Category Archives: interior design

Flexible Chair/Couch

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This is an interesting idea. It does seem to me the chair is too close to the ground and not exactly comfortable looking, but the idea is neat. And I haven’t actually tried it, maybe it is more comfortable than it looks.

Several versions are offered by FlexibleLove. One version:

Dimensions (Collapsed): 64cm x 56cm x 23.6cm
Dimensions (Extended): 64cm x 56cm x 720cm
Weight: 28.5 kgs
Supports weight up to: 1920 kgs

Related: Making the Most of 450 Square Feet – Amazingly Flexible 344 Square Foot Room Can Transform Into 24 Different Rooms

Making the Most of 450 Square Feet

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Using some flexible designing ideas this 450 square foot apartment is made into a full home. As with all these types of efforts space is used in multiple ways depending on the configuration of the movable walls and furniture. It is great to see the livable spaces that can be created with some imagination and good ideas. The $70,000 bill is not cheap but in high cost areas (New York City, Tokyo, London…) that really isn’t a huge amount considering the real estate costs (owning or renting).

Related: Amazingly Flexible 344 Square Foot Room Can Transform Into 24 Different Rooms – Great Furniture for Small Spaces

University of California, Berkeley: 2010 Livable Buildings Awards

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Entryway at the UC San Francisco Mission Bay research campus

The top 2010 Livable Buildings Award from the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for the Built Environment was awarded to the transformation (entryway shown in the photo above) of the shell of a former manufacturing plant near UC San Francisco’s new Mission Bay research campus into environmentally and user friendly offices.

The renovation, which included a full seismic upgrade, incorporated high-performance glazing with operable windows, sustainable finish materials, water conserving strategies, and efficient mechanical and lighting systems. The open perimeter is dedicated to open workspaces to maximize views, daylight, and natural ventilation. Private offices and core zones are grouped to create a central “boulevard” open to reception and conference areas.

One of the review jury comments: “Reusing a building with a large floorplate is a challenge; this project uses transparency, color, and materials to make a place where people want to work, and works well in terms of both aesthetics and sustainability.”

full press release

Amazingly Flexible 344 Square Foot Room Can Transform Into 24 Different Rooms

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Gary Chan, a Hong Kong Architect, has created an very cool modular apartment (32 square meters) that can transform into 24 different rooms using sliding walls.

Box of tricks

His latest effort, which took a year and cost just over $218,000, he calls the “Domestic Transformer.” The allusion to toy robots seems apt, given the science-fiction quality of the color scheme – mostly black and silver, washed in eerie yellow light.
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Acoustic privacy is limited. When Mr. Chang is entertaining, anyone who wants to use the phone must do so in the shower (also known as “the phone booth”). Still, Mr. Chang is determined to see his ideas put to use in new multi-unit buildings. He has invited a number of developers to visit, and has meticulously documented his apartment’s history in a book, “My 32m2 Apartment: A 30-Year Transformation”. Buying a new apartment might have been a less expensive solution to his storage problem, he admitted. “But why do that?” he asked as he stood in the kitchen making noodle soup. “I see my place as an ongoing experiment.”

Related: Great Furniture for Small Spaces