Transforming furniture and living pod systems help make the most of a small space, but when entire rooms shape-shift in unexpected ways, the results can be astonishing. These compact apartment designs feature walls that slide and unfold, beds that descend from the ceiling, and interiors that can literally be turned upside down to change the function of built-in elements.
Yo! Home by Simon Woodroffe
An 80-square-meter space about the size of a one-bedroom apartment is transformed into a much larger-feeling home with 12 moving parts, including a bed platform that comes down from the ceiling just above the couches in the living room. By pulling something down, raising something from the floor or pressing a button to produce some other unexpected action, the small space expands to include a second bedroom, a full-sized kitchen, an office, a cinema, a dining room, a wine cellar and more.
Fluid Shapeshifting Berlin Apartments
Two apartments in Berlin feature exceptionally fluid layouts thanks to pivoting and sliding walls. Frankfurt architecture firm reinhartjung created all-white interiors that help the various elements seamlessly transform to define new spaces in various shapes.
LifeEdited Apartment Packed with Transforming Elements
The result of a design competition by Treehugger founder Grant Hill, who actually lives in the winning proposal, the Life Edited apartment is an experiment in compact living that aims to help you “design your life to include more money, health and happiness with less stuff, space and energy.” Virtually everything in this apartment slides, unfolds or transforms in some way to pack as much as possible into a tiny New York apartment. Within this cube, 8 functional spaces can be created, even accommodating large dinner parties.
Pop-Up Interactive Apartment
The Pop-Up Interactive Apartment features a series of polypropylene panels that slide, fold and transform in other ways to change the space for different functions. These flexible dividers enable the 538-square-foot space to be partitioned for dining, sleeping, working and playing.
24 Rooms in One Apartment
How do you turn a 350-square-foot studio into a fully functional apartment with the luxuries of a larger space? A Hong Kong designer has experimented with the limits of small space living by squeezing 24 rooms into one tiny cube. A system of sliding walls reveal seemingly endless utilities.
