Never Too Small remains one of my favorite YouTube channels. And I have written about their videos before on the blog. The homes that they feature on their channel are generally below 600 square feet or so, and most of them are well below this mark. Some have even been designed for young families.
Never Too Small remains one of my favorite YouTube channels. And I have written about their videos before on the blog. The homes that they feature on their channel are generally below 600 square feet or so, and most of them are well below this mark. Some have even been designed for young families.
Before:
After:
In this case, the bedroom was pulled away from the apartment's bay window and a small mezzanine level was created. This makes a lot of sense since the bay window is kind of a main feature -- one that, I think, is better reserved for a primary living space. They also flipped the kitchen up against the other window, rescuing it from the bowels of the apartment.
If I had been the one tasked with redesigning this apartment, this is a floor plan that I could see myself landing on. But here's the thing. All things being equal, I think most people would prefer a bedroom with a window. And even when all things aren't equal, a lot of people seem willing to compromise on their main living space so that they still get one (see before plan).
So before you go ahead and watch the NTS video, I'm curious: Which do you prefer? Would pick the before plan or the after plan given these two options?
Here in Toronto there’s a push for more family-sized apartments. That’s what the planners want to hear.
Because the city has been trying to encourage developers to build more of them for years, but the challenge has always been that they didn’t sell or that they took a long time to sell. The market wasn’t ready.
But as I discussed earlier this week, that is starting to change. I think Toronto is reaching a tipping point where low-rise housing has simply become too expensive and people are starting to look to alternatives, mostly at the mid-rise scale.
It’s interesting though that something of the opposite appears to be happening in New York. I don’t know enough about the New York new construction market to really comment on overall unit mixes and sizes, but there definitely seems to be a push to create more affordable micro-units.
Curbed published this last October:
“…a report currently under public review, called Zoning for Quality and Affordability, recommends relaxing density caps and eliminating the 400-square-foot minimum for studio apartments, thereby creating more housing for single people.
Before:
After:
In this case, the bedroom was pulled away from the apartment's bay window and a small mezzanine level was created. This makes a lot of sense since the bay window is kind of a main feature -- one that, I think, is better reserved for a primary living space. They also flipped the kitchen up against the other window, rescuing it from the bowels of the apartment.
If I had been the one tasked with redesigning this apartment, this is a floor plan that I could see myself landing on. But here's the thing. All things being equal, I think most people would prefer a bedroom with a window. And even when all things aren't equal, a lot of people seem willing to compromise on their main living space so that they still get one (see before plan).
So before you go ahead and watch the NTS video, I'm curious: Which do you prefer? Would pick the before plan or the after plan given these two options?
Here in Toronto there’s a push for more family-sized apartments. That’s what the planners want to hear.
Because the city has been trying to encourage developers to build more of them for years, but the challenge has always been that they didn’t sell or that they took a long time to sell. The market wasn’t ready.
But as I discussed earlier this week, that is starting to change. I think Toronto is reaching a tipping point where low-rise housing has simply become too expensive and people are starting to look to alternatives, mostly at the mid-rise scale.
It’s interesting though that something of the opposite appears to be happening in New York. I don’t know enough about the New York new construction market to really comment on overall unit mixes and sizes, but there definitely seems to be a push to create more affordable micro-units.
Curbed published this last October:
“…a report currently under public review, called Zoning for Quality and Affordability, recommends relaxing density caps and eliminating the 400-square-foot minimum for studio apartments, thereby creating more housing for single people.
And just recently, New York completed its first all-micro-unit apartment building called Carmel Place. Rents start at $2,650 per month for a 265 square foot apartment.
As a point of reference, that works out to be $10 per square foot per month and more than 3x the highest rents you could reasonably achieve in the more desirable areas of Toronto, today.
The model suite is 302 square feet and looks like this:
All of the above photos are via Curbed.
And just recently, New York completed its first all-micro-unit apartment building called Carmel Place. Rents start at $2,650 per month for a 265 square foot apartment.
As a point of reference, that works out to be $10 per square foot per month and more than 3x the highest rents you could reasonably achieve in the more desirable areas of Toronto, today.
The model suite is 302 square feet and looks like this:
All of the above photos are via Curbed.
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