The way we live and work is changing dramatically and the home is increasingly becoming our office, yet a spare room to set up shop is a luxury few of us can afford – especially if we live in apartments.

Sydney-based architect, Brad Swartz, knows this all too well and his Darlinghurst renovation of a 36-square metre studio apartment has been widely recognised as a benchmark of creating a multifunctional home. Inserting a central joinery system and shifting the locations of kitchen and bedroom, he has created a fold-out work station, entertainment unit and wine rack, as well as screening the couple’s bedroom and bathroom from the main living area.

Created for down-sizers with a family, Swartz’s Milsons Point apartment enable the home-office to be turned into a temporary bedroom. Photography Katherine Lu.

It is an approach Swartz has also taken with his Milsons Point project, a one-bedroom apartment conversion for a downsizing couple. Again, shifting spaces and clever joinery have created an office, out of sight of the living area, with a fold-out bed for when the kids come to visit. A signature move perhaps – this young architect is leading the way for those who want more for the square metre in the inner city.

Charles Wilson’s Carafe table for Herman Miller functions as both desk and dining table.

Furniture too is responding to this change in our day-to-day… Charles Wilson’s Carafe table for Herman Miller is designed specifically to function as a dining table and a desk, with a clever storage drawer perfect for stowing the laptop when dinner is served. Similarly, Nathan Day’s Pieman desk for Dessein Furniture takes the same approach, though this combination of work and life raises ergonomic issues.

Traditionally, a desk sits slightly lower than a dining table and thus office chairs take on a different dimension to those we use at home. There are only centimetres in it, but sitting for hours in a chair that is designed for shorter, more casual use can have serious effects on comfort and posture – and ultimately productivity. This doesn’t mean we should surround our dining table with office chairs, but when buying chairs for the dining room/office it should be considered.

Nathan Day’s Pieman Desk for Dessein Furniture, also functions as a dining table and an elegant workstation.

So, too, we should consider our lighting choices, as a pendant designed to set the mood doesn’t produce the same quality or colour of light conducive to work. For more information on the effect of lighting temperature, read our piece here, though in essence a dimmer switch should be the minimum consideration. It will also define the type of lighting you invest in, as only certain types of globes can be used in this instance.

Clearly, in creating a productive home working environment everything needs to work together or – in the case of Swartz’s project – be designed for a specific set of functions.

WRITTEN BY HouseLab