Current guidelines require new apartments for single occupants in central London to be a minimum of 37sq.m. After seeing our work with Yotel and Vanke, we were appointed by U+I Group to design and demonstrate that smaller, well-designed ‘micro-flats’ would appeal to young professionals working in the city. The advantages are simple – they are cheaper to build, cheaper to live in, easier to maintain and allow Londoners to live closer to where they work.
The Manser Practice demonstrated that 24sq.m could be large enough to accommodate everything a young professional needs in a new apartment. The design doesn’t rely on gimmicks such as fold down beds or impractical mezzanine levels – instead we designed for maximum flexibility and customisation, with standard furniture and generous storage space. A full size prototype was constructed to allow planners, politicians, journalists and regular Londoners to see that the apartment is well equipped and liveable.
