Developers to build ‘Lego’ style apartments allowing users to change floorplan on a whim
DON’T like where your kitchen is located? Hate how your bedroom doesn’t get the morning sun? One of the country’s biggest property developers says it will start building “lego” style apartments allowing owners to move floorplans as desired.
NSW
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IT is the “Lego” style apartment that allows you to flip the floorplan at will, a home which can morph with a changing life or change of ownership.
Now one of the country’s biggest property developers says if people like it they will start building modular apartments in Sydney.
Lendlease and The University of Sydney have built the prototype apartment of the future which allows occupants to swap the location of a kitchen or bedroom and add or subtract rooms “in a fraction of the time of conventional renovation”.
Lendlease head of operational excellence Daryl Patterson said this design goes against the grain of a one-size-fits-all approach.
“They are not being told what the layout of the apartment is; they (customers) can change it to suit their needs,” he said.
“That is new. We have not had that sort of flexibility before.”
A lack of columns in the middle of the 80 sqm apartment means walls can be installed to make additional bedrooms.
Fold up beds and compact kitchen and laundry spaces are designed to maximise floor space during the day.
Mr Patterson said it is like Lego in that you have parts that you can connect and disconnect.
The apartment has a series of cupboard-like spaces that can hold anything.
“Buildings are not really made that way today and so if you want to move stuff you have to wreck it,” he said.
“What we are saying is that you can unplug it and move the bits.
“If people think this is what they need — this idea of the apartment that can adapt as your life changes — we would work hard to put this into a future development.”
The prototype has been in the pipeline for 18 months and is designed to suit the needs of people whether they are upsizing, downsizing or simply feel like a change.
While a young couple might want to maximise floor space, parents could turn a one-bedroom apartment into a two or three bedroom dwelling.
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Bathrooms can also be easily adjusted to make them wheelchair accessible.
Designers are hoping the idea will appeal to those who don’t want to leave their community simply because their home doesn’t suit them.
It would also help homebuyers save on stamp duty.
“Nine in 10 apartments in Sydney look exactly the same,” Innovation in Applied Design Lab Director Professor Mathew Aitchison, said.
“We are testing the golden rule that if you don’t have a standard one or two bedroom apartment type, your building is going to fail.”
Prof Aitchison believes the design could be on the market within two years.
The building is made out of timber and creates 40 per cent less waste than current industry practice.
The Future Living System will be exhibited at the Tin Sheds Gallery, The University of Sydney, from July 30 to August 6.