Two Romanian architecture students were selected from hundreds of other applicants to design an apartment to maximize limited floor space in New York. The project is led by entrepreneur Graham Hill and the 40 sqm LifeEdited apartment features a host of neat space saving tricks, including sliding walls, fold down beds and an enormous dining table that seats eight people, but packs down to virtually nothing.

With a chic, clean modern aesthetic, the apartment uses what is essentially a single space. However, the space can be quickly converted; from one room to two, from office to living space, to kitchen and dining room. LifeEdited founder and CEO Graham Hills says the aim is to create high quality living spaces that are affordable and environmentally friendly, within the restricted floor areas available in cities.

Graham Hill said he crowdsourced the design and selected Catalin Sandu and Adrian Iancu from 300 other applicants. The two Romanians designed much of the LifeEdited apartment. “I ended up selecting these two Romanian architecture students, Adrian and Catalin, and this is really largely their design” said Graham Hill. The apartment also has environmental design features, such as photovoltaic cells and a low water use dishwasher.

The apartment is in New York's Soho district and measures just 420 square feet, or just over 39 sqm. Treehugger.com founder Graham Hill started the LifeEdited project in 2009. The company is currently negotiating with developers to construct apartment buildings based on the design in several cities. Catalin Sandu is the chief designer for LifeEdited, he is also currently studying architecture at the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, in Bucharest.

Find out more on the LifeEdited website and see video of the apartment below.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

photo source: lifeedited.com