In booming cities where every inch is prime real estate, a new species of living space is taking root. Welcome to the world of flex spaces – transformable dwellings that are redefining how we live and work.

Gone are the days when your living room was just for Netflix binges and your bedroom solely for snoozing. Today’s apartment dwellers demand more from their square footage, and the market is responding. 

What is the driving force behind this spatial revolution? Digital natives, Millennials and Gen Z-ers, with a whole new set of expectations and values. But this movement isn’t limited to the under-forties. Boomers and empty nesters also love more control over their spaces.

There are low-tech solutions, according to Wendy Scott, Timeless Closets and Cabinetry LLC.,  like the “cloffice” – a closet that doubles as an office; innovative ways to stow away workout equipment; and, of course, a stow-away bed in primary or guest bedrooms. 

“I have clients that are downsizing, moving into condos, but they still want that home office and room for grandkids and family to visit, so a Murphy Bed is a perfect solution. In another case, a client wanted her spin bike and a reading nook in a spare bedroom. Fold-down beds allow us to create really beautiful cabinetry and millwork, with shelves framing the panels that conceal the bed when it’s upright.”

Responsive living spaces

And then, of course, there are the high-tech solutions. Companies like Ori Living are riding this wave with robotic furniture that would make the Jetsons jealous. With a tap on your smartphone or a quick “Hey Alexa,” your bed disappears into the ceiling, and voila – your bedroom is now your corner office. 

As clever as it is innovative, Ori’s solutions reflect a seismic shift in how we view the work-life divide, or, rather, the lack thereof. As remote work becomes the norm rather than the exception, the lines between personal and professional spaces will continue to blur traditional work/life barriers in this brave new world. 

The company’s robotic walls and modular systems allow for the effortless conversion of spaces – turning a living area into a bedroom, office, or large entertainment space within seconds – effectively increasing the amount of livable square footage.

Here’s how they’ve done it by room:

Living Room: Robotic Wall System: Ori’s flagship product, the robotic wall, can slide across a room to reconfigure the space depending on the user’s needs…creating a more intimate living room setting by partitioning off a larger area, or opening up the space for entertaining guests.

Bedroom: Cloud Bed: Ori’s Cloud Bed is a major innovation for small living spaces. This ceiling-mounted bed can be lowered over a living area during nighttime and retracted back up during the day, effectively freeing up the entire living space that would typically be occupied by a permanent bed.

Kitchen: Transformable Kitchen Modules: While Ori primarily focuses on living and sleeping areas, the concept of transformable modules can be applied to kitchens. These modules could potentially include retractable kitchen counters or foldable dining tables that maximize floor space when not in use.

Home Office: Pocket Office: Ori has developed a compact office solution that can be hidden away when not in use. The Pocket Office includes a desk and storage space and is part of a larger unit that can be closed to look like a regular wall or cabinet, making it perfect for those who need a workspace without sacrificing living area.

Multi-Purpose Rooms: Studio Suite: Ori’s Studio Suite is designed to transform a single room into a multi-functional space that can serve as a bedroom, living room, or office at different times of the day. The furniture can move and reconfigure based on predefined settings or user commands, allowing for seamless transitions between different uses.

Ori does it in style

Ori’s vision extends beyond pure practicality; he aims to infuse aesthetics and technology to empower residents with the ability to adapt their living spaces to their changing needs. Ori Living’s designs have been described as sleek, modern, and minimalistic, appealing to a wide range of tastes and interior schemes.

The prime mover behind Ori Living’s revolutionary concept is Hasier Larrea, the company’s CEO. A graduate of MIT’s prestigious Media Lab, Larrea and his team initially conceptualized robotic furniture as a solution to the increasing constraints of urban living. Under Larrea’s leadership, Ori Living has developed systems that can morph a single room into a multi-use space with simple voice commands or the touch of a button.

“Housing affordability is one of the top challenges for every major city in the country,” Larrea told me. “Square footage drives cost. If we can make smaller spaces feel larger, we can provide more affordability while not compromising on functionality.
“The biggest space killers in apartments are beds because we create bedrooms with them to only be used one-third of the time. Turning a bedroom into a home office, a dining room, or an exercise space is like creating a whole new bedroom in an apartment. Our Ori Cloud Bed systems achieve that transformation effortlessly.” 

The Cloud Bed rises to the ceiling when not in use, revealing a desk, or a couch and coffee table underneath. The company’s Pocket Studio system stays on the ground: opposing closet cabinets open up when you need those socks, but close together to open up the rest of the room. The back side of the room-facing unit can have a desk, an entertainment center, or more shelves. Another Pocket Studio configuration hides the bed under a generous desk during working hours. 

“Our vision is to empower people to live large in a smaller footprint,” says Larrea. “By transforming apartments at the touch of a button and making every square foot count, we can create more affordability for residents, more profitability for developers, and more sustainability for the planet.”

Amenity and shared areas are a big topic of conversation in multifamily projects, but Larrea says Ori’s focus is on apartments and in-unit amenities. 

“As I heard one smart west coast developer say: ‘The best amenity is a cheaper unit price.’”

Materials to match the task

For its wood components, Ori currently uses plywood with HPL surfaces, a combination that delivers strength and surface durability in a lightweight panel. 

“The furniture is just a ‘skin’ around our robotic chassis,” says Larrea, “but other materials could be used in the future as technology and application demands change.”

When asked about taking Ori innovations into commercial spaces, he carefully manages expectations. 

“We’re pretty focused on residential applications, along with some hospitality. So far, we have not had the bandwidth to expand beyond that.”

To see Ori’s solutions in action, please visit OriLiving.com.