How to Add and Edit Balconies in Building Floor Plans

Balconies can influence residential unit appeal, building elevations, usable outdoor space, and the area calculations used during a real estate feasibility study. Deciding which units receive balconies—and how those balconies are sized and positioned—can therefore affect both the design concept and the project's development assumptions.

The Zenerate App allows architects and developers to add balconies to an entire residential building or assign them to selected units. Users can then move, resize, and reshape each balcony directly within the building layout.

This tutorial explains how to add and edit balconies in building floor plans, remove balconies when they are no longer needed, and control whether balcony area is included in floor area ratio and density calculations.

How to Add Balconies to Every Unit

If every residential unit in a building should include a balcony, you can apply balconies across the complete building layout at once:

1. Click Edit at the bottom of the workspace.,2. Select the building layout where you want to add balconies.,3. Locate the Balcony option in the right-hand editing panel.,4. Turn on the Balcony toggle.

Once the option is activated, balconies will appear on the residential units throughout the selected building layout. This provides a quick starting point when the balcony strategy applies consistently across the building.

To remove the balconies from the complete building, select the building again and turn off the Balcony toggle. The balconies applied through the building-level setting will be removed from the layout.

How to Add Balconies to Specific Units

Not every unit needs the same balcony configuration. Depending on the building orientation, unit type, facade strategy, or project budget, you may want to add balconies only to selected residential units.

To add a balcony to an individual unit:

1. Double-click the building layout to enter the detailed editing mode.,2. Select the residential unit that should receive a balcony.,3. Find the Balcony option in the unit editing panel.,4. Turn on the toggle for the selected unit.

A balcony will be assigned to that unit without automatically changing the balcony settings for the other units in the building. To remove it, select the same unit and turn off its Balcony toggle.

This unit-level control is useful when comparing different residential floor plan and facade strategies. For example, balconies may be limited to larger units, corner units, premium orientations, or elevations facing open space.

If you are also adjusting residential unit types and their distribution, review How to Set and Adjust Unit Mix in Zenerate.

How to Edit Balcony Location, Shape, and Size

After adding balconies, you can edit them individually to better match the unit layout and building design. Select the balcony you want to modify, then use the workspace controls to adjust its placement and geometry.

Move a Balcony

Drag and drop the selected balcony to reposition it along the unit perimeter. Make sure the balcony remains attached to a valid side of the unit so that it stays properly connected to the floor plan.

Resize or Reshape a Balcony

To modify the balcony shape, drag its control points until the geometry matches the intended design. You can also change its dimensions by dragging the balcony edges or entering precise measurements in the editing panel.

Using exact measurements can be helpful when a feasibility study needs to follow a consistent balcony depth, minimum width, facade rhythm, or project-specific design standard.

Include Balcony Area in FAR and Density Calculations

The balcony editing panel includes options that control whether the selected balcony contributes to floor area ratio or density calculations. Use the relevant checkboxes to reflect the assumptions being tested in your feasibility model.

The correct treatment of balcony area depends on the applicable zoning code, measurement standards, and project jurisdiction. Confirm whether balconies should be included or excluded before relying on the resulting FAR or density figures for acquisition, entitlement, or investment decisions.

Why Balcony Planning Matters During Feasibility

Balcony planning is not only a visual decision. During early residential design, balcony placement can affect unit differentiation, facade organization, outdoor-space offerings, area calculations, and preliminary cost assumptions.

Applying balconies to every unit may support one development strategy, while limiting them to selected units may support another. By testing these options within the building layout, teams can compare different balcony configurations before the project advances into detailed architectural design.

Zenerate's combination of building-level controls, unit-level editing, and feasibility calculations helps teams examine these decisions as part of the wider site planning process rather than treating balconies as an isolated design element.

Explore More Zenerate Tutorials

For a complete introduction to site setup, AI generation, building editing, financial analysis, and project exports, read How to Perform a Real Estate Feasibility Study Using AI.

You can also explore additional Zenerate tutorials and product updates for guidance on building layouts, unit mix, parking, site planning, and feasibility analysis.

Ready to test Zenerate with a current site? Explore the available plans and start a seven-day free trial, or contact the Zenerate team to request a demo.