One Size Fits All

from: http://inhabitat.com

Hoover: We featured Graham Hill's transforming apartment a few weeks back. This was another concept design made for him. It makes the use of movable furniture to function as a bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living area to fit in one small space. 

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New Yorkers are used to small apartments. We think keeping sweaters in our stove and having one piece of furniture function as our bed/couch/desk are totally normal ways to live. But what if your tiny apartment could host a 12-person dinner party? Or comfortably accommodate two friends for a weekend visit? A recent crowdsourced contest by LifeEdited tasked contestants to design a 420-square-foot New York apartment that would do just that. The goal of the contest was to motivate designers and the public to be more eco-minded about our living spaces and reduce our carbon footprints.

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The 420-square-foot space needed to be completely functional, while including room for a sit-down dinner for 12, comfortable lounging for eight people, space for two guests, a home office, a work area, a hideable kitchen, and the regular necessities like a bed, shower, and bike storage.

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The winning design, One Size Fits All, is a bright, clean space with a moving wall that can transform the main room into a lounge, bedroom, office, and/or guest sleeping area.

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Three-hundred and four designs were submitted, with more than 600,000 entry views and comments.

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Yves Behar says, "This idea is very smart in that it creates layers of use that are both original, and practical. For example the bed unfolding over the couch makes a lot of sense: when in bed the couch is not needed."

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Behar continues, "The living room and couch set-up is quite luxurious considering the overall size of theapartment, and there resides the genius of this entry: each separate living function seems to maximize the entire space, rather than be confined to a compromised space."

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The space feels open, even when the 12-place table is set-up.

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An opaque partition can conceal the kitchen from the lounge space and bedroom.

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The moveable partition makes space for a home office or two guest beds while still leaving a lounge area.

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The partition, with the guest beds down.

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The bathroom was designed to be able to use the shower and the toilet at the same time.

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Hill, who will pay for the design and actually live in the space, plans to start working with the designer soon to make the apartment become a reality.

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He hopes to hold similar contests in the future, but for different living spaces, like a family home or an entire apartment complex.