Squeezing It In

Designing for compact spaces

Mary Leslie

• Publisher: RIBA Publishing
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000481754
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Interior Design

Our living spaces are getting smaller but, as we spend more time at home, they must now work harder than ever to provide us with room to relax, work and entertain. Interior designers need to understand how to build accessibility, circulation, storage and lighting into the most restricted areas, without compromising on style.

In this jargon-free guide, Mary Leslie demonstrates how to design for compact living, proposing creative solutions that can be applied to a variety of settings. A versatile designer may be addressing a cramped studio flat one day and a dressing room for an international business traveller the next; this book provides inspiration and advice for every kind of small space, and every budget.

Organised around the different areas of the home, Squeezing It In examines familiar problems and offers clever, immediately applicable ideas for making the best of pocket-sized spaces. The entire design process is considered alongside complete examples, from the UK and internationally, which are generously illustrated with full-colour photographs, plans and sketches. Featuring case studies from:

• Archio Ltd
• Armstrong Keyworth
• Benjamin Tindall Architects
• Darren Oldfield Architects
• Jeffreys Interiors
• Papa Architects
• Peden & Pringle
• Plankbridge Ltd.

1THE LIVING SPACE

DOI: 10.1201/9781003231318-2

Of all the areas in a compact home which have to be versatile, the living space is surely the one which needs to be most adaptable. Single-person households may have the luxury of spreading themselves around even the smallest of rooms as they wish; however, a family or group of people living in the same property will require very different things from their living spaces. The designer should manipulate the available area to provide as many alternatives as possible. A room might appear spacious when viewed on plan, but once all the needs of the household are taken into consideration it will soon fill up. It will help the designer if even small spaces are thought of in terms of zones, and careful consideration is put into multipurpose areas, furniture and lighting to alleviate the challenge.

The strain put on living spaces during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic shows that they will have to be considerably more flexible than previously, and the approach to their design will depend largely on whether the space is part of a period or contemporary property, or a planned new build.

FIGURES 1.1A AND 1.1B: Interior design by Harriet Forde. London, 2016. Removing the partition wall in a London terraced house allows for a better flow, particularly when combined with a full-width kitchen extension leading into the garden.

Designers will be familiar with the rows of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century houses which line the towns of Britain. Even the most modest of these generally provided a front and back parlour, with clear social distinctions. Over the past 50 years there has been a trend to knock down the wall between the two to create one larger living room. That principle works well for many, and allows a freer flow of space, light and air. When these houses were built the most important room looked on to the street; however, nowadays the preference is to have direct access from the living room to the back garden if possible. The change to less formal entertaining means that a larger through living room allows for better circulation, and a dining table at the back of the room is useful for homework, or a play area, with comfortable seating and the TV grouped around the original fireplace at the front. However, that scenario does not necessarily work if several house sharers find themselves all working from home with similar hours, not enough space in the bedrooms for everyone to have their own desks and a need for privacy around the workspace.

Many new build homes have open-plan sitting/dining/cooking spaces, which are economical to build, popular with families and easily maintained. However, the same problems will arise when people have to make so much more of their living space, and clever designs, particularly at the lower end of the market, tend to be small. Just as with the Victorian artisan's terraced house, putting up solid partitions will show precisely how compact they are.

FIGURES 1.2A, 1.2B AND 1.2C: Interior design by Mary Leslie. Sutherland, Scotland, 2015. A small, new build, open-plan living room gives plenty of space for everyday living.

The greatest luxury is to have a new build home where account can be taken of all the needs of the family. It should be more of a broken-plan than an open-plan space, with enough different zones to enable everyone to have their privacy when needed. The new build does not have to be a standalone house – it might be a new use for an old warehouse, a loft or even empty office space. The latter currently have a poor reputation because of designs which may run close to contravening the regulations. However, a clever, sympathetic refurbishment can revive a redundant building and improve housing stock without using greenfield sites. Changing retail habits mean that more shops have to find new uses, and these can include clever residential and live/work spaces. Architects and designers in rural areas also have the opportunity to reuse agricultural buildings or add sympathetic new extensions to old cottages.

