For new apartments, small doesn’t have to mean cramped. KTGY's studio director in Denver, Nathan Sciarra, tells us how it’s possible.

This is Nathan with his family at a recent Broncos game. You don't have to be a child to enjoy a diminutive apartment: wide and shallow is the key. “The historical unit plan was always deeper than it was wide," Nathan tells us. "What we’ve done is made the unit wider than it is deep, allowing more daylight into it and making what's a small unit actually feel much larger.”

Nathan says the technique was used in the 352-unit Aster Conservatory Green, a Denver apartment development by Forest City Enterprises, where construction wraps this month. Units range from 550 SF to 1,400 SF, and he explains that the apartment’s design represents an updated version of the typical three-story walk-up and addresses the need for increased density and a more cost-effective design. It’s also important that overall the building is pedestrian-friendly: “A central paseo with the outdoor amenities runs north-south through the site to encourage walking and connectivity."