MOVING WALLS TRANSFORM A TINY APARTMENT INTO A 5-ROOM HOME
MICROAPARTMENTS MAKE LIVING in a big city semi-affordable, but tiny, featureless boxes can hardly be called homes. When Madrid-based graphic designer Yolanda Piladecided to renovate her cramped chambers, she turned to PKMN Architecture (pronounced Pac-Man) to transform the tiny footprint into a homey abode.
Instead of following the typical studio apartment floor plan and outfitting Pila's place with a galley kitchen, closet-sized bathroom, and a bedroom the size of a prison cell, PKMN developed a solution that allowed her to have several spacious rooms—just not all at once. They outfitted her ceiling with industrial tracks, often used to support the rolling bookshelves at libraries, and fabricated a series of storage units that double as walls. The bespoke boxes weigh nearly a ton each when fully loaded, but can be moved relatively easily.
Pila can create "rooms" by rolling these storage units into a variety of configurations and turn her space into a dressing room, sitting area, boudoir, or kitchen depending on the need. Sliding panels give her the ability to create a sense of privacy or to hide a sink full of dishes. The itinerant nature of the walls means each of these spaces can be larger, about 160 square feet, than if they were permanently defined.
"The project is about how to allow the coexistence of both configurations, private life and work place, without renouncing spacious pieces for each use," says PKMN Architecture co-founder and designer Carmelo RodrÃguez.
Each plywood unit is packed with purpose-built furniture like a Murphy Bed, blackboard, and prep table, as well as 150 cubic feet of storage space for Pila to store her possessions. This solution makes economical use of the space in her home and unlike many ultramodern overhauls, most of the materials used to construct these cabinets are available at Home Depot.
Industrial plywood is typically used as a sturdy sub-flooring, but in the hands of PKMN's architects it's unique texture becomes a design feature. "We are also very fond of its appearance, the textures it introduces into the house when used on furniture and flooring," says RodrÃguez. "In contrast to white finishing on walls."
In addition to the quirky rearrangeable space, Pila's home also features a large room that allows her to have more permanent furniture. The result is a live/work space that packs a wide variety of functionality into a fairly small footprint.
"The story is also about dealing with storage of personal belongings and how their organization and display is related to domestic experience," says RodrÃguez.
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