Designing homes that can change

Most two-bedroom apartments are designed for one moment: the moment of sale. The second bedroom is drawn with a bed in it because a bed is what a buyer expects to see on a floor plan.

In practice that room changes function every few years. It is a study first, then a nursery, then a guest room, then a study again. Each of those uses has a different requirement, and only one of them needs the bed against the long wall.

So we design the second bedroom around three fixed things: a window that can be sat beside, a wall long enough for either a desk or a cot, and a wardrobe that does not have to be removed to make either fit. A door that swings the right way is worth more than an extra square metre.

Adaptability is not flexibility for its own sake. Moving walls and folding partitions rarely get used. What gets used is a plan that was generous in the right two places.