URBAN DESIGN, SPACE PLANNING

INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE, SMALL LIVING SPACE
HABITAT, MODULAR DESIGN, HYBRID FURNITURE

USING VERTICALITY

/ BOBBI KYLE & NICK NG

VERTICAL DESIGN

MICRO-LIVING, 90 SQUARE FOOT LIVING SPACE

THIS ARTICLE EXPLORES AND ELUCIDATES THE PROBLEMS AND PROCESSES involved in conceptualizing interior

architecture for single-room micro-dwellings in urban Vancouver as part of the Ninety Square Foot Space

project at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Solutions were developed based off of existing, client-built

nine by ten foot rental spaces in downtown Vancouver. We focused our efforts on problem definition and re-

framing, and identified the multiple stakeholders involved and their differing interests, in order to discern a

feasible intersection within which to design. The intent of this project was to reconcile the issue of adding the

basic furniture required for practical living (bed, couch, desk/table) while retaining ninety square feet of usable

space. The resulting prototype seeks to offer a design solution that may be utilized in future rental developments

as a means of increasing the number of affordable, small-space living environments in urban centres.

INTRODUCTION /

Vancouver is home to a wide variety of
inhabitants including locals, tourists, students,
business people, and working class people.
The living spaces available in the downtown
core often remain inaccessible to students and
working class people due to the economics of
the area. Our client, Instafund, is targeting this
gap in partnership with Emily Carr students to
retrofit existing, single-room accommodations
with furniture installations that will better use
these spaces to meet the needs of lower-to-
middle income inhabitants.

Third-year design students working in teams
of three were challenged to develop full-

scale prototypes of built-in (non-removable)
furniture or architecture. The resulting design
had to meet the needs of not only the client,
but also the intended target user. If successful
in the eyes of the client, the system may be
implemented in two existing locations owned
by the client, thereby refitting a total of 150
one-room tenancy facilities with the newly
redesigned furniture or architecture.

DEFINING THE PROBLEM /

As these redesigned spaces must fit within

the rental system in place, our team adopted
Susan Squires’ concept of “uncover[ing] and
understand[ing] the cultural system that frames
human action to provide direction for creating”
our proposed solution. This meant identifying
and understanding the multiple stakeholders
(or different interest groups) involved in the

system through the use of discovery research.
These primary interest groups can be identified
as follows: the property owner (client), tenants
(users), and contractors/maintainers (secondary
users). (IMAGE 1)

Preliminary research revealed that each interest
group possesses its own unique set of problems
and needs; as Richard Buchanan states, the
“designer’s task is to identify those conditions
precisely and then calculate a solution.” The
challenge involved in formulating a solution
for these distinct groups is that the interests

of each do not entirely correspond. Through
our research however, we were able to identify
some of the issues that were common to each
group. These commonalities included the
square footage of the spaces, the feasibility and
usability for all parties involved, the efficiency
of the space and materials used, and the cost for
all parties.

DESIGN CONSTRAINTS PROVIDED /

There were several constraints placed on
our design team by the client during project
initiation. These constraints included that
the design:

> Could not exceed a $1000 fixed budget
> Must be configurable for different rooms
> Should be able to be produced in multiples

> Needs to leave space for a mini-fridge and a
bed (with the mattress being provided by
the tenant)