Big plans for small city homes
Moving walls, in-floor storage and inside/outside rooms are new ideas about getting more from shrinking condo space
The shrinking floor plans in Canada’s condo and apartment units has designers doing some big thinking.
At Quadrangle, a multi-disciplinary architecture, master planning and interior design firm based in Toronto, small homes were the focus of a companywide “Shrinking Spaces Charrette” held this past March. The collaborative brainstorming session had personal significance for team members as they dealt with their own, new realities of working from home when the outbreak of COVID-19 forced the closing of Quadrangle’s studio.
And if condo units in the GTA already seem small at an average of about 600 square feet, Michelle Xuereb, Quadrangle director of innovation, said units can be expected to shrink even further. “If you look to Japan or Europe, their units have been small for a long time,” she said.
“The price of land is getting more expensive, the City of Toronto will continue to grow and the cost per square foot is not going down. Affordability is a major problem in urban centres around the world and that’s why units keep getting smaller,” Xuereb added.
According to research and analytics firm Urbanation, GTA condos sold for an average $1,044 a square foot in the third quarter of this year. A Century 21 Canada report, released this past August, shows an average $1,083 a square foot for downtown Toronto and $1,192 for downtown Vancouver.
Current trends influencing suite design include more families living in condos. As well, more people are working from home — especially since the pandemic, which has also spurred more deliveries.
“A number of issues we raised were the need for space to work and for privacy, for flexible storage and a space to play, exercise and meditate,” said Dev Mehta, a senior associate at Quadrangle. “The pandemic exposed that there is a need for these things in apartment and condo buildings. There is also a need for connection to community and to nature, and an overall need for a place to feel like home.”
To accommodate the need for more flexibility, Mehta said future suites won’t have fixed rooms with set uses. For example, a dining room will also serve as a home office. “When we design spaces, we are no longer prescribing what they can be. We have been using fixed partitions — and there is a need for
separation and privacy — but we need to design spaces as flexible and nimble as we are.”
The Quadrangle team concluded that buildings will have to be constructed differently to accommodate this flexibility, with structural column grids instead of the typical shear walls used in Toronto construction. The new technique would allow for movable partitions: for instance, a playroom or office space during the day could change to a family room at night. Building structural column grids would also mean using less concrete, thus reducing the building’s carbon footprint.
Ideas for the movable partitions included designing them with additional functions, such as storage, and power and communications platforms.
“We need research and development to ensure they function properly and ensure acoustic separation, for example,” said Mehta, or to determine how they could integrated with millwork, with Murphy beds or with work stations.
Plumbing stacks and mechanical shafts, usually fixed in place, could be arranged to allow for an open-concept and flexible plan with kitchen, bathrooms and laundry closets consolidated on unit perimeters. By making floor-to-floor heights taller, plumbing, wiring and storage could be in the floor. Putting mechanicals into the floor would do away with awkward bulkheads, and infloor storage spaces would reduce the need for closets and lockers.
The team noted that balconies tend to be under-used because they are shallow and exposed to harsh weather. The answer could be a “sun bay”: a semi-conditioned space that acts as an extension of the indoors to the outside, or vice versa. Glass partitions could be used to open to the outdoors, or fully enclose the space.
“In a suburban home, you have a shed to store things, or to repair a bike, or for do-it-yourself projects,” said Mehta. “This could act in the same way, or you could have a little solarium for your winter plants. It could be very functional.”
The team looked at how redesigning hallways, suite doors and foyers could improve a sense of community.
“We came up with the idea of a recessed front door with sidelights with smart glass (that can be opaque or transparent), with a view to the corridor, so people can see and wave to other people from their unit,” Xuereb said. Inside, the unit would have an entry area dedicated to package delivery that could also act as a sanitation station.
“We also thought about reimagining amenity spaces to support community functions,” she added. Instead of a security guard, you have a facilitator or curator to navigate shared spaces and build community. With so much social isolation, their role would be to welcome people rather than keeping people out and could facilitate grocery delivery and communication.”
Mehta said many of the ideas that came from the brainstorming event are not difficult to implement, such as column grids. “Quite a few builders are looking at structural and creative ways to address plumbing, and we are having conversations about how public and private structures can be flexible over time.”
While the sun bay could be offered as an option, so far there hasn’t been a lot of interest from builders. “Over time, this will be more of interest as people want quality outdoor space,” Mehta added.
Even though units will keep getting smaller, people should still be able to live comfortably and enjoyably, Xuereb said.
“Think about how people live in camper vans or tiny houses. They are able to fit a lot of functionality into those spaces. This question is different: how we can reorganize the space to suit the function,” she added.
“It’s a matter of rethinking our priorities.”