US-based freelance photographer Mandy Lea has been travelling the country in a teardrop trailer for the past two years, capturing amazing shots of nature along the way. She decided on this change in lifestyle after realizing the day job was burning her out, while her true passion—photography—was getting neglected. So she traded in the “normal” life for a nomadic one and has yet to regret it. (more…)
Small homes might well be the answer for people looking to downsize, but are not quite ready to go all the way to a tiny home. Small homes, which usually measure upwards of 400 sq ft are also more fitting for families, while still allowing great overall savings. This so-called starter home was designed by Paul Hennessy of Park Homes in Christchurch, New Zealand, and it is small, affordable and built to Passive House standards. (more…)
Tiny homes aren’t exactly known for being weather-resilient but the so-called Amsterdam 24, made by Transcend Tiny Homes of Tennessee, is an exception. This home offers plenty of storage, is lightweight and towable, and can withstand high winds.
The Amsterdam 24 rests atop a 24 ft (7.3 m)-long double-axle trailer, which is where it gets its name from. The interior measures 292 sq ft (27 sq m), and since its walls are made of fiberglass composite it only weighs 8,340 lbs (3,782 kg), which is about one third the weight of a typical wood frame tiny home. The composite walls were made by a special technique, which involves laminating two high strength phenolic resin based fiberglass skins onto a foam core. This means that a standard 8 x 10 ft (2.4 x 3 m) wall section takes 115,000 lbs (52,163 kg) of pressure. They fuse the layers into the wall panel using a foaming gorilla type glue and in this way the fiberglass skin acts as a sort of exoskeleton of the shell. (more…)
Say what you will, but tiny houses are fun! And the Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses firm makes some of the most unique ones in the world. They completed this barn-like tiny home for a client who recently retired and wanted a cozy, functional and affordable home. It’s called the Bitterroot Valley tiny house and was built using recycled and reclaimed materials. It’s also equipped with several sustainable features and technologies, and can function completely off-the-grid.
This tiny home was named after the unique barns found in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. It was built out of SIPs and rests atop a 20 ft (6 m)-long trailer, so it can be hauled around. The home was clad using leftover materials from the firm’s other projects, such as rough-cut lap cedar, rusty reclaimed corrugated metal, and cedar shakes. (more…)
Cities across the world are battling overpopulation, while rents skyrocket. But the Chinese People’s Architecture Office (PAO) has come up with an ingenious solution to this problem. They have recently unveiled a home intended for first time homeowners, which is very affordable and easy to assemble. (more…)
Germany, among other EU countries, is currently facing the problem of quickly finding adequate housing for refugees and asylum seekers that it has let across its borders. The modular houses, designed for this purpose by Architect and builder Werner Sobek, are a great example of the fact that refugee housing can be modern, affordable and comfortable. The units are called Aktivhaus, and a whole development of them has recently been completed in Winnenden, which is a town about 20 kilometers northeast of Stuttgart. It can accommodate 200 asylum seekers and functions just like real homes. (more…)
