Final Design

Final design

Our solution for the problem is to create a multifunctional furniture. Daily life routine has been taken into consideration and found out that furniture like the bed, table, and wardrobe takes up the most space in room. Hence, this multifunctional furniture has been designed to fulfill all needs but save space at the same time.

This design is divided into two parts, A and B. Part A consists of a wardrobe and study table. The study table is foldable thus it can be kept into the wardrobe, which is very convenient. In addition, a foldable chair will be included and this can be stored in one of the shelves provided in the furniture.

Part B consists of a fold-able bed as well. Also, this furniture have been designed is portable as it have lockable wheels installed.

Development of Ideas

Development of ideas

To list out the furniture that people more often use and use up most of the spaces, like desk, bed, dining table, wardrobe, cabinet. The idea is to make a multi-functional furniture. By combine these furniture together, people can save a lot of spaces, also the furniture will be design to be more easy for people used.

Some of the multi-functional furniture are quite good as it have a lot of functions but the disadvantage is that the design are very complex, people do not know how to use it, or feel difficult when using it. Some of the furniture are too complex, difficult to group and separate.

Some furniture are designed to save the space but difficult for housewife to move or use it. The furniture are large, and looks heavy, it may cause some weak woman that could not use it or feel hard to use it.

To design a multi-functional furniture that is easy for people to use, can fix in a small space, also help people to save the space. The idea combine desk, dining table, wardrobe, cabinet, and bed together.

Final 3 Ideas

1. Multi-Functional Furniture
Pros :

• Able to do different duties at a time
• Saves space
• Suitable for small spaces

Cons :

• Expensive
• Troublesome to open up the furniture

2. Clear Furniture

Pros :

• Makes the space look bigger
• The space would be less complex

Cons :

• It may make the space look dull
• It does not actually makes it more spacious

3. Separable House

Pros :

• Can expand the space
• More space can be used
• It will be able to hold more people

Cons :

• This technique might not be able to work
• Costs much more
• Too troublesome

101 Mindmap

The first 101 solutions to our problems. From these ideas, we narrowed it down and chose the best 3 solutions. From the research methodology, we found out that most people would like change their interior space and the furniture design to make their house more spacious. Therefore, most of our ideas are based on using a little space as possible and making our living space look more spacious.

Ideas about furniture design and the interior design.

Ideas on save space and furniture.

Ideas on change the land and building.

Incredible ideas and some design

Multi-functional furniture [fig 3.1e- 3.1f] would be a better choice as people living in small space and when the space getting smaller and smaller the furniture also can change its size to fix the space.

Ideas on multi-functional furniture

Ideas for 101 solutions

1. Coffee table that is flexible to move and packs hidden storage.
2. Armless or slender armed sofas (Makes space for multiple seating)
3. Choosing furnitures that can do double duty
4. Using artworks to add big style
5. Stick with the same colors (Subtle tone-on-tone patterns add interest to draperies without making space feel busy)
6. Choosing clear furniture and accessories that do not visually take up space
7. Transform built-in shelves into an eye-arresting display
8. Stacking accessories
9. Dressing up walls. Small rooms do not have a lot of space for accessorizing
10. Use rugs to separate the spaces (Breaking the space into 2 separate seating)
11. Take advantage of crown molding to make rooms look taller
12. Choosing cool colors will instantly make a room look larger (Pale and cool colors reflects light)
13. Placement of furniture. Arranging sofas and chairs on an angle instead of lining them up against walls.
14. Choosing lower furniture that will complement size of the room
15. Raise roof on a boxy room and create the illusion of more space (Hanging curtains just under the ceiling instead of directly above window frames)
16. Use large mirrors on one wall to make space feel more open 
17. Stick to one wall color. The light colored walls and white sofa will help to visually push back the perimeter
18. Certain window treatments can make a room look bigger. (Swing-arm-rod draperies make light work of creating privacy by night and framing views by day)
19. Having storage in staircases
20. Having an adjustable and collapsible bed 

Case Study on living spaces in Hong Kong

Case Study on Hong Kong

The living spaces in Singapore and Hong Kong are similar in such a way that in both countries, the houses are getting smaller and smaller due to the lack to space and rise in population. The space in Hong Kong is limited due to the topographic constraints and government planning policy. These limitations have led to the compact design for houses and also urban developments. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated country in the world, with an overall population density of over 6350persons/km2 and 194,178 domestic households in 2006. There were arguments in favor and against the compact living spaces. It is being praised for the way houses are built as a large amount of residents are able to share common spaces and facilities within a massive housing estate. However, when there is a high concentration of residents it will result in a congested environment. Some buyers in Hong Kong are willingly to pay for desired attributes such as more floor area, access to facilities and also a nice view but they are also forced to pay for common spaces and facilities that are shared among other households too.

Compacted and high-density area

Limited space to have a proper meal inside a household

With the limited space that are meant for building of houses, high density development is one of the viable solutions in providing affordable housing to the citizens in Hong Kong. The government keep in control the amount of private developments that are being built through land sales and planning mechanisms. The land price is the highest cost component in private housing development. This causes the cost of private houses to rise as private developers try to maximise their profits by maximising the saleable area. The extremely high population results in majority of the residents living in higher-density housing development. These multi-storey housing are associated with smaller units for the large population whereas lower density housing have larger and more spacious units for the higher-income households. More than half of the housing units (55.3%) are private sector while the rest are under public housing.

There are no standards on the minimum amount of living space per capita in Hong Kong. The estimated average ‘saleable area’ of private housing was 15.6m2/person which is much lower compared to Japan with 18m2/person.

Quality living spaces can be of benefit to our community. These benefits can be from an environmental perspective, where green spaces provides shade, moderate local air temperature, and filters air pollutants and noise. These green spaces also gives a space for communities to come closer as recreational spaces are provided.

Case Study on Japan and Singapore

Japan and Singapore are similar in the way that both are modern, vibrant cities in Asia and aging society. Both also have a population generally lacking spatial awareness. In Singapore, it was hard to find smaller studios compared to Japan until recently. If you have a budge under $2000/mth, you would have to rent a common room and share the living spaces together with others. Landlords living in HDBs are also not allowed to rent out their rooms to foreigners as it is illegal to do so. Apartments in Japan are also designed more ergonomically, so that the limited space that they have are used efficiently. However, those building principles do not apply here in Singapore. Over here, I think that the balcony in most of the houses might be of a waste of space because not many people would make full use of it. For example, hardly anyone would  setup a study or a bedroom on their balcony.

The houses in Japan are presumed to have a rather short lifespan. They are generally torn down and rebuilt after a few decades. Some modern houses in Japan are designed in a way where they only make use of incredibly small or narrow spaces. For example, the Nada House, it is built upwards on a space that is barely 36sm. Its rooms are wrapped around a center shaft of light to pour in through. This house’s ground floor is almost the size of a storage room and space for a single car. The kitchen, dining and living rooms are on the second floor while the bedrooms are on the third. Most of the light come in through the roof as there are only 2 windows at the front and rear of the property.

sunlight coming in from the roof

view from the top floor

Another example is the Hori no Uchi house in Tokyo. This house only takes up 27.9sm from a 55sm plot of land. This building is sandwiched between the road and a river embankment, and might otherwise have eventually become little more than a parking space. The ground floor is the sleeping area while the second floor is a completely open-plan and allows for plenty of light to enter the living space. It also has a small loft space on the top floor.

outdoor view

overview of the house