Taiwanese studio A Little Design has converted a former piano studio in Taipei, Taiwan into a tiny apartment with built-in, space-saving furniture.
Formerly a piano studio, the apartment measures just 17.6 square metres and has a ceiling height of 3.4 metres. A concrete beam that runs widthways through the apartment further restricts the amount of space available.

The owner of the city centre apartment travels frequently with work, sometimes living abroad for short periods of time. When in Tapei, she favours a shorter commute over extra space.
"Although the owner does not need a big flat, before it was redesigned, the 17.6-square-metre unit was too small to fit both a queen-size bed, living space and sufficient storage" said A Little Design architect Szumin Wang, who led the project. "In addition, the bathroom was relatively big compared to the small square footage of the whole space, and the kitchen lacked practicability ? it was even too small to fit a fridge."

Wang and her team redistributed the apartment's spaces so that the living, sleeping and bathing spaces had more practical proportions.
The bathroom and kitchen switched positions, and the entryway and kitchen were combined to create a continuous space.

Appliances such as the washing machine, fridge, and an electric stove are arranged along the kitchen's two solid walls. The design team made sure to allow for a generous work surface with shelves and cupboards mounted above and below counter he...