flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Robotic interiors: How to make a studio apartment feel as big as a one-bedroom unit

Multifamily Housing

Robotic interiors: How to make a studio apartment feel as big as a one-bedroom unit

Meet Ori Living's robotically controlled, space-saving furniture system. 


By Robert Cassidy, Editor, Multifamily Design+Construction | July 17, 2019
Robotic interiors: How to make a studio apartment feel as big as a one-bedroom unit

Ori Studio Suite comes with a full or queen bed, a dining table or desk, a 50- or 60-inch TV nook, up to 133 cubic feet of storage, 48 to  60 inches of space to hang clothes, LED lighting, six outlets, and two USB ports. The system “adds” up to 136 of usable square footage to the unit. Cost: $7,000 to $15,000, depending on order quantity. Photo: Ori Living

What if furniture could have superpowers?

That’s the concept Hasier Larrea toyed with as he and his fellow MIT Media Lab graduate students—Carlos Rubio, Chad Bean, and Ivan Fernandez de Casadevante—explored how to use robotics to make interior spaces more efficient and usable.

That inquiry led to the founding four years ago of Boston-based Ori, Inc., which has developed two robotically controlled, space-saving furniture systems: Ori Studio Suite (and its Studio Suite Slim version), a movable structure that holds a bed, desk, table, and TV nook and has room for storage; and Ori Pocket Closet, which comes with similar accoutrements minus the bed.

 

SEE ALSO: What multifamily developers are saying about Ori Living's robotic interior system

 

To date, Ori has installed nearly 100 of its robotic furniture systems in more than 25 apartment buildings, primarily in Boston, Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco—cities where affordable rentals are scarce. But it took the inventor most of the decade to get market acceptance for what originally seemed like a pie-in-the-sky technology.

Larrea grew up in San Sebastián, in Spain’s Basque region. He played fútbol for Real Sociedad through high school and went on to earn BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering at the University of Navarra. In 2011, he got an opportunity to work with Kent Larson, Director of the City Science research group at the MIT Media Lab.

Larrea and Larson challenged themselves to go beyond traditional thinking about interior spaces as “assigned” to a single function—a bedroom only, a living room only. “We wanted to bring mechanics software and control into a moving wall, to remove the physical constraints so that you could use as much of the space as possible,” said Larrea. They called the new field of research “robotic interiors.”

 

 

Starting in 2014 or so, Larrea, aided by his fellow grad students, developed several prototypes, many of them inspired by their work at MIT’s LEGO Mindstorms. The next crucial step was to standardize the product. “We wanted to create a kit of parts, so that every time we had a new idea—for electronics, or software, or safety—we wouldn’t have to start from scratch.” Standardization, they believed, was crucial to the success of the system. “There are only so many ways you can move things in three dimensions,” said Larrea.

After graduating from the MIT program in 2015, Larrea launched the company through the MIT delta v student entrepreneurship program. His thesis reviewer, the Media Lab’s Nicholas Negroponte, introduced him to industrial designer Yves Behar, whose FuseProject team came up with the brand name for the product: “ori,” a Japanese term meaning “to fold” (think “origami”).

Ori rented an apartment in Boston’s Seaport district to test the product. “We got random people to stay for a weekend over a two-year period, to see what they liked and didn’t like,” said Larrea. “The system proved to be incredibly robust.” After rigorous safety testing  the system has been certified by UL.

I asked Larrea why the big furniture makers didn’t come up with such a system. “Furniture makers and robotics people don’t understand each other,” he said. “That’s where we saw the potential to bring these two fields together.”

Next up: The Ori “Cloud Bed,” a robotically controlled bed that descends from the ceiling, deus ex machina–style.

 

Ori Studio Suite in daytime position (top) and in nighttime position (bottom). Photos: Ori Living

 

Ori Pocket Closet in closed position (top). It opens (via black button) for access to clothes, etc. (above). Pocket Closet comes with 110 cubic feet of storage, 140 inches of hanging space, a desk, 48-inch TV nook, LED lighting, three outlets, and two USB ports and adds the equivalent of 40 square feet of usable space to an apartment. Cost: $3,000 to $7,000. Photos: Ori Living

Related Stories

Sponsored | Multifamily Housing | Jun 29, 2023

Hello Atlanta!

Multifamily Housing | Jun 29, 2023

5 ways to rethink the future of multifamily development and design

The Gensler Research Institute’s investigation into the residential experience indicates a need for fresh perspectives on residential design and development, challenging norms, and raising the bar.

Office Buildings | Jun 28, 2023

When office-to-residential conversion works

The cost and design challenges involved with office-to-residential conversions can be daunting; designers need to devise creative uses to fully utilize the space.

Multifamily Housing | Jun 28, 2023

Sutton Tower, an 80-story multifamily development, completes construction in Manhattan’s Midtown East

In Manhattan’s Midtown East, the construction of Sutton Tower, an 80-story residential building, has been completed. Located in the Sutton Place neighborhood, the tower offers 120 for-sale residences, with the first move-ins scheduled for this summer. The project was designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen and developed by Gamma Real Estate and JVP Management. Lendlease, the general contractor, started construction in 2018.

Affordable Housing | Jun 27, 2023

Racial bias concerns prompt lawmakers to ask HUD to ban biometric surveillance, including facial recognition

Two members of the U.S. House of Representative have asked the Department of Housing and Urban Development to end the use of biometric technology, including facial recognition, for surveillance purposes in public housing. 

Apartments | Jun 27, 2023

Average U.S. apartment rent reached all-time high in May, at $1,716

Multifamily rents continued to increase through the first half of 2023, despite challenges for the sector and continuing economic uncertainty. But job growth has remained robust and new households keep forming, creating apartment demand and ongoing rent growth. The average U.S. apartment rent reached an all-time high of $1,716 in May.

Apartments | Jun 27, 2023

Dallas high-rise multifamily tower is first in state to receive WELL Gold certification

HALL Arts Residences, 28-story luxury residential high-rise in the Dallas Arts District, recently became the first high-rise multifamily tower in Texas to receive WELL Gold Certification, a designation issued by the International WELL Building Institute. The HKS-designed condominium tower was designed with numerous wellness details.

Multifamily Housing | Jun 19, 2023

Adaptive reuse: 5 benefits of office-to-residential conversions

FitzGerald completed renovations on Millennium on LaSalle, a 14-story building in the heart of Chicago’s Loop. Originally built in 1902, the former office building now comprises 211 apartment units and marks LaSalle Street’s first complete office-to-residential conversion.

Urban Planning | Jun 15, 2023

Arizona limits housing projects in Phoenix area over groundwater supply concerns

Arizona will no longer grant certifications for new residential developments in Phoenix, it’s largest city, due to concerns over groundwater supply. The announcement indicates that the Phoenix area, currently the nation’s fastest-growing region in terms of population growth, will not be able to sustain its rapid growth because of limited freshwater resources. 

Multifamily Housing | Jun 15, 2023

Alliance of Pittsburgh building owners slashes carbon emissions by 45%

The Pittsburgh 2030 District, an alliance of property owners in the Pittsburgh area, says that it has reduced carbon emissions by 44.8% below baseline. Begun in 2012 under the guidance of the Green Building Alliance (GBA), the Pittsburgh 2030 District encompasses more than 86 million sf of space within 556 buildings. 

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021