Modern Apartment Building
A multi-story modern apartment complex with balconies, a rooftop terrace, ground-floor retail space, and interior furnished units. Each floor is a repeatable template.
Overview
The Modern Apartment Building is a modern build aimed at clean contemporary architecture with flat planes, glass and bold materials, and its character comes mainly from how the concrete is shaped and detailed. At 24x30x16 blocks (24 wide, 30 tall and 16 deep) it is huge, covering a 384-block footprint on the ground.
It is rated advanced, so expect to manage significant resources and, in many cases, get redstone timing or precise block-by-block placement correct before it works or looks finished. Following the 45 steps below, plan for about 120-180 min. The Modern Apartment Building is survival-possible but material-heavy: concrete means gathering sand, gravel and dye and powdering each block in water, so many builders make this one in creative.
The bulk of the work is the 512 white concrete that form the main body, alongside 6 different materials in total (about 1016 blocks and items all told). Lighting comes from sea lantern, which both finishes the look and stops mobs spawning in or on the build.
Materials Needed
Gather the 512 white concrete first, since it is the most-used block; the remaining 5 materials are accents and fittings used in smaller amounts. Mine roughly 10-15% extra of the main block to cover mistakes and a few decorative changes on a build this size. Make sure the glass pane are crafted ahead of time, as those are the pieces most likely to be missing mid-build. Quantities are sized for the dimensions shown, so scale them up proportionally if you build a larger version.
| Material | Quantity |
|---|---|
| White Concrete | 512 |
| Light Gray Concrete | 256 |
| Glass Pane | 128 |
| Iron Trapdoor | 32 |
| Stone Slab | 64 |
| Sea Lantern | 24 |
Click any material to view it on the Items database.
Step-by-Step Overview
A high-level construction order for the Modern Apartment Building, from the ground up. Each phase below covers several of the 45 in-game steps.
- 1Mark a strict 24x16 grid for the Modern Apartment Building; the modern style lives or dies on clean right angles and a flat footprint.
- 2Build the structural frame in concrete, keeping the walls of the Modern Apartment Building flat and resisting the urge to over-texture them.
- 3Install large glass pane spans as floor-to-ceiling windows — the glazing is the single most recognisable feature of a modern Modern Apartment Building.
- 4Top the Modern Apartment Building with a flat or low-slope roof and a slab parapet rather than a pitched roof.
- 5Finish with restrained accent colours, recessed lighting and minimal, deliberate landscaping around the Modern Apartment Building.
Build Tips
- 1Build one floor as a template, then copy it upward.
- 2Iron trapdoors make excellent modern balcony railings.
- 3Alternate concrete colors per floor for visual interest.
- 4Include a lobby area with a reception desk on the ground floor.
Tips & Variations
Keep mobs out by spacing your sea lantern so no floor tile or nearby surface in the Modern Apartment Building sits below light level 1; a single dark corner is all it takes for something to spawn inside.
To resize the Modern Apartment Building, keep its 24x16 proportions and grow both axes together; stretching one direction alone tends to make it look thin. A half-size or double-size version both work as long as you scale the 1016-block material list to match.
For a different look, swap the concrete in the Modern Apartment Building for another palette that fits your biome: the shape stays identical, but the colour and texture of the main block changes the whole feel of it.
The flat-box trap is the thing to avoid: break the long concrete walls of the Modern Apartment Building with depth changes, stairs, slabs and trim, and overhang the roof by a block so it casts a shadow line instead of reading as a plain cube.
Frequently Asked Questions
How hard is the Modern Apartment Building build?
It is rated advanced, so expect to manage significant resources and, in many cases, get redstone timing or precise block-by-block placement correct before it works or looks finished. It is laid out in 45 steps and takes about 120-180 min to finish.
What blocks do you need for the Modern Apartment Building?
The main block is white concrete (around 512), and the full list runs to 6 materials — mostly white concrete, light gray concrete and glass pane. Altogether that is roughly 1016 blocks and items; the complete table with exact counts is above.
How big is the Modern Apartment Building?
It measures 24x30x16 blocks — 24 wide, 30 tall and 16 deep — which is huge and takes up a 384-block footprint. You can shrink or enlarge it by keeping those proportions.
Is the Modern Apartment Building survival-friendly?
The Modern Apartment Building is survival-possible but material-heavy: concrete means gathering sand, gravel and dye and powdering each block in water, so many builders make this one in creative.
What biome or setting suits the Modern Apartment Building best?
Because the Modern Apartment Building leans on concrete, it sits most naturally wherever that material reads as "local" — but it is portable: swap the palette to your biome's blocks and the same shape works anywhere.
What makes the Modern Apartment Building different from similar builds?
It is best understood through its focus on apartment, modern and tall. Those traits drive the material list and layout described above, and are what set this modern build apart from a generic apartment build.
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