Great apartment.
Yours is good too. Good layout. Butlers and laundry etc

So what are your thoughts ? Do you need 3 beds? Etc
If so, go for it.
3 bed, 3 loos, win win!
No butlers though and laundry in cupboard...

Owww, good answer!

I prefer the square apartment which has the usable deck , only one master bedroom which leaves more space for laundry and pantry . Too much space is given up to hallways , bathrooms and bedroom size . The fourth floor option seems to have an odd shape living area which is cramped in comparison to your present one , which has its hallways as an extension of the living and more open space with the deck . Which way is North ? If you find your kitchen dark then investigate better lighting , even a light which gives the appearance of a skylight .

Hello. Aaargh did not receive notifications from Houzz so didn’t realise I’d received responses. Apologies and many thanks!

So our current apartment faces East and is above a Coles car park. The view from interior is sky but on the balcony on one side we look into apartments on the left.

The other apartment is south facing and looks over a large park and can’t be built out.

We are a family of three with an 11yo going on 18 and with all the bedroom doors opening into the living area, the idea of a corridor is actually appealing :)

The third bedroom would be the adult’s study.

The balcony space would definitely be smaller by being separated but I think we’ve entertained outside once in three years.

Above is a concrete slab roof with no plant equipment. We know others on the fourth floor and they are not experience issues with the skylights.

Our main concerns are twofold.

The living area is 1.5m shorter than our current one and 50cms wider. Trying to get a sense of whether that would make a huge difference is challenging without seeing the other apartment. (The owner is open to selling but is conscious that he has a very good tenant and doesn’t want to spook him with inspections unless we’re super serious).

The second is the Euro Laundry and no butlers pantry. Ideally we’d like to convert the powder room and laundry into a combined laundry/butlers pantry - but not sure how achievable that is as we imagine all the plumbing is currently in the wall separating the two. Would anyone be able to tell from this high level plan if that would be impossible?

Many thanks for all your responses!

That 1.5 makes up with a study I recon. Couch, extra TV in there, reading nook etc. Like a second lounge at night. Imo and views over a park... Wow

Direct sunlight can be really important. You may only get that on the bedroom deck in morning. Are they obscure or clear glass skylights?
There are always compromises that you have to balance.
In terms of lounge, recreate that space in your apartment or draw up a scale plan, cut out you furniture to scale and pop it on to test. Take care to measure the distances between objects on your plan and then recreate that in real life and test.
The master is big enough for an armchair or couch and the private balcony will add to retreat space you don’t have now.
You can’t win with teenagers. Give him his own wing and you may never see him except to grouch that dinner is not miraculously ready when he emerges hungry, or you see too much of him complaining he has no privacy and getting under your feet and disturbing your privacy.
Good luck.

Kate, might be a girl and she also hangs out in her room from 12 yrs old so really only 2 in the lounge

Yes she’s a girl :) and she certainly loves her own space 😆. Not sure about the glass type in the skylights. We actually finally worked out which apartment it is so we can check out the light coming in during the day now!

the view over the park, more privacy and the two separate balconies would be the decider for me ... depending on your local climate all south windows in the living areas could be cold but there's enough space in the master for a couple of chairs or a desk with eastern light so that the third bedroom could be a combined teenagers' retreat and guest room and realistically your child may be leaving home in the not too distant future so a home that is comfortable for parents and an occasional home visit is a priority...maybe you could leave the laundry in situ but remove the toilet and use the current powder room as a walk in pantry but the "new" kitchen is already bigger and appears to have a generous reach in pantry and the separate island is more comfortable to use than the peninsular bench but i can't read the measurements so if you could enlarge the dimensions on the plan i can make a copy and add some furniture variations but it already looks good to me

Thank you, oklouise ❤️ ok I’ve enlarged the photos so hope these are more legible.

And very good idea on study in the master and separate retreat/ guest room for my daughter.