The Narrowest House from the World?
Can you work, eat and sleep in a 48-inch-wide studio? This tiny Polish structure, wedged into a gap between two buildings, is 4 feet wide at its broadest point.
The construction serves as a workshop for Israeli author Etgar Keret. Designed by architect Jakub Szczęsny of Centrala, it takes up about 150 square feet of once-unused space, filling the gap between buildings with a tiny kitchenette, dining room, bathroom, bedroom and desk.
Studio at a Glance
Who works here: Etgar Keret
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Size: 150 square feet
Centrala
Inspiration struck Szczęsny when he had been walking down this street. The gap between a postwar co-op building and also a prewar ex-Jewish tenement block instantly caught his eye. The two buildings begged for a certain kind of connection and Szczęsny desired to put something functional in between.
The structure blends in from the main street perspective. Access is concealed from the sidewalk with a 61/2-foot-high wall.
Centrala
Of course, this narrow area presented lots of issues linked to Warsaw’s city building code, extending the construction time to approximately three years. Due to the building’s dimensions, function and location, the town chose to zone it as an art installation. Szczęsny completed the project in October 2012.
Visitors can access the building from a street set away from the main street. Steel stairs fall down, revealing the entry.
Centrala
The building’s most important resident, author Etgar Keret, walks up the steps.
Centrala
The gap between the two buildings is 60 inches at its widest and 28 inches at its narrowest. The triangular construction structure allowed Szczęsny to make the most of this narrow and uneven gap.
Centrala
Centrala
Everything needed to be stored to the basics. The structure is a steel cage position on two tunnel-like bases. The hollow bases permit present city heating pipes to pass underneath the building. The steel was coated with Kingspan insulated sandwich panels and full of nanofoam for additional insulation and fire protection.
Centrala
The front and rear facades are made of translucent 20-millimeter-thick (.8 inches) polycarbonate, with two functional windows for cross ventilation. Although the narrow area could have rapidly become gloomy, the white side panels and polycarbonate facade allow for lots of light.
Centrala
The steep stairs, accessed via a trapdoor in the floor, open up into the main living room.
Centrala
A little bathroom — about the same size as a plane toilet — includes an open shower, a sink and a bathroom.
Centrala
The kitchenette has the basics: electrical stove, sink, refrigerator and microwave. Water and heat come through a few of the buildings next door.
Centrala
A tiny built-in dining room beyond the kitchenette has room for two.
Centrala
Centrala
A ladder leads from the living room to the working and sleeping compartment. The 35-inch-wide mattress (a little smaller than a double mattress) and a work desk capture lots of light from the translucent front facade.
Centrala
Here Keret sits on the border of the sleeping platform — it’s just big enough to allow him sit comfortably. “That is a space for one individual to write and think away from individuals, but still be near to the world when necessary,” states Szczęsny.
Centrala
Steel net on the side of the construction veils the two windows for privacy of the home. More photos from this project
Next: A Family Unwinds in 540 Square Feet