Random thoughts on a micro-apartment multi-unit/multi-floor building
2020 09 02 | journal
This isn’t a post so much as it is my rambling about something architectual in a not the most cohesive or educated fashion. It’s just a bunch of thoughts I was having about a certain type of micro-apartment that I wanted to put down and keep somewhere I would be less likely to use it.
There’s a lot of push to provide housing for both the homeless and low-income folk. Lots of ideas have been floated.
Today I once again encountered the idea of micro-apartments built inside concrete water pipes. They are large enough to provide enough space for a single person to live comfortably (with some modifications to the designs I’ve so far found), more eco than other options, easier to heat, inexpensive to built, and can even be movable if you want them to be, but the changes I’m thinking about would preclude the movability.
Many of the micro-unit ideas are a bit too small for someone who, say, must also work from home, or for an artist who needs space to create. Also, given that many of the designs I’ve seen appear to have glass wall ends, there’s privacy and security to consider. I could draw this all up in design software of some kind, but it would be faster for me to type it all out and someone else can make it visual. Bear in mind this is all coming from someone with no training in architecture or home design.
Given that these units would be stackable access by stair or elevator would need to be provided. Stairs would need to be covered for safety reasons during inclement weather. They don’t need to be heated, but they would need to be well-insulated in order to prevent more heat loss from the units than is necessary. Also, no one wants to navigate outside stairs in the winter or when it’s raining. You could do completely enclosed stairing as we have in convential buildings now, or the stairs could be more open plan allowing for natural light through windows, and extra-unit seating for guests to wait, for an escape, for whatever. In fact, I think this side of the units should be centred around a courtyard not accessible to the pubilc, gated and locked, to allow the residents some public outdoor space, a small garden, a water feature, etc.
The other ends would be public-facing. In order to preserve privacy special blinds would have to be installed, or gless prepared such that it allows light in but keeps prying eyes out.
If courtyard style is not possible, facing onto a back garden still could be. Let’s plant some milkweed back there to provide a home for our Monarch friends. Also, if these units were stacked on a slab of concrete rather than on top of each other, you could also provide small private balcony space for each unit. Some folks prefer a little alone time rather than having to share space. Also, this type of construction could provide for an elevator. These units must absolutely be as accessible as possible.
The units themselves would need to be large enough to accommodate a general living space, a small galley kitchen, a washroom with shower, and a separate sleeping area. Currently a lot of these units combine the living and sleeping areas which is fine, but if the person works from home or needs art creating space then that wouldn’t be so workable. Or, if you do combine the living and sleeping space, there also needs to be storage. I realise these units aren’t meant for people who have stuff, but we all have stuff that we need to put somewhere. Also, some of the fold-out sleeping units I’ve seen don’t look sturdy enough to support someone who’s plus-sized. That would need to be considered.
The bathroom unit should be tiled in such a way that a person could hang dry clothes on a rod across the whole unit. The ground floor of the building could be where the laundry room is, plus whatever other indoor amenities are required. Storage units, if needed, should be on the top floor for security reasons.
There’s all sorts of stuff sitting around to make housing out of - containers, old buses, train cars, airplanes, subway cars - rather than just letting them sit around rusting and doing nothing.
The drawback with the concrete pipe units, though, is space. The roundness of the walls creating a closer proximity than we’re used to in cube housing, could create storage problems. As much as the whole tiny home concept likes to tell you that minimalism is laudable and possible, it really doesn’t work for everyone and you can’t expect it to.
I think I’d be more for a, say, 400 square foot cube unit that has a bathroom/laundry combined, a small galley kitchen, and the sleeping/living area would be the rest of the space. We waste a lot of space putting in walls we don’t need to have. A lot of units like this have the sleeping spot elevated to better make use of space, but this wouldn’t work for me personally. I’d use the loft area as storage and combine the sleeping/living space.
A Murphy bed could have contained storage on its public-facing side, locked drawers to prevent things from falling out, or bookcases with slats across to provent the books falling out. Or both.
I know a lot of these types of housing seem ugly, antiseptic, impersonal to people, but there’s nothing stopping the incorporation of gardens on each floor of a multi-story unit, trees, water features, decorative walls, etc. So much of the apartment building in North America is boxy, ugly, utilitarian when it didn’t have to be. We can combine form and function and fun. All of the methods of access, garden, storage that I mentioned for the multi-floor pipe buildings could be done just as well with the square units.