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How we work

How PAKA.archi designs multi-family residential buildings for developers and investors

Every multi-family residential building PAKA.archi designs starts from the investor's numbers: how much net saleable area (NSA) the site can yield, which apartment mix will sell, and what each square metre will cost to build.

Those numbers become the brief for the architecture, which is designed so that buyers will pay more for it and the development will age well. PAKA.archi has worked in BIM since 2017, with architecture, structure and building services in one model of the building, and catches around 99% of potential clashes before the drawings reach the site.

01 · Investor return

What are the 5 ways PAKA.archi's design shapes the return on your development?

A developer's margin is the difference between the revenue from selling the apartments and the cost of building and financing them. PAKA.archi's design affects both sides of that difference in 5 ways.

Model of a multi-family residential building. The highlight shows which part of the design each point concerns.ABCD12
01 / 05We maximise net-to-gross efficiency across the whole development

01 / 05

We maximise net-to-gross efficiency across the whole development

The same site and the same building volume can yield very different amounts of NSA, depending on the layout of staircases, corridors and walls. We calculate net-to-gross efficiency as early as the site capacity analysis and protect it from the first concept sketches onwards, because that is when most decisions about how much the investor will be able to sell are made. In PAKA.archi's projects, apartments typically take up 71% to 75% of the above-ground gross floor area, with the rest given over to staircases, corridors, walls and service shafts. Including the underground car park, apartments account for more than 50% of the building's total floor area.

Example

At Apartamenty nad Stawami in Błonie, near Warsaw, designed for Mazdom, mezzanines on the top floors added 448 m² of NSA.

How mezzanines added floor area at Apartamenty nad Stawami

Projects that show this →

02 / 05

We match the apartment mix to demand

At PAKA.archi, we set the share of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments according to what sells in the location. A poorly chosen mix leaves the developer with the units that take longest to sell, and every extra month on the market adds to the cost of financing the development.

Example

At Nova Lipowa in Pruszków, near Warsaw, designed for GoldHouse, we adapted the design to changing regulations, market conditions and buyer expectations from the first concept in 2017 until the local zoning plan was adopted in 2023. Construction of 64 apartments of 35 to 88 m² started in April 2025, and by the end of September 2026, 44 of them had been sold.

How Nova Lipowa evolved alongside the local zoning plan

Projects that show this →

03 / 05

We keep construction cost in check from the design stage

Structural spans, repeatable details, service routes and façade detailing set the cost per square metre before a contractor prices the job. At PAKA.archi, we choose solutions that do not raise that cost without making the apartments better, and test them in the BIM model alongside the structure and building services.

Example

At Harmonia Mokotów, designed for Dom Development S.A., prefabricated balconies and resized windows brought the construction cost down without amending the building permit.

How construction cost was reduced at Harmonia Mokotów

Example

At Nowy Targówek V in Warsaw, designed for ATAL S.A., PAKA.archi gave the garage and the apartments above one shared structural grid, which fitted all 89 parking spaces on a single basement level, so ATAL S.A. avoided the cost of a second one and kept every apartment.

How Nowy Targówek V avoided a second basement level

Projects that show this →

04 / 05

We raise the value of every square metre

Daylight, views, the layout of common areas, the building entrance and the façade are what buyers pay more for at a comparable construction cost. At PAKA.archi, we design them together with the apartment layouts and the structure, because they drive the asking price per square metre, the pace of sales and whether the building holds its value over the years. A development that ages well is one the developer can show buyers when selling the next.

Example

At Nova Warszawska in Błonie, designed for GoldHouse, 29 of the 34 apartments are dual-aspect, and the top-floor apartments have full ceiling height instead of sloping attic ceilings, with a reinforced concrete slab that gives them the same acoustic performance as the floors below. The façade, with decorative brickwork, pitched roofs and French windows, takes its cue from the historic buildings in the centre of Błonie.

