355-square-foot apartment maximizes limited urban space

Tiny living, meet the big city. This no-frills guest house in Taipei, Taiwan, marries a compact-minded ethos with an urban sensibility, making innovative use of limited space while presenting a unique experience of modern city living.

Designed by Phoebe Sayswow Architects, the XS House is a roughly 355-square-foot one-bedroom apartment built as a prototype home, intended to be leased to people working in the city. The home was crafted to be a new model of “smart urban living in a city with high average rent and limited land for developments,” the architects told Dezeen.

Thought it may look small, the apartment manages to pack in a lot over three levels, with an open living room situated at the front of the apartment, a kitchen and a bathroom located just past it down a set of steps, and a bedroom lofted on a mezzanine level above. The apartment features glistening white tiles and plenty of birch wood storage, with a moveable ladder to allow access to the bed.

The home is furnished sparingly but comfortably, with a compact sofa and side table adorning the living room and a small dining room table in the kitchen. Meanwhile, the bathroom might just be the most aesthetically pleasing space of all, completely lined with the white glazed tiles and accented with bright pink grout.

Floor-to-ceiling windows allow light to flood the apartment while offering views of the city from this 12-story residential tower. The adjacent wood wall is composed of shelving units, kitchen cupboards, and wardrobes.

This apartment is another example of metropolitan minimalism, as more and more architects are learning to get creative with the limited space that’s become synonymous with city living today.

Via: Dezeen