The Microlife Style
Remember living in your first apartment? For many of us it was a small, cramped box.
Here’s an apartment to beat all of the other little boxes out there. Welcome to London, home of possibly the smallest apartment in the world. A FORMER storage cupboard is now a 62 square foot flat has all the necessities: a platform bed on a raised platform accessed by a ladder, bath, wardrobe, and kitchenette (if you can call it that). The rent? Only $247 a week.
The flat was created in 1980 by a freeholder of the building who lived in Carlisle but frequently visited London on business. The current owner bought it in a poor state of repair for next to nothing and it stood empty for several years.
London real estate agent Gordon Blausten, who helps finding roomers says: “The flat is suitable for a young person with an active social life. It is well located for the fashionable shops of Ledbury Road, Westbourne Grove and Portobello Road.”
Another way out to survive in the todays busy and very expensive time has come to the mind 
of Piercy Conner Architects. They have created a high-density housing solution especilly for living in the conditions of high population pressure. The one-bedroom microflat measures just 32.5 m2. Taking inspiration from yacht design, the architects made use of every available inch of space, incorporating a small double bedroom, a pod containing a shower and toilet, storage space, and a kitchen / living area that provides access to a cosy balcony for two. Ceilings are 2.8 metres high to provide an enhanced feeling of space and maximise natural light from floor to ceiling windows. Besides being space efficient inside, its modular construction can be installed in spaces above commercial developments like supermarkets or public car parks. In developing the Microflat, Piercy Conner proved that it is possible to combine good design and efficient construction to arrive at affordable housing solutions for first home buyers, who are often hardest hit when housing affordability is compromised in large cities.
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Is anyone aware of actual examples of modular housing units being installed on commercial roofs and or in parking garages? Please email me at geller@sfu.ca thx
such a great design. I would love to have one of these in a bigger city.
I think there’s a lot of wisdom in searching for modular housing that is more space effective than the current examples. But it seems that most people still want to squish all the “needs” of home into small spaces, without making a few of the sacrifices that are intrinsic to this lifestyle. A few examples are emerging though….