How a full top floor instead of an attic raised the standard of the apartments at Nova Warszawska

Projects that show this →

05 / 05

We catch clashes before they reach the site

A clash occurs when part of the building cannot be built as drawn because its space is already taken by another service, structural element, utility or connection. In the BIM model, PAKA.archi catches around 99% of potential clashes before the documentation reaches the site. Fixing a clash found only on site costs about €100 to €700 when a section of pipework or ductwork just needs moving, and about €1,100 to €6,800 when a slab has to be cut through or a ventilation route changed. Moving an entire service riser on site, or a clash with an underground utility, costs about €11,000 to €68,000 and delays the programme.

Example

At Port Żerań in Warsaw, designed for Dom Development S.A., construction began before the detailed design was complete, and PAKA.archi kept the drawings ahead of the site, so work never stopped waiting for them.

How the design kept pace with construction at Port Żerań

Projects that show this →

  1. 01We maximise net-to-gross efficiency across the whole development

    The same site and the same building volume can yield very different amounts of NSA, depending on the layout of staircases, corridors and walls. We calculate net-to-gross efficiency as early as the site capacity analysis and protect it from the first concept sketches onwards, because that is when most decisions about how much the investor will be able to sell are made. In PAKA.archi's projects, apartments typically take up 71% to 75% of the above-ground gross floor area, with the rest given over to staircases, corridors, walls and service shafts. Including the underground car park, apartments account for more than 50% of the building's total floor area.

    Example

    At Apartamenty nad Stawami in Błonie, near Warsaw, designed for Mazdom, mezzanines on the top floors added 448 m² of NSA.

    How mezzanines added floor area at Apartamenty nad Stawami

    Projects that show this →

  2. 02We match the apartment mix to demand

    At PAKA.archi, we set the share of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments according to what sells in the location. A poorly chosen mix leaves the developer with the units that take longest to sell, and every extra month on the market adds to the cost of financing the development.

    Example

    At Nova Lipowa in Pruszków, near Warsaw, designed for GoldHouse, we adapted the design to changing regulations, market conditions and buyer expectations from the first concept in 2017 until the local zoning plan was adopted in 2023. Construction of 64 apartments of 35 to 88 m² started in April 2025, and by the end of September 2026, 44 of them had been sold.

    How Nova Lipowa evolved alongside the local zoning plan

    Projects that show this →

  3. 03We keep construction cost in check from the design stage

    Structural spans, repeatable details, service routes and façade detailing set the cost per square metre before a contractor prices the job. At PAKA.archi, we choose solutions that do not raise that cost without making the apartments better, and test them in the BIM model alongside the structure and building services.

    Example

    At Harmonia Mokotów, designed for Dom Development S.A., prefabricated balconies and resized windows brought the construction cost down without amending the building permit.

    How construction cost was reduced at Harmonia Mokotów

    Example

    At Nowy Targówek V in Warsaw, designed for ATAL S.A., PAKA.archi gave the garage and the apartments above one shared structural grid, which fitted all 89 parking spaces on a single basement level, so ATAL S.A. avoided the cost of a second one and kept every apartment.

    How Nowy Targówek V avoided a second basement level

    Projects that show this →

  4. 04We raise the value of every square metre

    Daylight, views, the layout of common areas, the building entrance and the façade are what buyers pay more for at a comparable construction cost. At PAKA.archi, we design them together with the apartment layouts and the structure, because they drive the asking price per square metre, the pace of sales and whether the building holds its value over the years. A development that ages well is one the developer can show buyers when selling the next.

    Example

    At Nova Warszawska in Błonie, designed for GoldHouse, 29 of the 34 apartments are dual-aspect, and the top-floor apartments have full ceiling height instead of sloping attic ceilings, with a reinforced concrete slab that gives them the same acoustic performance as the floors below. The façade, with decorative brickwork, pitched roofs and French windows, takes its cue from the historic buildings in the centre of Błonie.

