This home in the old Xuhui residential district of Shanghai in Leshan Road, China, has come to life after the fabulous renovation that was completed in 2017 thanks to the architectural firm FANAF. The project manager, architect Xin Jin, managed to create a small and cozy home space in only 31 square meters. Not only will the couple live here, but they will do so with their 51 cats. Yes, you read that right: 51 cats!
To begin the project, the designers lived with the clients and their cats in the space for a whole day. The unique experience allowed designers to understand the customers’ lifestyle needs and areas of concern by sharing a small area with so many cats. Through this experience, the designers identified that the room lacked separate areas. The living space of the couple was completely occupied by cats, which caused inconveniences to the owners.
The magnitude of the problem meant that it was common to find cat hair in kitchen utensils and sleep with more than a dozen cats at night. The owners did not have a place to relax alone and the guests could not sit and enjoy a conversation or stay for long periods. In addition, to prevent the cats from escaping, the windows were constantly closed, which meant that the room did not have adequate ventilation.
