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The Shoebox: A 16m2 Micro Apartment in Beirut

With less and less affordable housing available, especially in larger cities, downsizing has become a necessity for anyone attached to city living. Beirut is one such city, leading to micro apartments growing in popularity. The Shoebox, which spans a mere 16m2 (approx. 172 square feet), makes scaling back much more feasible with built-in functionality added everywhere for maximum efficiency. Designed by Elie Metni, the micro apartment is located on the roof of an older building in the center of the Achrafieh district of Beirut, a mere steps from restaurants and shops.

The elongated interior is kept white, enhancing the natural light that floods the space making it appear larger. The unit offers flexibility allowing it to adapt as the client needs it to, especially when visitors come to stay. The dining table flips up and rolls out with two chairs hidden underneath for company.

Large square tiles clad the kitchen floor and walls and continue into the bathroom just behind it.

The couch has storage underneath for books and magazines, along with a coffee table and cup holder/trash can/foot rest that come out when needed.

A double bed houses storage underneath with a bit of storage on each side that are decked out with electrical plugs for phone charging.

Photos by Marwan Harmouche.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.