The Greenest Apartment in London
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.25.07
We do go on about "less is the new more" and "living with less is the key to sustainability" and often get criticized for showing modern prefabs that cost $ 400 per foot. However this 77 square foot former storage room is for sale in Knightsbridge, London for $ 335,000, or $ 4,340 per square foot, ten times as expensive as our so-called overpriced prefabs. It is "about the size of a ship's galley, said real estate agent Andrew Scott, who's handling the sale. "But it's permanently anchored to one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the world." We also often say that cities are the most efficient way to live- If New York City was a state, it would be 51st in terms of energy use per capita, primarily because people live in smaller spaces and walk. Here you can walk to the food halls of Harrods. Small space, walking distance to shopping and parks, what could be greener? ! ::Yahoo via ::Apartment Therapy
77 square feet???? I"m all for living compact and green but that' s just silly.
I bet the people who are selling it are laughing all the way to the bank.
It sure would be interesting to report back on this in a couple of months.. to see if it has sold (I guess it will, though surely for less than the est. 170.000 pounds) and what was made out of it.
I for one wish there were more smaller homes on the market.
77 square feet is silly, but not by much.
150 sq feet? Not too bad, methinks!
If it's well-designed, you could get a bed, toilet and shower in there, and if you're not planning on spending much time at home it could be liveable. However, if I were making that sort of sacrifice I'd expect cheap rent in return!
What's the bet that it'll be snapped up by a business just to get a posh postcode? It's been known to happen.
Come on, there's nothing green about this. It's only the ludicrous price that has made it into the news. It's simply an extreme example of the inflated property prices that are symptomatic of housing in the UK.
Compact living works well when you can share community spaces with others: gathering space, greenspace, relaxing space, eating space, etc. A lot of private housing space is dedicated to things that we either rarely use or could easily and comfortably share. Having a free or affordable library, community center, public transportation, public gardening space, theater, local grocer, hotel/hostel, gym, and art/craft studio in your neighborhood means that you don't necessarily need your own library room, big living room, garage/parking space, yard, entertainment center, big refrigerator and pantry, guest room, workout room, and craft space actually in your home! Imagine how much space that would save!
College dorms, coop housing, and senior citizen developments already are on the right track, and can be expanded upon to accomodate a more diverse range of residents and businesses for a wide range of communities.
That's smaller than a prison cell, which would be free to live in.
> That's smaller than a prison cell, which would be free to live in. [Pun intended?]
As a matter of (off-topic) fact: in the Netherlands they are currently debating a law to change precisely this. Under the new law inmates, or at least the rich ones, would be forced to pay for their accommodation.
And guess how much a cell costs?
Well, approx. 250.000 euro for construction (and an additional 100.00 euro a year for 'other expenses').
It turns out the 250.000 euro pricetag on this London apartment ain't too bad in comparison - it might not be big, but at least you have your own key!
Its not suprising this flat was found in one of the top areas of London - Knightsbridge. There are also flats in Knightsbridge that have 3 beds that cost over £12 Million. Your mostly paying for the Location.