One day, robots will rule the world, but for now, they’re taking over New York City apartments to ease the cramp of living in small spaces.
At least three Big Apple buildings have installed or include robotic systems that can reveal and hide beds, wardrobes and desks – using a touchpad, a smartphone or the voice of a resident.
Not only are they useful for creative storage, but they also create the illusion of living in a larger apartment.
One urban development that includes these mechanisms is The Smile Rental, designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group at 158 E. 126th St. in East Harlem, with 163 market-based units. There, five units – four studios and one bedroom – will be equipped with systems from Bumblebee, a San Francisco company whose modular furniture helps create more space.
One of the houses is a 470-square-foot studio whose already installed and ceiling-anchored Bumblebee system can raise and lower a bed, as well as wardrobes, via phone and voice.
A console and coffee table, both of which remain on the floor in the open plan living area, also double as a respective long bedside table and a footboard with storage space when the bed comes down from the top – turning the living room into a bedroom.
“Bumblebee’s vision has always been to create a beautifully efficient space so that it becomes affordable,” said Sankarshan Murthy, the company’s CEO and co-founder. “You don’t pay for two or three rooms that you don’t always use, but you get the rooms whenever you want.”
Also, not 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 net effective rent, which is a figure that takes concessions into account – in this case, four months free on a 16-month lease. (It’s listed for $ 3,550.)
Without Bumblebee, a 495-square-foot studio charges $ 2,171 in net effective rent. (It’s listed for $ 2895.) That makes the robo-studio just a little cheaper than a bumblebee-free, 623-square-foot one-bedroom bedroom that charges $ 2,764 net effective per month (listed for $ 3,225).
Designed by former Apple and Tesla engineers, the Bumblebee system uses software that catalogs stored items, such as a rainy day umbrella, which can be recalled upon request. It also relies on cubic space for its layout – specifically, maximizing the use of the ceiling – as opposed to square footage.
“It shouldn’t feel like you live in a closet with Murphy beds,” Murthy said. “I want to live in a place that is futuristic, that feels like Ironman’s house, that changes based on [what you] questions.”
In Long Island City, the 801-unit Skyline Tower condo – with prices starting at $ 680,000 for a studio – offers buyers of all condos the option to install Ori’s Cloud Bed and Pocket Closet system, a separate company that also caters space-saving transformable furniture. (Price depends on system size and modifications.)
The Cloud Bed similarly rises and lowers from the ceiling – revealing a living room sofa in its highest position. In the business of sales and marketing, Modern Spaces has equipped a model studio unit with this feature, as well as a Pocket Closet that reveals a walk-in closet with retractable hangers behind a television console that slides across the floor.
Ori mainly works from a touchpad, says founder and CEO Hasier Larrea, but also via telephone and voice. Another of his systems has already been installed in 10 units (studios and one bedroom) at The Artisan in Essex Crossing – a 263 unit development located at 108 Broome St. in Manhattan, where 142 apartments are market-based. (Rental rates start at about $ 3,000 for a studio.)
It separates the space … and then it adds a ton of storage, which is another big problem that studio residents complain about.
Ori CEO Hasier Larrea
There, this non-hidden system has a storage space, a pull-out desk and some have beds that can be slid from below.
“It separates the space,” said Larrea of an added benefit of the fact that this Ori installation also functions as a room divider.
“If you live in these smaller apartments, especially if you live with your partner, you want to have some sort of separation of your space – and then it adds a lot of storage, which is another big problem that studio residents complain about.”
Six of these apartments have already been discussed – and Larrea adds that the rest have become popular with potential tenants.
“We are starting to get a lot more requests through social media ads,” he said.
At The Artisan, the average rental premium for a studio at Ori is $ 200, which means a lot more is paid per month compared to a standard studio. Meanwhile, the average rent for a one-bedroom is $ 800 higher than for an Ori unit, giving a tenant a home that mimics a one-bedroom for so much less rent.
“The goal is to give you an apartment that is as affordable as possible [and] as livable as we can make it, said David Dishy, president at L + M Development Partners, part of the joint venture that developed The Artisan. “The Ori allows us to theoretically give you a greater sense of space, which translates into a lower rent for you.”