How many rooms would you like in your apartment? Three? Four? How about two now, because money's tight, but growing to three, five or even 10 as life unfolds? Change over time, without your having
![Simon Wilson](https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/nzme/024b4a01-30c7-4ae7-9638-10f1770d7d08.png)
Simon Wilson
110 Rooms: Flexible apartments in Barcelona. Photo / supplied
![This year, a bedroom. Next year, maybe it becomes another living room... flexible living at 110 Rooms in Barcelona. Photo / supplied](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/3DHY5TOC7ULQ3ZNBOSOJWR5YTI.jpg?auth=e70a06b2e9cdcc483e913ac08714e70349880a4ca14b2afe4a3597dc8ab20162&width=16&height=24&quality=70&smart=true)
![Floor plan shows 4 apartments with 5 rooms each including kitchen in the middle, and 2 bathrooms. A "staggered enfilade" allows a view from the entry through 3 rooms to the balcony. Image / supplied](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/LDE3ADEHLPWQYIGAPF3UQC3BMY.jpg?auth=609f5c54aded24112113e1204347c4ce8374c1e30c82a925a287e7ed4d521f57&width=16&height=8&quality=70&smart=true)
Each floor has a central "patio" with lift and stairs and no roof: an aid to natural ventilation. On the ground floor there are two more apartments and access to a communal back garden.
The layout means that every apartment configuration from two rooms to 10 allows each one to have at least one bathroom and a kitchen. All you need to do, to expand or contract your home, is come to an agreement with your neighbour about who will own which rooms and then you just fill in, or open up, the relevant doorways.
110 Rooms is in an historic part of the city, where it's common to find buildings with similar-sized rooms whose function has changed over time. And it's designed to blend in. Wooden-framed french doors with traditional wooden shutters open on to small balconies. The exterior has a modern ceramic layer for thermal efficiency but is finished in a traditional patterned lime stucco.
"Zero invention, pure reproduction," say the architects. "The facade represents, through its pattern, the memory of the area's old inhabitants." Not flashy, just beautiful.
As the apartment boom rolls on in Auckland, how about some of this long-term inbuilt flexibility getting a look in?
![View from a living area with bedroom to the right, kitchen beyond and another living area behind that. Photo / supplied](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/YSDNO4S2QQAEMZSFQ7LQ25CRVY.jpg?auth=4499da55232795eea27ca8f883c1dc32c161b39a5aa15f086e19b2cc4e1d702d&width=16&height=24&quality=70&smart=true)
![The openings to each room are wide, with double sliding doors. Photo supplied](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/IIWNLUFG3O7YID7E4PYYDM4FXA.jpg?auth=abb95198d1f436a0069fc57411dd5f681e82001d501a44df1a9c561ceaf23d54&width=16&height=24&quality=70&smart=true)
Design for Living is a Canvas magazine series presenting good ideas that make cities better.