Designing Small Spaces for Families

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Zajirogh and his family in their home, Open Sky House.

**Open Sky House** in Tokyo is home to a family of five. Designed by its owner Zajirogh and architect Yoshitaka Suzuki, the 57sqm/613sqft two-storey home maximises their available footprint through its ingenious sail-like contraption that covers a roofless courtyard-style living room.

A dining table, large enough for five plus guests, sits beneath a ceiling-mounted Bluetooth speaker so that the family can listen to music or watch the TV from across the courtyard.

The design makes the most of all available space, such as the area under the stairs, which was left open for that added storage space. The toilet and bathroom can be found to the other side, under the upper portion of the winding staircase.

A flexible-use zone where Zajirogh and his wife work and sleep, is home to a 1sqm study (the size of a small closet) that Zajirogh refers to as “his little sanctuary” for drawing and creating.

The kids' room, just down the hallway, also features their own creation space by way of a big, shared desk. Above them is a shared loft bed platform that they access by bookshelf stairs.

"There are three windows [in the kids’ shared area], and in the future we will divide this space into three separate rooms, so the children have a bit more privacy."

—Zajirogh, Open Sky House owner

Doubling up on functions, this bookshelf is also works as the staircase for accessing the kids’ shared sleeping loft.

Zajirogh imagines that in the future they will divide this space into three small rooms to offer the children some extra privacy. For the time being, however, the home is a happy and versatile space for five due to its balance of ingenuity and classic comforts.

The family had already lived in this **28sqm/301sqft Manila-based apartment** for four years, so they had a strong understanding of its strengths as well as where it had room for improvement.

The family of five sharing Alba Home 2. A self-renovation had already taken place to create a solid foundation, but as their children were growing up, their needs were quickly evolving. Josef Karol Egwaras of Studio Josef Karol was brought on board to help them maximise the space.

“My motive was to evoke the same vibrant personality the couple and their whole family exuded, while still retaining intentionality in the space”.

—Josef Karol Egwaras, Studio Josef Karol

In the living room, the TV cabinet (pictured to the left) showcases the colour palette inspired by the family’s gravel bikes, one of their favourite pastimes. The different colours were used to outline a dedicated drawer for each child’s clothes.

A multi-purpose sofa pulls out into a bed, turning the living area into a bedroom for the two eldest sons.

The primary bed rests elevated atop a platform, which created space for a second pull-out bed for the couple’s youngest son to be stored underneath.

An extendable IKEA dining table sits next to a gold accent wall that demarcates the entrance, providing versatility for the family's dining needs. *Images Amaia Skies Photos.*

**Michelet** is a 50sqm/538sqft Paris apartment that is home to a family of five. Pierre Escobar of L’atelier - Nomadic Architecture Studio described how one of the key requirements in designing the space was that it be able to evolve alongside the growing family.

They ensured there was room for a large dining table, which can be extended to seat up to eight people when the kids or parents have friends over.

The office, just up three stairs from the kitchen, was formerly the bedroom of the eldest child, who has since left for university.

“One of the requirements was the ability to change the layout as the family grows”.

—Pierre Escobar, L’atelier - Nomadic Architecture Studio

Through the clever use of space, two double beds for the kids were fit into one room. One takes advantage of the high ceilings and sits above the bathroom. The apartment doors, like the one pictured here, are all custom-made sliding doors so as to not take up any additional space.

The second bed is tucked below the office space at ground level and has a bedside niche created using the dead space under the staircase to the office. *Images* *Tim Van De Velde.*

Set in a quiet neighbourhood in Osaka, the **newly built three-storey F-House** is a compact, timber home for a family of four. To accommodate existing furniture and maximise common living space instead of separate private rooms, architect Kazuteru Matsumura from Coilkma kept the 57sqm/613sqft home relatively open plan.

The client really wanted to prioritise spending time together, so Matsumura used strategically placed velcro curtains instead of regular doors as an atmospheric and cost-effective solution for creating flexible zones and concealing storage spaces.

Avoiding custom furniture throughout the home as well as in the children's bedroom kept costs down. Each piece, such as the bunk beds with a desk and storage fitting neatly underneath, was carefully selected to create a flexible multifunctional space.

“The client was looking for a compact house. They wanted a house where they could gather together instead of being in separate rooms”.

—Kazuteru Matsumura, Coilkma

The laundry room is shared by all four, so it has a large sink that is typically used in science labs as well as a ceiling-mounted pole for hang drying the close. The window offers natural ventilation to keep it from becoming too damp.

Keeping the bedrooms simple and close together allowed them to create a large, open-concept living and dining room. The high ceiling allowed for an added playspace and storage room that can be accessed via a ladder or a unique rock climbing wall.

**Rattan in Concrete Jungle** by Absence from Island transformed a 40sqm/431sqft apartment into a peaceful home for a young family of three.

