Huge Multi-Functional Living Potential In A Tiny 420-sq-ft Apartment – Exclusive Interview
Homedit was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview Life Edited’s designers, Catalin Sandu and Adrian Iancu, about this creative and inspiringly functional space. Read on for some fascinating behind-the-scenes details!
What was your inspiration for the design of the multifunctional Life Edited apartment?
We had several inspiration sources for this project, starting with other small apartments with great space saving design solutions, such as Gary Chang’s transformable apartment in Hong Kong, boat interiors, container apartments, and garden studios all over the world. More generally, we were always interested in very simple, clean shaped, minimalistic designs, so I think our main inspiration was a sum of all these projects that we have admired over the years.
In designing an entire apartment like this one, do you tackle one “room” (or functionality requirement, such as “bedroom,” “kitchen,” “dining,” etc.) at a time, or are all the spaces interwoven?
In this project, we started with organizing the kitchen and bathroom to be as efficient as possible, in order to maximize the main space. We wanted the main space to be able to offer multiple functions like lounge area, dining for 10, bedroom, home office, and guest room all in one, but at the same time trying to keep a clean and spacious feel to it.
How long did it take you, from start to finished blueprint, to design the entire apartment? Did any design elements change during construction?
We entered a crowdsourcing competition for the design of the apartment at the end of 2010, and we took about a month to work on our submission. Our design was chosen by the owner and jury at the beginning of 2011. After that, Guerin Glass Architecture Firm in New York was responsible for building the project, which was completed in 2012. Although there were some changes from the initial entry, the main concept and basic design elements were kept pretty accurate .
What do you feel are the most important architectural components that maximize the efficiency of space?
I think the moving wall is one of the most important elements regarding space efficiency, and possibly one of the strongest features of the entire design because of its ability to offer an extra room with privacy when needed. Also, what’s different here from other designs that include one or more moving walls is that you do not actually need to operate it most of the time, because all the primary functions of the apartment are already available with this moving wall in closed position.
Do you think this design is the start of an entirely new lifestyle for the tradeoff to traditionally cramped urban living?
I think designs like this can definitely offer a viable alternative for living in major urban environments, which are becoming more and more crowded and expensive to live in. Reducing material possessions and better organizing one’s lifestyle can be a positive thing, both financially and spiritually, especially considering the shortage of available resources worldwide.
Are there any design details in the apartment of which you’re especially proud?
The murphy bed/sofa in the apartment is the Swing model from Resource Furniture, and it’s one of the elements the owner wanted to incorporate into the design from the beginning. Same situation with the bunk beds in the guest room and the Goliath expandable dining table;, these are all great space-saving furniture systems that turned out to be perfect for integrating Graham’s functionalities wish list for this apartment.
How did you go about choosing the materials and colors/tones you used?
The idea was to balance the predominant modern white, which can be a little cold, by adding warmer and more neutral elements/materials, like the wood paneling used at the entrance, in the toilet room, in the guest room, and for the home office. I think all these accents really bring a special feel into the dynamic of the apartment.
Do you think the design concepts could be expanded to a space intended to fit a larger family?
I think this concept of multi-functionality could be applied to larger apartments. If one follows the idea of getting the most out of one’s space and using its potential to the fullest, I don’t see why not.
There are many details that allow the space to be highly functional yet visually lightweight. How important does this seamlessness come to be in creating the overall form and function of the space?
I think for achieving a very compact design style, it’s very important to implement these overall features to the smallest details. In order to maintain that clean, uncluttered feel throughout the entire space, the same amount of attention must be paid to all the elements to make sure they follow the same concept, from the biggest cabinet to the smallest appliance or kitchen item.
Your design itself speaks loudly to this next question, but could you verbalize how you feel about Graham Hill’s comment that simplifying the stuff in your life can maybe make you happier?
I feel like cutting down on possessions can result in living a simpler, better organized, and less crowded life, which can be happier for some people. At the same time, it depends on their perspective. I am sure there are people that wouldn’t be exactly comfortable living in such a tight space and are more inclined to the suburbs’ big homes; it’s a matter of preferences and different priorities. But I think, considering the urban population growth and the limited resources on earth, living in a smaller footprint can definitely be a sensible alternative for the near future.
Thank you, Catalin Sandu and Adrian Iancu, for your inspiring design and aesthetic, and for sharing your process with us!
Images by Matthew Williams.