Living Unit Designs in the Micro Housing China Project
This week, I continued to develop the architectural design of the Micro Housing China project and focused my time on developing the interior design of the living units. I also decided that the ground floor would be transparent with a storefront glazing system and would be a large lobby for the occupants. Here are some of the preliminary design ideas for these two spaces.
A living studio full of storage
One of the primary design ideas of this project is to provide a living unit that contains a multi-purpose room and a private bathroom for all tenants of the building. Due to the small size of these living units, it’s important to provide storage that would accommodate most of the belongings of the occupants. Thus, one entire wall of every multi-purpose space in the living units provide built-in closets, shelving, a twin size Murphy bed (it can fold into a closet), and storage cabinets.
You might be wondering, why would these units only have a twin size bed?
Based on my research on the rooftop shacks that are located all over China, I found multiple photographs that showed living conditions on the interior of some of these apartments. Since they are constructed by the occupant, most of these apartments are cluttered with personal belongings that the person has acquired over time. Their belongings had to be small enough for one or two people to carry up to the rooftop, which led to the use of twin size beds.
In addition, most of the occupants in the rooftop shacks were living alone. Thus, sleeping on a twin size bed was not an issue. In instances where children or significant others were present, additional beds or futons were added to the space. If occupants in the Micro Housing project in China require more sleeping area, futons and other accommodations can be made by the occupant in their multi-purpose space.
Initial design idea for the ground floor
After ceilings and lights were add to the living units, I shifted my focus to the ground floor of the building. In this preliminary design, I decided that the ground floor would be an open lobby for the occupants. There will be an area for mail, a lounge for people to gather and meet one another, and potentially a door person for security purposes.
As I continue designing the Micro Housing project in China, I’ll most likely change the design of the ground floor because the storefront system has no relationship to the remainder of the building. I’ll brainstorm design ideas for carrying the exterior metal panels to the ground floor.
Next Steps
At this point in the project, I need to develop the design of the ground floor, create a Revit family of the exterior metal panels at different angles, and find a site in Hong Kong for the project. This will be my focus for the upcoming week. Then, it’s on to setting perspectives and materials for rendering and diagramming! Stay tuned for more.