A lot of the design decisions revolved around allowing them to keep as much open space as they wanted at any given moment. This would give the kid space to play and stop them from feeling too cramped. Storage was often kept to the side and can be found in tucked away places like under the couch.

The dining table has castors, so it can pivot in and out of the wall easily, in under ten seconds.

“Hong Kong is famous for its cramped living space, and our client is no different than your ordinary Hong Kongers. He bought this flat of 40sqm and wanted to turn it into a flat for a family of three … He wanted a lot of flexible layouts and storage space, while keeping it safe for the baby”.

—Etain Ho and Chi Chun, Absence from Island

A magnetic wall was treated with the same finish as the rest of the apartment to allow for a balance between minimalism and a lived-in feel.

The kids room features not only a hydraulic desk that can be raised and lowered on demand, but also underfoot storage. The designers intentionally included minimal fixed features in this space to allow him to choose how he wants his room to be as he ages. *Images Tang Chi Chun.*

This **45sqm/484sqft single-storey residence** is home to a family of five. Yousaka Tsusumi of Arbol Design created a unique space where they could surround themselves with the things they love.

To save space, a large kitchen island is used both as a prep surface and the dining table. It plays with the floor heights so that in the lowered kitchen, it can be used standing up, while in the raised living room floor, it is set at standard seating height.

The large laundry room features a large work surface, a ceiling-mounted pole for drying laundry, and a window for proper ventilation.

“The concept was to create a single storey house, where the family could surround themselves with the things they love.”

—Yousaka Tsusumi, Arbol Design

Dual purposes are important in small spaces, whether that be a couch with built-in shelves or a transitional room. The secondary bedroom, to the right of the image, has a built-in closet and is currently being used as an office while the kids are still small. In the future, the family plans to add a bunk bed so it can become the kids' bedroom.

There are two bedrooms to either side of the living room, though for now, the entire family sleeps together in the main bedroom.

The futons are folded out at bedtime, so it can be used for other purposes during the day.

The home’s relationship to the outdoors is emphasised by the porch entrance and outdoor living space, which are covered by a roof that allows them to enjoy it regardless of the weather.

Small Space Living for Families

To some, small space living – particularly with a family – feels a bit radical. Yet, for many others, it is nothing short of normal. Families in densely populated cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New York have long since shared compact homes as a way of balancing the limited space and high living costs with the amenities and conveniences just outside their door. Many others outside of these big meccas live in smaller homes as well for a whole host of reasons, spanning circumstance or socialisation all the way to preference and cultural norms. The tradition of multigenerational living offers a good example of this; how, even in small footprints, large families will opt to live together in order to tap into all the strengths and benefits of communal living.

Normalised or not, the rate of small space living among families is trending upward, reflecting both larger social factors like increased urbanisation and living costs as well as more personal ones like relationships to material consumption and time. The clients of Kazuteru Matsumura, an architect at Coilkma, for example, were interested in how small space living could increase their time together: “The client was looking for a compact house”, Matsumura told Never Too Small. “They wanted a house where [the family] could gather together instead of being in separate rooms”. The result, F-House, is a compact three-level timber home in Osaka that makes clever use of strategically placed velcro curtains in lieu of doors to create flexible, shared zones and concealed storage spaces.

Design Planning for Today and Tomorrow

A truly functional compact home for a family does not typically arise without a good deal of thought and planning – both for today and tomorrow. First, realistic day-to-day use must be taken into account. Three or more people tend to create more laundry than just one, so dedicating additional space to the laundry or adding a ceiling-mounted bar for drying clothes can be game changers. What about when everyone needs to get ready at the same time in the morning? One way to manage the dreaded bathroom queue, as Zajirogh points out in his NTS episode, Open Sky House, is to separate the toilet from the vanity and shower (and even add a second toilet if you can spare the space) so that multiple people can rotate through these spaces at a time.

The second element of practical planning relates to how the house will be used in the future – something that is particularly relevant when living with kids, who have a tendency to keep getting bigger. This can be achieved by implementing spaces that can become future bedrooms or offices. The single storey House in Heguri design by Yousaka Tsusumi of Arbol Design, for example, embraces the fact that the three children are all still so young by using what will become a second bedroom as an office while the family is still all sharing the primary bedroom. On the other end of the spectrum, Michelet, a home by L’atelier - Nomadic Architecture Studio founder Pierre Escobar, now has an office in what was the eldest child’s bedroom before they left for university.

Compact Living for Sustainable Futures

Few would argue that small space living is without its own set of obstacles; however, it can be a beneficial endeavour for those looking to foster a more sustainable, eco-conscious lifestyle that encourages minimalism and prioritises using the amenities outside your front door – whether that be nature or a bustling city. As more and more people gravitate toward small space living – out of necessity, conscious choice, or tradition – innovative design solutions and technical advancements will continue to help optimise their living without sacrificing functionality or style.

Writing:

Kate Kolberg

Photography: