Robots could one day rule the world – but for now, they’re taking over New York apartments to ease the cramps of life in small spaces.
At least three Big Apple buildings have installed or offer the option to include robotic systems that – with the help of a touchpad, smartphone or a resident’s voice – can reveal and hide beds, cabinets and desks.
Not only useful to provide creative storage space, but also gives the illusion of living in a larger apartment.
A development of the city that includes these mechanisms is the rental of the Smile designed by the BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group at 158 E. 126th St. from East Harlem, with 163 market units. There, five units – four studios and a bedroom – will be equipped with systems from Bumblebee, a San Francisco-based company whose modular furniture bodies help create more space.
One of the houses is a 470-square-meter studio whose Bumblebee system already installed and anchored to the ceiling can raise and lower a bed, as well as storing the closet, by phone and voice.
A console and a coffee table, both of which remain on the ground in the open living area, double as a long bedside table and a foot with storage when the bed descends from above – turning the living room into a bedroom.
“Bumblebee’s vision has always been to create a beautiful, efficient space so that it becomes accessible,” said Sankarshan Murthy, CEO and co-founder of the company. “You don’t pay for two or three rooms that you don’t use all the time, but you get the rooms whenever you want.”
Also, not so much furniture is needed because the system is built-in – but still, efficiency comes at a price. This unit charges $ 2,663 per month in actual net rent, a figure that includes concessions – in this case four months free of charge for a 16-month lease. (It is listed at $ 3,550.)
Without Bumblebee, a 495-square-foot studio is asking for $ 2,171 in net rent. (It is listed at $ 2895.) This makes the robot studio a little cheaper than a 623-square-foot Bumblebee-free bedroom that requires a net cash of $ 2,764 per month (listed at $ 3,225).
Designed by former Apple and Tesla engineers, the Bumblebee system uses software that catalogs stored items, such as an umbrella for rainy days, that can be called upon request. It also relies on cubic space for its appearance – specifically maximizing the use of the ceiling – as opposed to the square area.
“You shouldn’t feel like you’re living in a Murphy closet,” Murthy said. “I want to live in a futuristic place that feels like Ironman’s house, that changes according to [what you] ask. “
In Long Island City, the 801-unit Skyline Tower apartment – priced from $ 680,000 for a studio – offers buyers of all apartments the option to install the Cloud Bed and Pocket Closet system from Ori, a separate company that also focuses on saving transformable furniture space. (Price depends on system size and customizations.)
The cloudbed similarly rises and falls from the ceiling – revealing a sofa in the living area in its up position. Modern Spaces, which deals with sales and marketing, has equipped a studio unit model with this feature, as well as a pocket wardrobe that reveals a dressing room with retractable hangers behind a television console that slides on the floor.
Or it works primarily from a touch pad, says founder and CEO Hasier Larrea, as well as by phone and voice. Another of its systems is already installed in 10 units (studios and one bedroom) at The Artisan at Essex Crossing – a development of 263 units at 108 Broome St. from Manhattan, where 142 apartments are at market prices. (Rents from about $ 3,000 for a studio.)
Separate the space … and then add a bunch of storage space, which is another important issue that studio residents complain about.
CEO Ori Hasier Larrea
There, this hidden system has storage, an extendable desk, and some have beds that slide out from underneath.
“Separate the space,” Larrea said of an added advantage of having this facility Ori also function as a partition wall.
“When you live in these smaller apartments, especially when you live with your partner, you want to have some sort of separation of your space – and then add a ton of storage, which is another important issue that studio residents complain about. . ”
About six of these apartments are already in place – and Larrea adds that the rest have become popular with potential tenants.
“We’re starting to get a lot more requests through social media ads,” he said.
At The Artisan, the average rent for an Ori studio is $ 200, which is much more per month than a standard studio. Meanwhile, the average rent for a bedroom is $ 800 higher than an Ori unit, giving the tenant a home that mimics a much less rented bedroom.
“The goal is to offer you an apartment as affordable as we can [and] as long as we can live, said David Dishy, president of L + M Development Partners, part of the joint venture that developed The Artisan. “Or theoretically allows us to give you a greater sense of space, which translates into less rent for you.”