A co-living development in Harold's Cross in Dublin would have rooms smaller than the cells in Mountjoy Prison if approved.
The Sunday Business Post reports the developers want to include one room of 6.3 square metres and another of 7.5 square metres.
A third would be just 9.7 square metres.
The largest cells in Mountjoy measure 3.91m by 2.06m -- or 8.05 square metres.
The national guidelines require a minimum of 12 square metres for a co-living development -- a form of housing which has already faced severe criticism.
The Harold's Cross site is being developed by Ireland Israel JV Fund Ltd. and Martin Property.
In their application to City Council planners, they have asked for "a degree of flexibility" to fit in three of the 61 planned rooms in the complex.
Architect Orla Hegarty, who lectures at University College Dublin, compared it to the sort of micro-apartment available to rent in Hong Kong -- the most densely populated city in the world.
‘Developers request ‘flexibility’ to reduce co-living unit’
.. & if you’re wondering what a 6 m.sq. room looks like https://t.co/YQ2rTnUDgQ via @sundaybusiness pic.twitter.com/PVC3K50m8I— Orla Hegarty (@Orla_Hegarty) August 18, 2019
She added the room would be unlikely to be approved on the grounds of having too little air space once furniture had been installed.
Local Labour councillor Mary Freehill says it's an inevitable result of the policies brought in by housing minister Eoghan Murphy.
"I think it's absolutely appalling. We put an enormous amount of time into developing our city development plan and updating it," she said. "It's a terrible pity that we've a minister now who's thrown that out the window, allowing smaller, inhuman standards, she said.
"It's not acceptable -- it's just a developer's charter," she added.
