Some of the Best Ways to Use in Vertical Space in Your Home
Floor-to-ceiling storage is a recurring topic at Never Too Small. This is because it sums up an essential element of small space design: using every square inch that is at your disposal. What if we weren’t constrained to the ceiling though? What if the sky actually was the limit? For spaces blessed with top-floor status or just really tall ceilings, looking up could present a solution to some spatial – or just as importantly, atmospheric – desires.
Attics
Anyone who has watched much TV or film will know of the reputation attics have gained as that scary little-used space above the house, accessed by pull-down stairs, where something lurks among the family’s memorabilia or holiday decorations. But there’s a new attic in town and she’s ready for her close up. Traditionally unfinished spaces, attics represent one of the neatest solutions for increasing a footprint. We see this time and again on Never Too Small. Sometimes the apartment is composed in its entirety from an old attic, like in CAPSULE; but, at other times, like with Villa Saint-Michel or Paris Duplex, an existing apartment is expanded upwards by converting an old attic into part of the home’s footprint. Olivier Menard, the owner and architect of Paris Duplex, explained how they were prompted to make the switch when they were expanding their family: “We used to live in the apartment below this one. We owned the attic and we were having a child, so we decided to investigate if we could uplift the roof and build a new apartment on top of the existing one”. Watch the full Paris Duplex episode here.
Rooftop Gardens
Pollinators are big fans of this one. A rooftop garden doesn’t necessarily offer you additional space within your home, but it does contribute greatly to good vibes (and air quality, urban heat effect, and rainwater management – but who’s counting). At Hidden Garden House in Sydney, they converted a large deck that was overlooked by neighbours into a lush rooftop garden that they can revel in while showering with the windows open. Watch the full Hidden Garden House episode here.
Skylights
Who doesn’t love a skylight? We’ve seen many clever uses of skylights across Never Too Small episodes that prove they can be so much more than your standard window. A skylight can completely alter the mood of a home, especially if it is as dynamic and unique as the one in Love2 House. Once Takeshi Hosaka, the owner and architect, and his wife decided they would stick to a single storey house instead of two, they made the decision to build a very tall pitched roof with a skylight at its peak. Hosaka took inspiration from cathedrals, adapting skills developed through his previous work on two churches to provide a unique feature that offered both privacy and dynamic natural lighting. Watch the full Love2House episode here.
Mezzanines and Cosy Lofts
The next two are for those who have some limits on their vertical access but tall enough ceilings. Mezzanines and lofts are a favourite among architects and designers featured on NTS because they are simple and straightforward solutions for gaining some square footage. “The original area of the apartment was 40 square metres, but with the project we included a new mezzanine which added 14 square metres, so we ended up with 54 square metres of area,” Armando Elias and Hugo D’Enjoy of Craft Design told us about their London-based project Camden Loft. The math is mathing. A similar logic was applied in the 24sqm Unit B612, where a small loft for sleeping creates some helpful separation between activities. In other cases, the loft is part-practical, part-conceptual, like with the Hong Kong–based Tree House, which used the vertical space to give the home a narrative: “Story gives meaning to any design”, architect Nelson Chow told us, “so I thought: since it’s located next to the forest, we should create a treehouse because it is something that is quite dreamy and at the same time very cosy”. Watch the full Camden Loft, Unit B612, and Tree House episodes.
