bijou

This year's search showcased a variety of home styles including quirky conversions, grand designs, period renovations and bijou pads.

“Watermark is also a must,” says Maul of the bijou bookstore.

After his friends go home, he makes for his bedroom, a bijou space to the rear of the apartment that’s appointed with a simple antique Iranian table and a Flos Parentesi lamp.

The bijou dwelling is an example of what campaigners say is a growing phenomenon of micro-homes, driven by high rent and property prices.

With not even a loo on board, it’s definitely on the bijou side for an eight-hour working day, but for Sigwart, director of the marine laboratory at Queen’s University, Belfast, the experience is worth it.