LIKE MANY OTHERS IN THE INDUSTRY, I AM CONSTANTLY SEEKING TO INNOVATE TO BRING TO THE MARKET NEW AND INTERESTING PRODUCTS WHERE PEOPLE CAN LIVE, WORK AND PLAY. ONE OF THE INTERESTING INTERNATIONAL TRENDS IS THE EMERGENCE OF “CONVERTIBLE SPACES.”
Like many others in the industry, I am constantly seeking to innovate to bring to the market new and interesting products where people can live, work and play. One of the interesting international trends is the emergence of “convertible spaces.”
Convertible spaces make even small apartments very liveable. It involves the smart use of moveable walls, combined with furniture that can easily be moved to use and reuse space for different purposes. For example, a bed might fold up into a cupboard and a wall pushed back on tracks to incorporate that floor space into the living area. These convertible apartments can create up to 70% more living space, which is perfect for smaller apartments in locations where the cost per square metre means the additional cost of the fit-out is justified.
Worldwide these convertible apartments are gaining traction, particularly in major cities in Europe, USA and Asia where very dense living outcomes are widely accepted and bedsitter options are common. In Australia, the market for micro-living is opening up. According to the last census, 100,000 dwellings in Sydney had one bedroom or no bedrooms at all.
It is interesting that the company claiming to have developed Australia’s first convertible apartment has chosen Melbourne, which has a lower proportion of one or no bedroom apartments, to introduce the product. The prototype has been built, with seven apartments expected to be completed in the next few months. The advertised price starts from $415,000, however that is likely to be heavily subsidised by the developer in the initial stages of the roll out to help the product gain traction.
Internationally it is ‘game on’ for innovation in this space. Yo! Home has designed a 40 square metre apartment using weight and pulley techniques, commonly used in transforming stage scenery, to sink living room furniture into the floor and have a bed descend from the ceiling.
Whilst for some, small living is a lifestyle choice, for most buyers it is about the value proposition; does the saving per square metre for the smaller apartment offset the additional cost of the convertible spaces.
In Perth, we have less than 22,000 dwellings with one or no bedrooms, but we are innovating faster than ever before. This is an exciting time for both the industry and the consumer however, the challenge is to deliver new products into an untried market at a price point that works for everybody.