A new, innovative housing model, ‘Tiny Houses’, has been created to offer sustainable, mobile and affordable living as the trend for minimalist design and flexible living continues to grow globally.
The Tiny Houses, which range from 18 – 23 sq/m provide the key essentials, including a bathroom, heating system and electrical power supply, but have been expertly designed to encourage people to comfortably live more simply, sustainably and efficiently.
The unique homes have been built almost entirely from wood, and each is clad with Kebony, a global leader in the production of sustainable modified wood, which provides a stylish finish, resistance to harsh weather conditions and requires little to no maintenance.
Ensuring the homes were built with a key focus on sustainability was a priority for the architects,KOOP Architekten & Ingenieure, who realised the vision for a new housing model, which produces a small environmental footprint and encourages people to understand how to live with less.
The Managing Director of KOOP Architekten & Ingenieure, Lars Christoph, explains: “In a life where materials aspects are reduced to just the essentials, more space is actually created for what’s truly important.. for flexibility and personal freedom... The owners will enjoy the homes for a long time. Kebony gives a 30-year guarantee on its woods – and that’s something I trust, too.”
The Tiny Houses also respond directly to those in need of affordable accommodation, particularly as the housing becomes even scarcer and more expensive, especially in German cities, where the first Tiny Houses by KOOP Architekten have been built.
The mobility of the homes has also proved to be very attractive to buyers looking for holiday homes which can be transported simply by car trailer, providing further flexibility to owners looking to travel both domestically and internationally.
Mette Valen, Sales Manager Norway at Kebony added: “Kebony is delighted to have contributed to these forward-thinking homes which offer a solution to many of the challenges new home owners face today. Kebony wood is perfect for the design of the Tiny Houses, and will stand the test of time in the same way this new model for housing will too.”
Developed in Norway, Kebony’s revolutionary technology is an environmentally friendly process which modifies sustainably sourced softwoods by heating the wood with furfuryl alcohol - an agricultural by-product. By polymerising the wood’s cell wall, the softwoods permanently take on the attributes of tropical hardwood including high durability, hardness and dimensional stability.
Kebony’s environmental credentials and ability to withstand all weather conditions made it the ideal material for the exterior cladding of the Tiny Houses.
