Airstream-inspired apartments as affordable tiny homes

Patrick Kennedy is a housing developer who likes to build small. His vision is to build the housing equivalent of the Smart Car. His SmartSpaces will be small, just a couple hundred square feet.

To create a smarter space, Kennedy constructed a 160-square-foot test home (the smallest legal-sized apartment for California) inside a Berkeley wherehouse. SmartSpace 1.0 is filled with innovations like the SmartBench, an adjustable banquette that converts from a dining table to a guest bed.

Kennedy gives us an exclusive tour of the tiny SmartSpace 1.0 studio, as well as of his 78-square-foot Airstream travel trailer parked outside (his vacations onboard with wife and child inspired his latest development).

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  Howto & Style

[mbabcock111]

This designer seems to be making some basic design flaws that a generalist would never make. I mean really! Cabinets not opening because of light fixtures...? He doesn't project confidence in his design ability by making simple design errors.

[Ricardo Tavares]

Hi Kristen! I have just finished watching all your videos. Congratulations you are doing a great job! This one of the three I most enjoyed due to it's highly urban nature. Do have news on how the final product turned out? Or even better, do you plan to make a new video about the final version?

[ernestmac13]

My home is about 1,000 feet, but I still hope to incorporate some of the ideas from this channel to make my house seem bigger, make it more utilitarian. These ideas can help you use storage space better.

[ernestmac13]

The issue with the sink is no big deal, since this is a prototype. This is why design companies make prototypes, & have someone live in it for a few weeks to a month or so, so the person can tell them what esthetically & for ergonomics & daily living doesn't work. There may be an option that allows a stove to on the counter to be covered with a piece of counter top material, or a cutting board, etc. Many of these ideas can be adapted to bigger apartments & houses.

[ernestmac13]

As typical in social media, many folks are unnecessarily hyper critical. All the "flaws" in the design of this Prototype for the apartments are common, & are easily fixable. For the bathroom, a simple change of the lighting fixture to one with a lower profile or one that is flush with the ceiling, will solve the issue of it getting in the way of the cabinet. 2nd, a birch platform in the shower would allow you to not have to stand in a pool of water. He already mentioned how to fix the ottoman.

[w4wxp]

Materialistic much?

[brittneelulz]

this would be fine for a hotel room. yuck @ living there.

[Caonabban]

"order is the foundation good things: edmond burk" ..Wrong!

Good things never comes from order..order actually destroy good things.

Self-discipline is the foundation of good things.

[Caonabban]

the very defintion of a businessman.

[wolframoxid]

That guy. No emotion. No love for detail. Not even for generalism. He just tries to boast confidence.

[The66Channel]

I`m not really sure, what to think about these guys. I`m a big fan of building small but here seem a lot theorie involved.

Building a kitchen counter and than finding out, the sink is to small for potts and pans is not nessesary. Measure tapes are alway worth their price.

Building this type of shower and than finding out, the floor gets wet? Never cleaned a bathroom before?

To lean back at the dining table might be much more comfortable wit folding chairs. A drunken guest can sleep on the floor.

[mrchie888]

One flaw with this approach is that every single apartment will look exactly alike in terms of furnishing etc. Its like an extended stay hotel suite! This may seem nice initially, but the lack of "warmth/personal home" maybe an issue for some.