Just think, not so long ago, customers dreamed of spacious living rooms, dining rooms, large floor-to-ceiling windows and high ceilings, and now many buyers and tenants are again thinking about the rational use of small areas. In response to these market trends, the architects of the Arch group bureau, and also - following the wishes of the customer of a large apartment building “to create a unique budget product that has not yet been on the real estate market” - have developed a project of a typical, but transformable interior for mini apartments. It is designed for apartments ranging from 19 to 36 m2.
The smallest apartment considered by the architects is a nineteen-meter studio, similar to a hotel room with a shower tray, a built-in wardrobe and a kitchen, conditionally separated from the bed by a sliding partition. A small space is constrained by a sense of isolation, and the architects have done everything possible to rid the future tenant of this shy paradigm. Namely, says Aleksey Goryainov, the authors proposed to cover all the walls with special panels with grooves for attaching suspended furniture. To paraphrase the classic, let's say that here you can hang anything and anywhere from the wall, as well as move and regroup - whenever you want, and without even using a drill, since the walls are already ready for any rearrangements.
Architects offer a wide selection of wall panels in various colors and textures. The furniture, which was specially designed for this solution, is also modular and very diverse - from traditional wooden to cheerful multi-colored and silver in the spirit of hi-tech. In order for the buyer to be able to independently decide on the choice, a website with a configurator program has been created. After determining the color scheme, style and composition of the furniture, the buyer will only have to place an order and wait for delivery. If in the course of operation something needs to be added, replaced or refreshed, the same site will be at the service of the buyer: not only furniture is sold, but also its elements.
In addition to stationary cabinet furniture, the architects have developed a series of modules of different sizes that can be easily combined with each other: from an ordinary bookshelf to a box with electrical outlets, a key box or a cat house. There are many folding elements: and the main sleeping place is a sofa, and a table, and chairs in the kitchen, where, however, there is a refrigerator with a washing machine. The mezzanine accommodates the second bed, where you can, by sliding it down a little, climb up the ladder. The cabinets house an ironing board and a dryer, and a folding work table by the window covers the radiator grill in a passive position.
Everything is rational and futuristic - in the spirit of Moses Ginzburg, a spaceship, or, here, the "Fifth Element". Even the lighting program is special. Behind the glossy surface of the stretch ceiling, there are LED matrices that fold into a spectacular and dynamic ornament. Illuminated from the inside, such a ceiling seems higher, lighter, and it may even seem that higher, behind the light pattern, there is something else, large and light. Minimalist frosted glass light boxes are part of the same modular system: just like furniture, they can be hung on the wall anywhere. In the same way, an electronic clock, flowerpots and photo frames are attached.
In case future residents are not ready to come up with an interior on their own, the authors have proposed several ready-made solutions. For example, a "minimalist" version has been created, where restrained colors and surfaces prevail. Another option is a cheerful multi-colored, will delight you with an abundance of bright colors. The design, which includes metal elements, could appeal to a tenant with a "masculine character". The choice in favor of the so-called "eco-friendly" design, where wood dominates, will become universally traditional. But even a ready-made solution can be supplemented with something else - as far as imagination is enough.
This solution, based, according to the architects, on "a balance between appearance and economy", is intended primarily for young people: students, novice professionals, young married couples and nonresident employees of companies, helping them to compensate for the living space. “Of course, in world architecture there are a lot of examples of such solutions with standard finishing options, folding or transformable furniture, sliding partitions and so on,” explains one of the authors of the project, Alexei Goryainov. “However, such solutions are usually very expensive and require separate production. We needed to come up with something original for economy-class housing, and to do it effectively, quickly and uniquely. We managed to find a furniture company
Bauflex, which agreed to fulfill our order, given its large volume, at fairly budgetary prices. Four prototype apartments have already been completed, including the smallest studio apartment. While they function as showrooms.