A new building, extension or reuse gives the opportunity to look at opening up vertically as well as horizontally, and a clever designer or architect can create a much more interesting and adaptable space by thinking holistically about opening up the whole rather than simply adding or removing walls on one level.

In a flat there is less room for change, and a compact apartment with one living room and a couple of bedrooms may require considerable rearrangement to find ways of making the space work for the best. If a house or flat has a small, separate dining room, that too will have to multitask. As people's lives change, having the extra room may prove useful, rather than the modern default of knocking the living spaces into one large area.

FIGURES 1.3A, 1.3B AND 1.3C: Design by Matthew Wood Architects. Upper Norwood, London, 2012. This new build mews house uses split levels to create broken spaces, allowing for interaction and privacy in equal measure.

The designer faced with a compact living space needs first to establish what it is going to be used for. As mentioned previously, it will almost certainly be needed for several different functions such as eating, sitting, entertaining, reading, craftwork, watching television, playing, working and school homework.

These considerations should be explored with the client at the briefing stage, and include the following.

• What functions can be moved elsewhere? In Chapter 4 we examine the workspace, and ideally that can be shifted into an outhouse, bedroom, landing or other corner which can be shut off at the end of the day. However, if several people are working from home day in, day out at least one will likely find themselves in the living room. If the home has a separate kitchen, does it have room for a dining table, and could this be extended to provide extra space for eating, working or playing?
• How often does the client entertain, and how many need to sit in the living room or dining area? Clearly a small sitting room will be a squeeze for eight adults, but there are ways of fitting in the occasional extra person.
• Does the client need room for hobbies such as making music, reading, embroidery or jigsaws? It is important to enquire about and listen to their particular requirements. Where are you going to put the spinning wheel, three electric guitars or model planes?
• How much time does the client spend watching television or listening to music or the radio, and what screen size would they like? Do they have a standalone hi-fi system? Do they want to be able to stream sound from room to room? In a small space the screen does not have to be vast and will probably be the easiest thing to fit in – but hopefully not over a fireplace, which usually leaves the screen too high and uncomfortable to watch. It may only be in conversation that the designer will discover the client has a set of oversized hi-fi speakers from a previous era, which absolutely have to be sited in the only spot available for a sideboard.
• How much storage is needed, if the client has a particular collection to display, or hundreds of books to accommodate? Can space be made for them in the hall or on a landing or staircase?
• If children live in the home, does the client want them to play in the living room under a watchful eye or have their toys in their own rooms, which make a much better place for all their clutter?

FIGURE 1.4: Interior design by René Dekker. London, 2015. A small TV room can become a glamorous home cinema with the right equipment and furnishings.

FIGURE 1.5: Interior design by Eva Byrne. Dublin, 2019. Moving a door and rearranging the furniture improves the space in this small Dublin living room.

The designer's solutions will as always be driven by the client's expectations, the budget, the footprint, the use and the style.

The wise designer will start with the footprint for the whole property to see whether the existing layout is best for flow, use of space and light, and access to services. Sometimes it only takes a small adjustment to free up space which can be used better than the existing floor plan. For example, it might be possible to move or reduce the number of doorways, which creates extra wall space. It might also be possible to remove partition walls, as in the front and back rooms of a traditional, period terraced house, which gives a larger, brighter room.

Bespoke joinery can be used to create storage and multipurpose spaces. If a client is keen on books the designer might be able to add a window seat with bookcases either side, which creates both a book nook and a library. The radiator might fit under the window seat (with vents behind the seat cushion), or alternatively the space might become a toy box or filing cabinet.

FIGURES 1.6A AND 1.6B BELOW: Interior design by Mary Leslie. Coggeshall, Essex, 2018. Accurate drawings show how a window seat and bookcases make a comfortable reading n...