The second of two parts from Michael Mortensen. (First part here.)
Making Apartments Work Harder: The Third-Bedroom Challenge
In a previous article, I asked, ‘How can we make our inner suburbs work harder to accommodate more people in housing that is more affordable and fit for purpose, better adapted to the changing demographic of our society?’ The same question can be asked of our existing multi-family areas.
How we can make new apartments and smaller homes work harder – particularly to better accommodate families without drastically increasing unit sizes and costs?
The first part generated a set of principles for getting a third bedroom into an existing two-bedroom floor-plan. What conventions must we challenge? What rules do we need to flex?
This part explores two proposals to redo existing designs to fit in that third bedroom.
Third-Bedroom Experiments
Experiment 1: Eliminate Walk In Closets
In this experiment with an 830-sf two-bedroom flat, my attention was drawn to the large amount of space dedicated solely to a walk-in closet with access to an en-suite bathroom.
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Removing the walk-in closet and the access to the bathroom eliminated a “Design Fix” and opened up enough space to create two double-sized bunk bed sleeping quarters divided by a sound-insulated set of shelves. Each bunk has storage below and there is enough room for a long work desk. The sleeping quarters could be fitted with screens for visual and acoustic privacy if needed. If the room was not needed for kids, it could easily be furnished for an adult with options for wardrobes or a small home-office work space.
Some work was needed to create more of a “Master” bedroom out of the other bedroom – primarily through the use of furniture for storage along the wall rather than a typical bed headboard. Notice also the full use of vertical space for storage.
This created enough storage so that we could re-purpose the space previously designed as a bedroom closet – converting it into a work station facing the kitchen, re-oriented to the social “24 hour” part of the apartment.
Another view below:
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Experiment 2: Layer Uses and Add Storage
In the 990-sf two-bedroom apartment below, I was looking for some perimeter wall to use for a third bedroom. The dining nook looked like a good target so I took a page out of Japanese small space design to recreate an eating area with under-seat storage and a double size “Murphy Bed” that could fold down at night.
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The result is a generous flexible eating and sleeping area with plenty of storage. Shown below is a double sized Murphy bed tucked into one wall. Like a ship’s galley, the tabletop can be dropped before the bed is lowered. The downside might be sleeping next to the kitchen with the attendant hum of the fridge. However, the nook could also be screened for visual and acoustic privacy and it does have plenty of natural light and ventilation.
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Check out Michael’s blog here: “I am interested in your ideas! Let me know what you think. I will probably add a few more examples as I work on them.”
The problem of missing natural light can be solved with an inner courtyard (which has many other benefits as well).
an old idea returns! 🙂
On your C7 plan, you could easily swap the middle bedroom and the dining room and open up the walls between the kitchen and new living area (subject to structural requirements). That allows 3 proper bedrooms each with their own doors to the central living space.
Of course, though, that eliminates the breakfast bar kitchen (standard cookie cutter), in favour of an alcove (which would have more walls for cupboard space).