Inside a Microapartment: Design Solutions to Support Future Sustainable Lifestyles

Barbara Ewa Gronostajska,Anna Szczegielniak

doi:10.3390/buildings11120654

Abstract

The purpose of this study wass to assess the interior design solutions of residential microflats built in large European cities in countries from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). A sample consisting of thirty representative microflats with a floor area below 35 m2 was selected for the study. The flats were intended for either permanent or temporary occupancy and were built over the past fifteen years. The research field covered several large European cities, where demand for such units is high. Comparative analyses of different microflat interior design models were performed. The objective of the study was to determine which contemporary microflat interior design solutions (such as space layout, furniture layout, and design, color, and material design) are optimal and the most commonly used. Sets of design solutions applied in microflats were collected and documented. The study used a range of research methods, including a review of the literature, websites, field research, and comparative analysis. The set of presented interior design solutions and the conclusions drawn from the analyses can be useful to architects and interior designers who design microflats and residential units with greater floor areas, or flats where effective use of floor area is crucial (e.g., student housing). It is also worth mentioning that the existing literature on microflats focuses primarily on the United States and Australia and not Europe, and discusses the economics and ecology of inhabiting microflats.

Highlights

The twenty-first century is a period of dynamic effect changes in the design of the housing environment [1,2,3]
The analysis of the microspaces and their arrangement enabled the grouping of each arrangement solution in terms of frequency of use (Figures 2–5)
That we can see a different (P3)—space under the stairs and thebetween bed was spaces used for space while being in another)

Summary

Introduction

The twenty-first century is a period of dynamic effect changes in the design of the housing environment [1,2,3]. There has been an observable and highly dynamic increase in interest in microhouses and microflats, which have slowly started being defined as a new form of housing [2,4,5]. This increase is primarily caused by two groups of factors: the first consists of economic factors, such as high housing prices [3], and the second are demographic and social factors. Changes in the family model—people are entering relationships later in life and families tend to have fewer children, which leads to an increase rise in the number of single-person households [1,3,5,6]; The aging of society and a corresponding increase in the number of senior citizens [7]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion