being at an opposite end to the vehicular access opening to said second garage area; and (c) a first passageway interconnecting an entranceway to said lower living unit with said first garage area, a second passageway interconnecting an entranceway to said upper living unit with said second garage area; said first and second passageways being isolated from one another, and the general direction of traversal of the passageway from said first garage area to the entranceway to said lower living unit being in a direction opposite to the general direction of traversal of the passageway from said second garage area to the entranceway-to said upper living unit;

(d) the grade level of said second garage area being higher than the grade level of said first garage area.

8. A multiple dwelling structure, comprising:
(a) lower and upper stacked living units, (b) first and second garage areas respectively associated with said lower and upper living units, said first and second garage units disposed in end-to-end relationship, with the vehicular access opening to said first garage area being at an opposite end to the vehicular access opening to said second garage area; and (c) a first passageway interconnecting an entranceway to said lower living unit with said first garage area, a second passageway interconnecting an entranceway to said upper living unit with said second garage area; said first and second passageways being isolated from one another, the beginning of said first passageway at said first garage area being laterally spaced from the beginning of said second passage-way at said second garage area;
(d) the grade level of said second garage area being higher than the grade level of said first garage area.

9. The structure as set forth in Claim 8 wherein the vertical distance between the grade level of said first garage area and the said entranceway to said lower living unit is no more than one story: and the vertical distance between the grade level of said second garage area and the said entrance-way to said upper living unit is not more than one and one half stories.