Saving Space —Flat Pack
A flat-pack chair that converts into a low table, designed for domestic workers in Hong Kong’s cramped quarters.
- Reading
- 03 min
- Figures
- 14
Around 370,000 foreign domestic workers live and work in Hong Kong, many in rooms where even a small IKEA bed won’t fit. With input from the user, Maricel, I designed flat-pack furniture that converts between a chair and a low table, with hollowed sections for storage — four flat parts that slot together without glue.
- Role
- Designer
- Disciplines
- Furniture Design
- Flat-Pack
- Social Design
- User Research
- Tools
- Hand sketching / Coloured-pencil rendering / Radar-chart evaluation / Scale modelling
Space is limited in Hong Kong. That’s a fact.”
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world — and has one of the highest densities of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) anywhere. Around 370,000 FDWs work in the city, 5% of its population, mostly from Indonesia (49.4%) and the Philippines (48%).
Cramped quarters
With so little space, FDWs often live in cramped quarters. The minimum household income to hire an FDW is around 15,000 HKD, yet the average family dwelling is under 56 m², and a single-bedroom apartment near the city centre rents for around 16,575 HKD.
As a result, only two-thirds of FDWs have suitable living quarters — and even small beds, like those from IKEA, may not fit in most maids’ rooms.
My proposal: flat-pack furniture that makes the most of that space by doing several jobs at once — storage that expands into a table and a chair, with hollowed sections for extra storage. Simple to assemble, in durable and affordable chipboard.
370,000
foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong — 5% of the population
< 56 m²
average family dwelling
2/3
of FDWs have suitable living quarters
16,575
HKD rent for a single-bedroom flat near the centre
Practical over pretty
In a brief consultation, the user, Maricel, preferred designs 1, 5 and 6. The others looked creative and appealing — initial #3 especially — but they weren’t practical for her situation or for the problem we needed to solve.
With the three she chose, she could clearly picture where they would go and how she would use them every day, for sitting and for storage: minimal, functional, and meeting her criteria.
Two rejected, one selected
Each developed design was scored on a radar chart — function, aesthetics, size, user, material, cost, safety and environment — by me, my friend Lucy and the user.
A cube seat with a hinged backrest and a wall-mounted storage box with dovetail joints were both rejected. The third, a chair that converts into a low-profile table, was selected.
Fig. 07Cube seat with hinged backrest — rejected
Fig. 08Wall-mounted dovetail box — rejected
Fig. 09Convertible chair and low table — selected
Final design
- 01
Chair ↔ table
Rotate the side pieces, lay the backrest and seat across them, and the chair becomes a low-profile table.
- 02
Four flat parts
A backrest, a seat and two identical side pieces.
- 03
No glue
Every part connects with cross-halving joints, cut to fit.
- 04
105° seat
An inclined, ergonomic seat for sitting, while the table surface stays flat.
- 05
Storage
Hollowed sections give extra space for small items.
- 06
≈ 100–150 HKD
Estimated cost of the selected design.
