Year 9 Designs Micro Apartments

At MLC School, we prioritise fostering creativity in our students as a vital skill for their future success. Through various lessons and initiatives, we encourage them to think creatively in all areas of learning and problem solving.

In Year 9 Geography, students are investigating the challenges of overpopulation and urbanisation and the need for innovative solutions. Year 9 geography students were given the daunting yet exciting task to: design a living space that could accommodate the needs of individuals in densely populated cities.

Working in groups, students became urban planners, architects and interior designers aiming to design a 12 square metre micro apartment, which contained:

• A bedroom
• Kitchen
• Bathroom
• Study space
• Balcony

To accompany their floor plan students created a mood board of the furniture, colour scheme and all the essentials needed for everyday life. Each group also had to complete a walk through of their apartment to our guest judges, practising their sales and marketing skills to entice people to live in their apartment.

Here is a summary of some groups’ key learnings:

• Our key learning was about different layouts of houses in densely populated areas such as Tokyo, Japan. We also focused on how to utilise space effectively. What we enjoyed particularly was collaborating with our peers in a fun group activity and planning the space as well as giving a walk through to other people. –
  Chelsea, Joanne, Nicola and Angela
• We loved the Tokyo Micro apartment activity as it was a hands-on, unique and creative experience that opened our eyes to the world of designing. By designing a Tokyo Micro apartment during our Geography lesson, we learnt how to maximise use in a small space. From this activity, we also learnt architectural design skills such as dimensions, overall design, colour schemes, and features.
  – Andrea and Eleanor
• I really liked the Tokyo Micro Apartment activity because it allowed me to visualise what a Japanese apartment may look like, and it helped me to understand how to pack the essentials into a small space, maximising sustainability.
  – Sacha
• The most enjoyable part of the activity would’ve been laying out our plan together. It’s satisfying watching your ideas ‘come to life’ and have them be to scale, allowing it to be more immersive. Honestly, the whole experience was really fun and elating.
  – Cheylene and Baylie

For us as teachers the micro apartments showed the power of authentic learning experiences in education. By immersing students in real-world challenges, we cultivate curiosity, creativity, and resilience.

– Danielle Rodrigues
Head of Department – Human Society and its Environment (HSIE)

Click on image gallery for full size images.