Architects Arjun Desai and Kathy Chia have been known to “treat every space like a laboratory experiment” (Food and Wine). This appetite for dynamic innovation is in some measure owed to their experience as grad students in M.I.T.’s Architecture program, known for its keen eye for the adaptive potential of the new and unusual. Now based in NYC, Desai and Chia are frequently forced to come to terms with the spatial constraints posed by the unprecedented yet historic social undertaking known as the Manhattan apartment.

Recess Lav. Designed by Arjun Desai and Kathy Chia for AF New York.

Not to stray too close to the familiar “rats in a cage” cliche, but all those people crammed into all those studios from the Battery to the Bronx require very careful attention to the placement of their apartment’s accoutrements. In regards to the bare necessities–like vanity and sink–space-conservation is it a premium. Desai and Chia’s Recess Lav for AF New York shows an eagerness to work with modest confines rather than against them. In fact, this Euro-style unit achieves the nifty trick of creating space out of thin air.

Offering an “integrated, seamles, multi-functional sink-backsplash-storage unit with distinctive design sensibility,” the Recess Lav looks beyond the walls for its installation (at least, that is, beyond the drywall). The combo sink-storage unit fits flush with standard studs, occupying the bay behind finished walls which is usually reserved for empty space. The concept creates a clean and seamless look that conserves approximately two and one-quarter cubic feet of precious space (that’s 3.375″ x 2′ x 4′). The innovatory nature of the Recess Lav doesn’t end there. Its recessed installation creates a niche to contain overspill, and its durable resin construction eliminates the need to tile your backsplash. Sure, the look might be a bit bare bones, but that’s a small price to pay for creating some much vaunted wiggle room in your boudoir.