Space-saving design: tiny apartment is among 10 interiors winners at Dezeen Awards 2019

Ten interiors projects, including a tiny apartment for one in Taiwan, have been declared winners at this year’s Dezeen Awards.

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Meghann Murdock, Deputy editor, Homes & Property24 October 2019

A tiny apartment of less than 18 square metres is among 10 interiors category winners at this year's Dezeen Awards.

In the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, where 4,000 more people live per square kilometre than in London, the former piano studio was transformed into a home for a young professional.

It is the work of Taiwanese design studio, A Little Design, which specialises in creating modern, liveable spaces for city dwellers.

The minimum size for a new-build one-bedroom, one-person home in the UK is 37 square metres, more than double the size of the award-winning Taipei apartment.

Tiny home, more space: high cupboards along the back wall, accessed using the stairs, provide deceptive amounts of storage

However, this UK standard only applies to schemes that require planning permission, with some office-to-residential conversions finding themselves in hot water for flats as small as 13 square metres in recent years.

Nonetheless, lessons can be learned from ingenious, hard-working design in homes tight on space, such as this award-winning flat. "The prevalence of micro flats is not our answer for the high housing price issue in Taipei," says A Little Design architect Szumin Wang, who led the project.

However, Wang adds: "We hope the attempt of design could provide some schemes and possibility for this living type."

The owner of the apartment travels frequently with work and, when in the city, favours a shorter commute over having extra space.

The architects redesigned the 17.6sqm flat, reconfiguring the living, sleeping and bathing areas to have more practical proportions.

In the kitchen area, the washing machine, fridge and electric stove are arranged along two walls, while shelves and cupboards are above and below the work surfaces.

"The stairs not only provide access to the sleeping mezzanine but also increase the accessibility to the high built-in cabinets in the wall," says Wang.

A wardrobe has been built into the home's entryway, while the sofa area has a space for working with a wall-mounted desk.

"This year's Dezeen Awards winners show how architects and designers are addressing the challenges of contemporary urban living," says Dezeen founder and editor-in-chief, Marcus Fairs. "Flats like A Little Design's project show how clever design can make the most of today's restricted living space."

Now in their second year, the Dezeen Awards celebrate the world's best architecture, interiors and design. Thirty winners were selected from more than 4,500 entries across three fields.

The 30-strong list of winners is to be judged by a panel of leading figures from the architecture and design world, and the overall winners of each of three categories will be revealed at the Dezeen Awards party in London on October 30.

The panel includes American fashion designer Virgil Abloh, whose recent projects include Hailey Bieber's wedding dress and MARKERAD homeware collaboration with Ikea; Kelly Hoppen; Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola; Marc Newson and Tom Dixon.

The nine other award-winning interiors projects up for the overall Dezeen Award 2019 are:

House interior of the year
Tiny Holiday Home, by i29 interior architects, is a compact black house designed to stand out like a minimalist sculpture. Set in a nature reserve near Amsterdam, four blocks clad in black-stained pinewood are arranged around a central patio — orientated to maximise solar gain and views out of large doors and windows.

Apartment interior of the year
Michigan Loft, by Vladimir Radutny Architects, is a loft on Chicago's Michigan Avenue which has been transformed into a spacious home for the couple who live there. The architects chose to retain structural details such as the concrete ceiling and pillars, adding built-in units to improve storage and layout.

Restaurant and bar interior of the year
Bar Lotus, by Office AIO, is a cocktail bar with dramatic emerald green walls and rippling rose gold ceilings in Shanghai's Jing’an neighbourhood.

Unusual stay: 28 disused bridge houses have been transformed into chic hotel rooms across Amsterdam

Hotel and short stay interior of the year
SWEETS hotel, by Space & Matter, is a transformation of 28 separate bridge houses into individual hotel suites across Amsterdam. Once disused, the houses are now two-person rooms with a mix of vintage and modern furnishings.

Large workspace interior of the year
Gusto, by Gensler, is a vast former industrial building transformed into the San Francisco office headquarters for an HR software company.

Retail interior of the year
Le Cube, by Mana/Scalaplus, is an exhibition featuring a selection of LA fashion, beauty and lifestyle products at Le Bon Marché department store — unveiled as the centrepiece of the Los Angeles Rive Gauche exhibition in Paris.

Gothic-inspired: a café in one of the former chapels of Antwerp's medieval cathedral

Leisure and wellness interior of the year
Euphoria Spa, by DecaARCHITECTURE, in the Euphoria Retreat which is the first holistic wellness destination in Greece.

Civic and cultural interior of the year
Kath, by Van Staeyen Interieur Architecten, a Gothic-inspired café in one of the former chapels of Antwerp's medieval cathedral.

Small workspace interior of the year
Piazza Dell’Ufficio, by Branch Studio Architects, is a school office in Melbourne which was inspired by large public squares - piazzas - in Italian towns.

Lined in slim cardboard tubes, walls curve inwards to form seating nooks with grey leather banquettes.