    How a full top floor instead of an attic raised the standard of the apartments at Nova Warszawska

    Projects that show this →

  5. 05We catch clashes before they reach the site

    A clash occurs when part of the building cannot be built as drawn because its space is already taken by another service, structural element, utility or connection. In the BIM model, PAKA.archi catches around 99% of potential clashes before the documentation reaches the site. Fixing a clash found only on site costs about €100 to €700 when a section of pipework or ductwork just needs moving, and about €1,100 to €6,800 when a slab has to be cut through or a ventilation route changed. Moving an entire service riser on site, or a clash with an underground utility, costs about €11,000 to €68,000 and delays the programme.

    Example

    At Port Żerań in Warsaw, designed for Dom Development S.A., construction began before the detailed design was complete, and PAKA.archi kept the drawings ahead of the site, so work never stopped waiting for them.

    How the design kept pace with construction at Port Żerań

    Projects that show this →

02 · Design stages

What are the design stages for a multi-family residential building at PAKA.archi?

PAKA.archi’s subsidiary, PAKA Architekci, carries out site capacity analysis and due diligence.

At PAKA.archi, one team runs a multi-family residential project from the site capacity analysis until the occupancy permit is granted, working in a single BIM model with a regular group of 6 engineering consultants.

  1. 01 / 06

    Site capacity analysis

    We calculate how much NSA and how many apartments the site can take within the local zoning plan (MPZP) or zoning decision (WZ). The investor knows the result before deciding to buy the site or commissioning a concept design.

  2. 02 / 06

    Concept design

    We set the building layout, net-to-gross efficiency and apartment mix: the decisions with the greatest effect on the development's revenue.

  3. 03 / 06

    Building permit design

    We prepare the site plan and the architectural and building design that the investor submits with the building permit application. From the outset, the design is coordinated with the structure and building services in the BIM model. From the building permit design we also produce floor plans and apartment sales sheets for the sales office.

  4. 04 / 06

    Technical design

    We prepare the technical design, a stage required under Polish law: the part of the building design that is not submitted with the building permit application but must be completed before construction starts, with the structural and building services solutions already checked in the BIM model.

  5. 05 / 06

    Detailed design

    We produce the documentation the contractor builds from. At Port Żerań, PAKA.archi was still producing the detailed design while construction was under way.

  6. 06 / 06

    Design supervision on site

    During construction, we check on site that the building follows the design, and the architects who designed it answer the contractor's questions until the occupancy permit is granted.

03 · Responsibility

What is PAKA.archi responsible for in a project?

PAKA.archi is responsible for the part of a development's return that depends on the design: how much NSA the site and the building volume yield, whether design choices add to construction cost without good reason, whether the apartment layouts and specification help sales, and whether the documentation reaches the site coordinated in the BIM model, with around 99% of potential clashes already resolved. PAKA.archi's contracts cover responsibility for the design from the concept until the occupancy permit is granted.

04 · Questions and answers

What do investors want to know about PAKA.archi's scope of work?

How many design disciplines does PAKA.archi coordinate on a multi-family residential project?

On a typical project, PAKA.archi coordinates 4 building design disciplines, plus roads and access, landscaping, utilities and connections, acoustics and geotechnics. It works with a regular group of 6 engineering consultants.

Who will run your project once the contract is signed?

The same person at PAKA.archi is the investor's point of contact from the first meeting until the occupancy permit is granted, and the same team produces the site capacity analysis, concept, building permit design, technical design and detailed design. During construction, the same architects check on site that the building follows the design.

05 · Contact

Let's talk about your development.

Kacper Matysiak, co-founder and architect, handles new project enquiries at PAKA.archi. For a first conversation, all we need is the site address and the local zoning plan (MPZP) or zoning decision (WZ) that applies to it. If you already have targets, such as a target NSA or the number of apartments, email them to biuro@paka.archi. We reply within 2 working days.

Get in touch