SMARTER SPACE NOW

Big, small or awkwardly formed, all homes can benefit from ideas that make the most of every square metre. Here, we look at architectural and design solutions to add value to every room

The step changes

Reconfiguring or changing the orientation of your staircase can have a major impact on the feeling of spaciousness in your home, opening up the trickiest of floorplans. But as well as the visual effect of statement stairs, there’s also a chance to make more practical design choices

1 NEXT-LEVEL STORAGE

This twisting plywood staircase features added shelving at every turn. It was designed by London-based architecture firm TDO for their own office, which sits under the railway arches near Blackfriars station. A red steel bar, used to hold up the space after WWII bombing, has been integrated into this clever structure (tdoarchitecture.com).

2 WORK EVERY ANGLE

Cut into the small slice of space beneath this new staircase, and lit from above by a generous skylight, this is the ideal work-from-home nook.

It’s part of a family home designed by Cambridge-based Mole Architects, which last year picked up three RIBA Awards, including the main prize for innovative local housing scheme Marmalade Lane (molearchitects.co.uk).

3 EXTENDED SHELF LIFE

By transforming one of this small set of steps into a wide, elongated shelf, Batiik Studio has visually expanded this hallway. The French architecture firm has earned a reputation for, in its founder Rebecca Benichou’s words, ‘unifying spatial constraints to give birth to unique environments’ (batiik.fr).

Kitchen overhauls

Not all homes have the dimensions for a magnificent breakfast bar and a vast, open-plan room. However, with some inventive solutions, you can fit a dining area into the most spatially challenged of abodes

4 SMALLER SERVING

Even the bench seating in this tiny dining area, an extension of the kitchen cabinetry, doubles as storage. Designed by Australian architect Nicholas Gurney, the alcove is just one of the compact solutions he developed for a modern, 20-square-metre ‘granny flat’ (nicholasgurney.com.au).

5 GALLEY QUEST

Stuttgart Studio Alexander Fehre bought its bold approach to this London home, slotting a dining space at the end of a long, slim kitchen. By painting the table and benches red, and wallpapering both walls and ceiling, what could be a tight area is now a cosy talking point (alexanderfehre.de).

En suite dream

Avoiding the bathroom queue may top many homeowners’ wish lists, but plans for an en suite are often thwarted by a lack of space. By thinking outside of the box, though, anything is possible

6 GLASS HALF FULL

One of the oldest tricks for increasing the feeling of space is to take out walls and maximise light. In the bathroom, this can prove troublesome for those who value privacy. The answer that architecture and design studio Quincoces-Dragò & Partners adopted in this home is elegantly simple: a dividing wall of fluted glass (quincocesdrago.com).

7 SPACE CAPSULE

Created from a sliver of space in the corner of two rooms, this pod-like shower room is a miniature marvel. To accentuate its ingenuity, London design firm Studio MacLean has transformed the entrance with an orange oval door, with striped, mosaic tiling inside (studiomaclean.com).

Sleepers’ paradise

A dedicated bedroom is not always a guarantee in urban living spaces. But studio apartments can still provide the kind of seclusion required for a good night’s sleep, as these projects show. Seriously smart, these tricks can also benefit bigger homes

8 HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

The brainchild of Japanese architecture firm 8 Tenhachi, this home just outside Tokyo is an open-plan, industrial space broken up by functional boxes, one of which contains this snug bedroom. The children’s room and play area are accessed via the ladder (ten-hachi.com).

9 THE CURTAIN CALL

Open-plan layouts make tight spaces appear larger, with fabric dividers that can be pulled out of view providing privacy when needed. This 33-squaremetre home, designed by New York-based company LifeEdited, fulfils its founder’s aims to prove that you can ‘live large’ in even the smallest of homes (lifeedited.com).