Year after year, the New York City demand for studio apartments increases. As a response, on July 2012 Mayor Michael Bloomberg´s Office launched AdAPT NYC Competition. Its main aim was to develop a new model of housing based on micro-units.
Working in a group of three architects, we developed “Helix”. Our building is encircled with a perforated sail, which protects it from rain and wind and opens-up to emphasize the common spaces and recreational areas throughout the building.
Our proposal consisted of 17,000sqf for commercial and common spaces and a total of 23,000sqf for residential, broken-up in 65 micro-units. Each micro-unit has 290sqf of net area. We created a core containing structure, kitchen, bathroom and storage spaces, which separates the micro-units, leaving a completely open space of 180sqf. Each open space is divided with a movable furniture piece mounted on two rails, which includes bed, dining table, sofa and shelving. Tenants can easily move it and adapt the size of the living and sleeping areas in accordance with one´s needs.