New York reveals home of the future: City names winning design for 400 sq ft 'micro-apartment' to deal with housing shortage

55 apartments planned for East 27th Street in Manhattan for low and middle-income city dwellers



Units constructed off-site at Brooklyn Navy Yard and will be fitted together

Housing crisis as 800,000 shortfall of homes for New Yorkers



For New Yorkers, the search for affordable - and bearable - apartments is an ongoing struggle.



However city-dwellers were given some good news today with the announcement of plans to build a block of economically-friendly, micro-apartments where renters will inhabit under 400 square feet.



The 55 new units are planned for East 27th Street in Manhattan - with 40 per cent of homes available to low and middle-income New Yorkers. The first residents are expected to move in September 2015.



The project, which was viewed by Mayor Bloomberg today, will be the first apartment building in New York where units are constructed off-site and then fitted together.



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Big Apple living: New York City is planning to build more micro-apartments like the one pictured here. This particular design is being used for a 55-unit block being built in Manhattan

At close quarters: The innovative apartment design, which was chosen by Mayor Bloomberg, is aimed at addressing the city's shortfall in affordable housing which currently stands at 800,000

Transformation: The floor plans show how one of the units can be adapted from a living room to a bedroom

The design team behind the project aimed to capitalize on the sense of 'openness' in the tiny units.

The new homes are all between 250 to 370 square feet and have ceiling heights of around 9ft.



Each unit has an open-plan living space with kitchen, a separate bathroom, balcony and long storage area packed in close to the ceiling.

The apartments were designed with a pull-out pantry, fridge, range and fold-down bed.

The new homes will be at 335 East 27th Street in mid-town Manhattan close to the East River. The building will have rehearsal spaces on the ground floor, lecture halls and a cafe.



An attic garden and ground-level picnic area have also been planned along with a laundry room, bike room and gym.



Just like Lego: An artist's impression shows how the prefabricated units, which will be made in Brooklyn Navy Yard, will be fitted together at the site

Who lives in a house like this? Mayor Bloomberg surveys the tiny apartment to be built at a city-owned site at 335 East 27th Street

Streamlined: The design allows single New Yorkers on limited incomes to live in spaces of under 400ft uin the prefabricated units

Modern living: The design was a joint collaboration by Monadnock Development LLC, Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation and nARCHITECTS

Mayor Bloomberg said on Tuesday: 'New York’s ability to adapt with changing times is what made us the world’s greatest city – and it’s going to be what keeps us strong in the 21st Century.

'The growth rate for one- and two-person households greatly exceeds that of households with three or more people, and addressing that housing challenge requires us to think creatively and beyond our current regulations.'

The current housing codes do not allow for an entire building of micro-apartments in NYC - despite the number of one and two-person households accelerating at the fastest rate.



Neat design: Mayor Bloomberg surveys the living space of the new apartment design which will be part of a new exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York

On board: Bloomberg tries the foldaway bed at the apartment which he backed as part of New York's way of adapting for the future

Inspired: The collaborative design is fitted together from different components to make it easier to live in a compact space

City of the future: The building is in mid-town Manhattan close to the East River

Communal living: The apartment complex will also have an attic garden, gym and ground-floor rehearsal spaces and picnic tables

At present 1.8 million people in New York live alone or with one another - yet there are only one million studios and one-bed apartments in the five boroughs.



The design was a joint collaboration by Monadnock Development LLC, Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation and nARCHITECTS. They will be built by Capsys at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.