In a 290ft2 micro studio near La Carolina Park in the city of Quito, you’ll find a unique and innovative habitable artifact called Domestico. Domestico was designed by the Cuqui Rodríguez team in Quito, Ecuador, led by architects Juan Alberto Andrade and María José Váscones. It’s described as a light and airy transformer apartment that solves spatial and formal limitations.
It does this in some of the most incredible ways. First of all, the transformer apartment is effectively a piece of furniture itself, yet it turns a wide open space into a functional home for an individual or couple. While simplistic in its looks from the outside, it’s essentially a living room, kitchen, storage room, laundry room, library, bedroom, dining room, and closet, all in one.
The entrance to the transformer apartment, which boasts gorgeous natural wood partnered with moss green tones, spans from the floor to the ceiling and incorporates various modules to divide it into different parts depending on your chosen activity.
In the apartment’s entryway, you’ll find a lower area for everyday activities and an upper module for storage. This is accessible by a striking black ladder, which slides from the front to the rear of the structure.
All storage frontages within the transformer apartment are consistent, so you aren’t aware whether you’re opening the kitchen or a simple storage cubby. The top storage area, accessible by ladder, has lift-up lids for easy access.
Every home needs a kitchen, no matter its size. The transformer apartment kitchen is tucked away behind a long door.
Opening and sliding cabinet doors reveal storage, closets, and a fully functional kitchen area for homeowners to cook up a storm.
The black kitchenette contrasts beautifully against the lightness of the wood, with a black feature wall, black sink and faucet, and even a black benchtop.
On the exterior of the transformer apartment, homeowners can access the vibrant moss green bookcase via a black industrial-style sliding ladder, which can move across the entirety of the structure.
With very little space for necessary furniture like dining tables and chairs, this transformer apartment has one built into the exterior part of the structure. It can be tucked away out of sight and out of mind when not in use but folds down with the simple twist of a latch. It has enough space for dining, work, or play.
Having a fold-out dining table saves homeowners from having unnecessary furniture cluttering up their usable floor space.
The dining table is inset into the wall, which means when you fold it back up, it sits flush with the rest of the cabinetry.
While it doesn’t seem possible, there’s more hiding behind the wall of the transformer apartment than a simple dining table.
With a simple pull of a rail, a murphy bed can be pulled down from the wall, featuring the same beautiful light wood as the rest of the apartment. The refreshing white rear wall of the bed also boasts lighting and storage for convenience and comfort.
Adjacent to the bed is a closet, making accessing clothes for work or play much easier than you might have thought. This closet is adjacent to the wall ladder, which can move easily over the closet door when it’s closed.
The curves of the transformer apartment are a standout feature, but they are more than just an architectural statement. The ridged outer edges are a door, with storage shelves hidden out of sight behind it.
This transformer apartment might be of a conservative size, but it certainly doesn’t lack storage space. There are at least five shelves for homeowners to take advantage of behind this beautiful feature.
A closet offers even more storage space to the rear of the shelves. This lovely wooden piece pulls out vertically from the structure, with plenty of room to hang clothing and store footwear and accessories.
Once you’ve hung all your clothes in the wardrobe, you can slide it back into the wall on rails. No one has to know it’s there.
The conservative yet functional apartment leaves the rest of the living space free for living, entertaining, and more. The stark white color palette in this space also provides relief from the intensity of the natural wood and green.
