Microunits Are Coming to NYC. See the Winning Design
Say goodbye to only arm-and-a-leg Manhattan rents. This plan for small prefab units opens the door to more affordable housing
In July 2012 New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development launched an adAPT NYC competition to develop a building with microunits on a city-owned lot in Manhattan's Kips Bay neighborhood. The competition was spurred by the changing demographics of the city, which now has 1.8 million one- and two-person households (comprising more than 20 percent of its 8.4 million residents) but only 1 million one-bedroom and studio apartments. Furthermore, the current zoning code restricts the size of apartments and their density (number of units per lot), making it impossible to build small units for singles and couples.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced the winner of the competition Jan. 22 at the launch of the Museum of the City of New York's Making Room exhibition, which also explores small apartments in the city through design. A team made up of Monadnock Development, the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation and nArchitects won with their My Micro NY entry. Here are details of the winning design.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced the winner of the competition Jan. 22 at the launch of the Museum of the City of New York's Making Room exhibition, which also explores small apartments in the city through design. A team made up of Monadnock Development, the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation and nArchitects won with their My Micro NY entry. Here are details of the winning design.
What might not be apparent from the exterior rendering is that the project will be constructed of prefabricated modular units. This rendering gives an idea of how that will work; each apartment will occupy one module roughly the size of a shipping container.
The modules will be constructed by Capsys at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and will basically "snap together," as Nicholas Lembo of Monadnock Development describes it. Unlike the much larger towers at the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, which are also utilizing prefab modules, My Micro NY does not require a structural frame for stacking the pieces. Other than the concrete foundation and structure necessary to frame the highly transparent ground floor, the building is put together "like Legos," says Lembo.
The modules will be constructed by Capsys at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and will basically "snap together," as Nicholas Lembo of Monadnock Development describes it. Unlike the much larger towers at the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, which are also utilizing prefab modules, My Micro NY does not require a structural frame for stacking the pieces. Other than the concrete foundation and structure necessary to frame the highly transparent ground floor, the building is put together "like Legos," says Lembo.
My Micro NY will consist of 55 microunits, varying in size from 250 to 370 square feet, with rents starting at $940 per month. Shared spaces will include an attic garden, a ground-floor porch, dens and a multipurpose lounge, as well as a laundry room, residential storage (a big bonus in NYC), a bike room and a fitness space. The ground floor will have a café and a mutlipurpose space for performances, lectures and other events.
When I started to think about the design of small spaces, in regard to an ideabook on San Francisco's microunits, natural light was a big consideration. A long shoebox-size apartment may be efficient for laying out a building, but it means the spaces most removed from the exterior wall are dark. My Micro NY addresses this through ceilings that are 9 feet, 10 inches and windows that are 9 feet high with glass-railed Juliette balconies for opening up the apartments to the outdoors.
When I started to think about the design of small spaces, in regard to an ideabook on San Francisco's microunits, natural light was a big consideration. A long shoebox-size apartment may be efficient for laying out a building, but it means the spaces most removed from the exterior wall are dark. My Micro NY addresses this through ceilings that are 9 feet, 10 inches and windows that are 9 feet high with glass-railed Juliette balconies for opening up the apartments to the outdoors.
Eric Bunge and Mimi Hoang of nArchitects describe each unit in two parts: the Toolbox and the Canvas. The toolbox consists of the bathroom, the kitchen and a long storage loft over both spaces. Whereas those pieces are fixed, the Canvas is a flexible (if small) open space that can be configured however the residents see fit.
The bathroom and kitchen are efficiently planned spaces that still meet accessibility and other codes, but the success of the Canvas will require some creativity with furnishings. Murphy beds, for example, will certainly be a popular option. With a ceiling height of almost 10 feet, sleeping lofts will also be a possibility.
This rendering of a unit's interior gives a sense of the two parts — Toolbox at right and Canvas at left — as well as the flexibility of the space. If the storage is moved above the bathroom and kitchen, the open space can be more easily used for both entertaining and sleeping; the Murphy bed stored between the shelves on the back wall hints at that change.
These apartments are certainly not for families or pack rats. They are ideal for young people who want to move to the city but not live with five roommates. They are also great for older folks whose kids have left home and don't need as much space.
Ultimately they are a means of making the city more affordable and accessible for people from all walks of life.
More:
More designs for microliving
Small homes surprise with comfort and efficiency
These apartments are certainly not for families or pack rats. They are ideal for young people who want to move to the city but not live with five roommates. They are also great for older folks whose kids have left home and don't need as much space.
Ultimately they are a means of making the city more affordable and accessible for people from all walks of life.
More:
More designs for microliving
Small homes surprise with comfort and efficiency
The building will be 10 stories and will occupy what is now a parking lot at the corner of East 27th Street and Mount Carmel Place, between First and Second avenues. The design by nArchitects is fairly slender, moving from a light brick facade on the street to a dark gray brick at the back of the building. A series of setbacks and subtle cantilevers responds to the city's requisite zoning envelope. While the project can ignore two zoning restrictions, it has to meet every other applicable zoning and building code, and follow other laws.