UBC considering 12×12-foot micro suites on campus

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It gives new meaning to the definition of “small space”:

A lack of on-campus space for students has UBC looking at housing undergrads in micro suites that really emphasize the micro aspect.

The school is looking at building units in a new student residence that would have a total of 145 square feet of space.

The 12×12 foot units would rent for around $670 and are just under 100 square feet smaller than the smallest existing units on campus. They’re about the size of four phone booths.

“It’s about the equivalent to a parking space in a garage. Most parking spaces are about eight-feet wide and about 18-feet deep so we’re looking at something about that size,” says Vancouver architect Michael Geller.

To fit it all in, the units would have a pull-down wall bed in addition to a small fridge and stove top but no oven. They would also have a small sink and toilet.

It’s not ideal, but it’s living in that space is certainly possible.

“A month ago, I stayed in a hotel room in Paris near the airport that was not much larger and it was wonderful,” says Geller.

“It can be done and I suspect many people are saying ‘I once lived in a room that was 10×10.’ But with good design and a bit of built-in, you can actually make something like this quite liveable. I think the key point is a lot of people prefer not to share a living unit with others and this is obviously being designed for them.”

The school’s board of governors still has to give final approval before adding the 43 units to the final plan for the Gage South building, which would be finished by 2019.

The 14-story building is expected to cost just under $70 million.

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