A Model Flat

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 30, 6 February 1931, Page 32

A Model Flat

Ingenious Design N exhibit which aroused great. interest at a recent London exhibition was a flat planned by Miss Hdna Mosely, A.R.I.B.A., for the occupation of a "bachelor girl," and. intended to illustrate the domestic uses of electricity. The plan of the flat is in itself of great interest (says "The Lady"). The vestibule is arranged so that from the entrance there is no vista through doors left open by accident. Two built-in cupboards give ample room for the tidy and convenient storage of coats. Throughout the flat the furniture is of the built-in kind, so that the occupant has little to buy and has quarters more roomy than they could be with the usual type of furnishing:: On the left, a door leads to the bathroom and separate lavatory. ‘The bathroom has. a heated linen cupboard with slatted ‘shelves, a.square-sided bath, a lavatory basin, and a glass shelf: ‘for toilet articles. It can‘also be entered from the kitchen, this giving a way from kitchen to entrance ‘door without passing through the living-room. On.the right, a door from the vestibule leads into the bedroom-small, but so well fitted that it feels as. convenient as a cabin in a luxurious yacht. The bed is built in along one side and can be transformed into a divan by day. At its head is a modern table with a glass top, and in the corner, at its foot, is a dressing-table fitting, well lighted from the window giving on to the veranda, The opposite side of the wall is completely fitted with wardrobes, shelves, and drawers-planned to hold a woman’s belongings. and to-close up tidily when.

not in.use. An ingenious notion is the placing .of the telephone in a doubledoored cupboard between the bedroom and the living-room, so that the instrument ean be used from either room. A drawer for the telephone directory can be pulled out in either room as the book is required. Beyond the bedroom is the largest room in the flat, a living-room measuring 15ft. 10in, by 12ft. 4in, Here, again, the furniture is built in, leaving a pleasingly .open floor space. There is an electric fire set in a fire space of black glass and flanked by book shelves. In the angle of the room is a couch, and at this end a door opens on to a black-tiled veranda with flower-boxes and separated from the neighbouring verandah by an opaque glass screen, This veranda is one of the most’; iable thingy in the flat. Only a wo who has had to live in confined quarters in a town knows how greatly the possession of a balcony adds to the amenities of a dwelling and how essential a part it is of the ideal flat. A tiny balcony gives a feeling of freedoom and soothes the restless longing to be out and away from which tke woman in "rooms" usually suffers. Its good effect on health and spirits ean scarce be over-estimated. The American plan of arranging a fitted dining recess between kitchen and living room has been followed by Miss Mosely in this flat for a single woman. A fixed seat has been built round one corner, and before it is the dining table. The opposite wall of the recess is fitted as a sideboard. The beautifully planned kitchen opens off this dining recess. Like the veranda, it has a black tiled floor. Un. der the window is the sink, with a ger erous draining board at the left-hand side. The space over the refrigerator is occupied by the food safe, ventilated by outside air. Next comes the china cupboard, then the dresser, and the broom cupboard. The electric cooker occupies the centre of the opposite wall and gets light from the window over the sink. A flap table is fixed at one side of the cooker, and forms a handy place for setting down dishes. Almost the only furniture the owner of such a flat would need to buy would be chairs, so completely does the fitted furniture satisfy her requirements. How easy the flat is to run, any woman can see, The pleasure of working in it is enough to tempt the most undomesticated to look around for a cooking apron! Yet, with all its simplicity, its dg space, and, as dwellings go, its"low cost, it is a flat in which any legitimate desires for ease and refinement of life can be satisfied as few women living alone in. large towns can satisfy them now. It is greatly to be hoped that dwellings of this sort will soon be available here.