Mini Apartment Projects

I had the great pleasure of constructing two model apartment units.  The owner wanted something in the office to show prospective tenants.  It was great getting paid to do something that was so much fun!  The project is located at a university so the units are seldom vacant ( or tidy) when someone wants to see what they look like inside.  The architecture firm that I worked for designed the units and I served as the  project manager during construction of the project.  The models are built at 1"=1'-0" and I was able to use some dollhouse furniture and scale parts, doors and some of the other pieces.  I had to build the windows to match the actual units.  I used 1/2" plywood for the walls and floors.  The upper area of the exterior also has wood siding.  All of the colors and materials used, match those in the actual building.

The first model is of the two story 2 bedroom townhouse unit.  It has a living area, kitchen, 1/2 bath, stackable washer and dryer and storage closet on the first floor and two bedrooms and a shared bathroom on the second floor.

 This view shows a closer look at the second floor, bedrooms, closets, bathroom and hall.

 This exterior detail shows the recessed front entry.

 Here is a shot of the interior living/dining area, stairs and storage closet near the front door.  I scanned in the actual carpet and printed it out at a small scale so that the unit would look pretty close to the real thing.  The paint colors were the same as the actual project as well.

 This view shows the kitchen.  I scanned in the plastic laminate for the counter tops and scaled in down and printed it for a realistic view.  The door under the stairs has a half bath while the louver door in the kitchen screens a stackable washer and dryer.

 This is a view of the front elevation of the townhouse unit.  I used scale dollhouse bricks and painted painted the cast stone pieces with a sand texture paint.

 This is a view of the rear of the townhouse unit and the back door.

 Here is a photograph of the actual apartment complex.  It gives you a better idea of how the 2 story townhouse units fit together.

The Studio Apartment

 This is a view of the studio apartment model.  It features, a large open plan for the kitchen and living area, a bathroom, and a large storage closet.  I put a small framed picture of the university president in the hall !

 This view shows the kitchen layout.  I scanned in the carpet, tile, laminate counter tops and matched the paint colors on the walls and the stain color on the cabinets so that the prospective clients would have a realistic view of where they were going to be living and what to expect.

 This view shows the living area opposite the kitchen.  It was kind of a challenge to find modern looking dollhouse scale furniture locally in the amount of time I had.

 This is a view of one of the bedrooms.

 This view shows the bathroom between the bedrooms, the stairs and hallway, and each of the bedroom closets.  I was able to use a dollhouse tub and toilet, but had to build the sink unit and cabinets.  It was fun building the closet storage systems out of small scale wood.

Lastly, here is an outdoor photograph of the building that houses the studio apartments and the rental office.  It is also home to the miniature apartment models.