Studio apartment

The main room of a studio apartment in Minneapolis, MN, USA. The sofabed is to the right and a small alcove is partially seen to the left; not shown are the small kitchen and bathroom.

A studio apartment, also known as a studio flat (UK), a self-contained apartment (Nigeria),^[1] efficiency apartment or bachelor apartment, is a small apartment which combines living room, bedroom, and kitchenette into a single room.

Design

These kinds of apartments typically consist of one large room which serves as the living, dining, and bedroom. Kitchen facilities may either be located in the central room, or in a small separate room, and the bathroom is usually in its own smaller room.

Cost

Studio, efficiency, and bachelor style apartments all tend to be the smallest apartments with the lowest rents in a given area, usually ranging around 300 to 450 square feet (25–45 square metres) in the United States, but considerably smaller in countries such as Japan, South Korea, and several European capitals.

Global variations

Brazil

A studio apartment is called quitinete (from kitchenette). It is basically composed of one room, one bathroom, and a kitchen, which is often in the same space as the room. Lately, newly built quitinetes are starting to be called "studios", for the modern appeal English as a foreign language has.

Canada

Bachelor apartment, or simply "bachelor," is the common term in English Canada for any single room dwelling unit which is not a shared accommodation. A shared room, or particularly small bachelor, is sometimes referred to as a "bachelorette." Residents of the province of Quebec (most in French) widely use the term "studio" or "one and a half".

India

Studio apartments in general are called One room kitchen apartment featuring a hall cum bedroom, including a bathroom and attached kitchenette to the hall mostly availed by one or more Bachelor or a small family ranging around 200 to maximum up to 450 square feet (equivalent to approximately 15 – 40 square metres).^[2]

Italy

Italians call them "monolocale", meaning "one room". There is only one room with a kitchenette, and a separate bathroom.

Jamaica

Studio apartments are commonly referred to as quads; and are a common feature in Eastern Kingston. They generally consist of one main room, acting as the living room, dining room and bedroom. The kitchen exist within the same room, with partitioning wall. The bathroom is in a smaller room, by itself. These studio apartments generally come adequate yard space and washing facilities (on the outdoors). They have a bed, a stove and a TV too.

Japan

Japan has an even smaller variation of the studio apartment known as the one room mansion.

New Zealand

Known as studio rooms in New Zealand, they frequently feature a bedroom with study area and an en-suite bathroom. Spaces such as kitchen, lounge and dining area are communal between other people staying in that apartment.

Nigeria

In Nigeria, Studio apartments are known as "room self-contain apartments". These apartments typically have a single room; which serves as the living room and bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and a toilet (which is often merged with the bathroom).^[3] This form of housing is quite different from "Face-me-I-face-you" apartments, which are normally built facing each other, and with shared toilet(s), bathroom(s) and kitchen space.^[4]

Norway

Studio apartments in Norway are called "1-romsleilighet", ”one-room-apartment" in English, because they count both the living room and the bedrooms. Hence an apartment with one bedroom is called a "two-room-apartment" (2-romsleilighet).

Portugal

Studio apartments are called T0, the "0" meaning that the apartment has no separate bedrooms.

Romania

A studio apartment in Romania is known as "garsonieră", a word derived from the French "garçonnière". They are usually one room plus a separate bathroom, sometimes with a small, separate kitchen.

Singapore

Studio apartments, in the context of Singapore's public housing, are flats that are specifically built by the Housing and Development Board to cater to the growing senior citizen population. One must be at least 55 years old to purchase studio apartments. Since August 2015, the scheme was replaced by 2-room Flexi flats, which gives seniors the flexibility to select a lease period that suits them best.^[5]

South Korea

Studio apartments in Korea are called Officetel or One room.

United Kingdom

In British usage, a studio flat is a single room with cooking facilities which has its own bathroom attached. Traditionally, if a dwelling has a shared bathroom, it is known as a bedsit. This distinction is encountered less frequently, as are bedsits themselves (especially in large cities) due to the consequences of the Housing Act 1989 discouraging landlords from offering this once widespread type of accommodation.

United States

A variation common in New York City is the "L-shaped" or "alcove" studio, in which the central room branches off into a small alcove that can be used for sleeping or dining.

See also

• Bachelor pad
• List of house types

References

1. "The Difference Between a Mini Flat and Self Contained Explained". Property Center.
2. 1 BHK Flats in Pune: A Comparison of Good Residential Projects as dt. 7 June 2015
3. "Real Estate Terminology Guide Lagos Nigeria - Real Estate Terms". Nigeria Real Estate Investing Guide. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
4. Newswatch 14. Newswatch Communications Ltd. 1991. p. 10.