With shapeshifting furniture, 'Niche' aims to prove people can still live large in smaller footprint
TAMPA, Fla. - The Jetsons might have been onto something decades ago with their futuristic, do-it-all furniture. But in 2021, the Murphy bed looks quite different, and you’ll be able to find it at a local Tampa apartment in a few years.
"Niche," a new apartment complex set to open in North Hyde Park in 2023 will feature micro-units, maximized by shapeshifting furniture.
"This about a whole new world, where furniture has superpowers," said Hasier Larrea, the CEO of Ori, which developed the technology the developers are using.
During a demonstration over Zoom with FOX 13, Larrea showed how the moving unit works.
![](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox13news.com/www.fox13news.com/content/uploads/2021/09/932/524/NICHE-at-North-Hyde-Park-Aeriel-View-Wingspan-Development-Group-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Courtesy Wingspan Development Group
"Right now, we are in a living room position, which means the whole space is an open space, it’s a living room," he said. "I will press the closet button, and the system will transform, to basically give me a walk-in closet."
The retractable bed, closet and dining room table will move by the push of a button, or through your smartphone. The technology was developed five years ago by engineers at MIT, and since has been incorporated in apartments across the country.
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The name, Ori, stems from Origami, the Japanese art of folding. And that’s just what it does.
Larrea demonstrated how a closet is also a desk space, but also a bed.
"What if you can have the experience of a walk-in closet, just when you need it? I can access my clothes, et cetera and then when I’m done with my closet I can collapse it."
The bed can be a full-size or queen size in Niche’s Ori unit.
![](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox13news.com/www.fox13news.com/content/uploads/2021/09/932/524/Niche-Rendering-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Courtesy Wingspan Development Group
Developers Wingspan Development Group and ABC Capital Corp. say the studios will range from 350 to 400 square feet, and pricing should start just under $1,000/month.
That could change by the time they open in 2023, but here’s a comparison of how much a studio costs around "Niche’s" location, as of this publishing:
- Novel Apartments in Midtown – $2,155 (558 Sq Feet)
- Manor Riverwalk - $2,200 (570 Sq Feet)
- Channel Club - $2,170 (511 Sq Feet)
- Anchor Riverwalk - $1,700 (528 Sq Feet)
"At the end of the day, what they’re getting is a studio that’s feeling and acting like one bedroom, at the price that’s closer to a studio," Larrea added.