Range takes a close look at one of Asia's and urban metropolises' most common problem; space.

Adapting to small living spaces has always been a challenge. This is not only a challenge in big urban cities, but also everywhere else where space is at a premium. A perfect example of this is living in Asia. Sometimes, living spaces are so tiny that you wonder how you can live in them.

Paris based H2O Architectes came up with a novel idea while remodeling a 12m² space in France. They’ve named their concept Chatou. It is a garden pavilion where the furniture forms the entire livable space inside.

It is arranged into four split levels, dividing the 12m² space into a living space for a teenager. It’s made out of birch plywood and allows for washing, sleeping, studying and playing. The pavilion is located in the backyard. The intent of the original design was to enable a teenager to live independently and autonomously.

We love how efficiently this space is used. It makes us think that many smaller spaces can be made comfortable by using a system like this. We can just image the high rises in Asia using systems like these to maximize the available space. We could see beds, storage spaces, desks and multimedia consoles that could all be seamlessly integrated into one unit.

Photographs by Stéphane Chalmeau.

[via Dezeen]