NEVER TOO SMALL: Family of 5’s Multifunctional Micro Apartment, Manila 28 sqm/301sqft

Set high above the busy streets of Mandaluyong City in the Philippines, this tiny apartment is home to a family of five. Working within the original floorplan, architect Josef Karol Egwaras focused on enhancing the open layout by adding smarter furniture and storage solutions throughout, including a versatile foldout dining table and expandable double sofa bed. In the bedroom, a raised platform bed cleverly conceals a pull out mattress for the youngest child and is surrounded by built in storage, including a neat work from home nook. Drawing inspiration from the family's much loved colourful gravel bikes, Egwaras chose to echo three primary colours — forest green, mustard yellow and terracotta — in the apartment. These recurring hues are used to signify each child, identify individual storage areas and add personality and vibrancy to the thoughtfully designed small space.

#smallapartment #architecture #interiordesign

Ep 149
Project Name: Alba Home 2

Produced by New Mac Video Agency
Creator: Colin Chee
Director: Nam Tran
Producer: Lindsay Barnard
Editor: Sebastian Tibbs
A Moon Walk - Instrumental Version by Yehezkel Raz and On Earth by We Dream of Eden

[srdiguzman]

Only someone who had been in the traffic or in public transportation in Manila understands why would you opt for such a tiny house for a family of 5 in the centre and close to everything.
Beautiful design!

[juri]

being a Filipino as well, I understand and experienced this sharing of bedrooms with parents which I quite resent looking back because now that I am old, my main and sometimes only focus is to build my own space. For the older sons, imagine waiting for your family to finish watching the TV so you can sleep or study or just spend some quiet time. You can go to the amenities as the designer said but not all the time. Nice design and color scheme though.

[Maschinengoth]

I love that this is clearly done on a very realistic budget.
A lot of the videos show clever solutions that are beautiful, but quite expensive. The clever use of IKEA furniture, already owned things and very deliberately chosen custom made pieces makes this -in my eyes- a lot more applicable to the usual inhabitants of small living spaces: people that cant afford full custom solutions and complete remodels of most walls.

[jortuspelatus]

Love that this episode also highlights the clients - the family of 5. It really exudes the close-family traits of Filipinos.

[elliest]

I have many thoughts on this...

1 The interior design is beautiful and makes optimal use of every single inch of space <3

2 I'm not claustrophobic, but watching this tour and trying to imagine 5 people sharing this space every day (and not just occasionally/when on holiday) made me very uneasy.

3 I can't imagine this being the family's *only* space. Like, the math doesn't work. Where's all the stuff that three school-age kids need? Where are the bikes that they mentioned? Even cats have stuff, where's the cat's stuff? I don't have anything against minimalism, but even for minimalism this is extreme. They must have more space somewhere.

4. I obviously wouldn't have made the previous comments if this family didn't seem relatively well-off (can afford interior design) and middle class. I mean, loads of working-class people are *forced* to share such tight quarters, but that's not something to celebrate, that's one of the many failings of modern capitalist society.

5. Yes there are cultural differences and many cultures aren't as precious about personal space, but this is EXTREME. The practice of a whole family sharing a single bedroom, when not a result of poverty, is usually maintained in rural communities, where the family members have immediate access to the outdoors and can carry out most of their daily activities there rather than in a box surrounded by other boxes, all stacked on top of piles and piles of other boxes.

[dianamendoza]

I love the design and how they manage to fit 5 people in this apartment. It is normal thing in the Philippines to have this kind of set up specially in condos but may not consider as normal in western countries. We can thrive to this kind of apartment because it is our culture to be close together even above 18 years old. 😊

[NilZed]

It also helps they are in a warm place. They not only don’t have winter gear to store but even their regular clothes are light weight and for the boys at least, mostly short pants and short sleeves reducing their storage needs that much more.

[Oratual_]

Beautiful apartment and cool design. I understand is a different culture, but I would rather arrange the existing bedroom for the three boys and made a bedroom in the living room for the parents with a semi limitation to the dinning area.

[ivydaphne]

Glad to see Filipino spaces on the channel! Overall interior is nice with good integration of space saving concepts. For everyday functional living for a family of 5 in such a small space is pushing it, especially since more afforable housing options are still available in Metro Manila. If it works for them, great I guess? But this definitely works for more of a secondary home scenario. Ironically it might cost more to have a space renovated like this compared to just getting a larger "traditional" space/home.

[sandrah]

I can't believe a family of five (plus a cat) lives in an apartment that small but good on them, they obviously make it work. But outside on the street, those power lines! OMG!

[javaadaros]

Am I the only one who thinks the people in the houses they show don't really use the house? Everything is so tidy, minimalist, perfectly placed that I feel the owners are on vacation sowhere else

[jnc]

The designer said the unit is in a building with lots of shared spaces like gym, playground, etc. The family eats out often. They really just need this space for sleeping, so it works for them. The adults are part of the cycling community so pretty sure they are active and don't need to spend 24 hrs at home. Nice condo, serves its purpose.

[Nanamiogawa]

this only works as long as the kids are under twelve years old. Once the kids reach 15 or 18 years old they will want their own space. Efficient design but basic condo units in the Philippines are really tiny it's only suitable for a couple starting out their family not for long-term living.

[PaulaLopez-gqki]

I like how they maximize space and functionality while reflecting the family's vibrant personality through clever storage solutions, colorful accents, and multipurpose furniture, creating a cozy and efficient living space in the heart of Metro Manila.

[Fixtheproblemwithgoodpolicy]

Love this one, they don't try to be too clever, everything easily converts and the parents can have privacy if needed and if they want to rent it out, it's easy to get it ready for another renter.

[mrsAAP]

Beautiful space beautiful family. It highlights Filipino Culture (closeness of family members). I remember all 5 siblings sleeping in single beds dragged from our rooms to the master's bedroom to be with our parents, even though we each had a room.

[tomasaranda]

Currently, thousands of designs are created without taking into account key elements such as the budget and the conditions of the intervention site. The idea of ​​creating a realistic design taking into account all these determinants is incredible and demonstrates the commitment we have to the client.

[lauragraceramos]

Thank you NTS for featuring another space the Philippines! Love the warm vibe of the place.

As a Filipino living near Metro Manila, having such a small space with say 4 to 5 people is common. Some people choose to live in the city center to be closer to work/school (as traffic in Metro Manila can be pretty bad!), versus living farther away but with much larger and cheaper space.

They sometimes also have a family/ ancestoral house outside the city where they can store/leave some of their stuff (Things they don't need on a day to day basis).

[Nalanrd]

Finally a house in “yes, this time it is too small 😉category. Three children, two adults and a cat in this small flat! Wow this is a miracle :) Well designed and decorated to get the maximum usage of the space but I still think it is a little too small. The couple has no privacy at all. It is too small for the kids at that age with a lot of energy, makes them feel restricted I can imagine.

[ihearthikary]

I think this is one of the VERY FEW houses in this channel that i actually consider as living in a small apartment. 301sqft for a family of 5! Usually this channels show homes that are 400-500ish sqft and the dwellers is a single person or a couple…. and if you know the housing crisis in Asia that amount of space per people is already a luxury!