Rising renovation costs are causing many households in Poland to delay planned upgrades. According to recent estimates, nearly 85% of Poles postpone renovation works, with kitchens proving particularly difficult and expensive to modify due to fixed installations and technical constraints. As a result, attention is increasingly turning to housing concepts that allow greater flexibility over time, including so-called variable flats, which are designed to accommodate future layout changes.
Home renovations are typically considered every decade, most often focusing on kitchens and bathrooms, which are more exposed to wear and moisture. While homeowners often begin with ready-made design ideas, these plans frequently prove costly or technically unfeasible once existing installations are taken into account. Kitchens are especially restrictive. Research conducted by Chalmers University of Technology in 2022 found that in nearly 70% of the analysed apartments, relocating the cooking area was not realistically possible, largely due to limited access to installation risers and difficulties in modifying connections.
At the same time, the way apartments are used tends to evolve. Spaces originally intended primarily for leisure increasingly need to accommodate home offices, study areas or small business activities. This shift often creates demand for clearer separation between working and living zones. The ability to relocate a kitchen or adjust whether it is open to or separated from the living room can make such reorganisation significantly easier.
One response to these challenges is the introduction of variable flats, developed by Develia, which are designed with additional installation solutions from the outset. The concept is intended to reduce future technical barriers and allow apartments to be adapted more easily as residents’ needs change.
“Variant flats were created in response to the needs of customers who want to more easily adapt their flats to changing expectations for modern and functional space. Anticipating the most common solutions, we have supplemented the apartment layouts with the necessary installations and adapted the existing ones so that changes are easier to implement – both at the construction stage and many years later, when the need arises,” said Wojciech Sosnowski, Design Manager at Develia.
One of the most common layout decisions concerns whether the kitchen should be open or closed. In standard apartments, this choice is often irreversible or requires costly reconstruction. In variable flats, alternative layouts can be implemented already at the stage of tenant modifications, including relocating the kitchen or changing its relationship with the living area. Importantly, these changes can also be made years later without extensive interference in the building’s infrastructure.
This flexibility is made possible by incorporating additional risers at the design stage, removing the key obstacle that prevents kitchen relocation in most conventional apartments. It also eliminates the need to create new installation routes, which can be expensive and often requires approval from the building community.
Variable flats are also intended to adapt to changing market trends and life circumstances, such as the need to create a home office or an additional bedroom for a growing family. From the outset, residents have clarity on which elements of the layout can be altered and how, providing greater certainty about how the apartment can evolve over time.
The concept offers multiple layout options within a single apartment footprint, rather than requiring buyers to choose between different floor plans. Design considerations extend beyond installations to features such as window placement, which must support both natural lighting and potential future reconfigurations.
From an investment perspective, variable flats allow for a balance between standardised solutions and the ability to tailor units to different tenant or buyer needs. More broadly, the model reflects a shift toward designing residential space with long-term adaptability in mind, offering an alternative approach at a time when renovation costs and functional requirements are both increasing.
Source: Develia
