All too often, the concept of a “Microhome” is fetishized or dismissed as an exercise in ascetic extremism.  In just how small of a space can a person live?  How monastically can they divorce themselves from all possessions and comforts?  Must living small come at the expense of living well?  This proposal challenges such questions and posits that a thoughtfully articulated dwelling can live larger than the sum of its parts.

STACKING / MODULARITY:

At its core, the proposal is based around a rectilinear, one-story, 25 square meter dwelling module.  While firstly a self-sustaining, passively ventilated, off-grid cabin, it can also serve as a building block within a larger network of linked units. Perhaps the occupants would like to have a friend stay over for a weekend?  Or the family may want to grow?  With the addition of an 8 sqm sleeping loft and patio module, the home can scale from a space sized for 2, to a space for 3 or more.  Together, the two modular units serve as a kit of parts that can be variably stacked and adapted to fit both rural and urban contexts: not only in single family dwelling form, but also in co-living and multi-family configurations. Furthermore, the stacking arrangement can be continuously altered, combined, and deconstructed as needed to meet changing occupant needs.

INTERIOR PERMUTABILITY:

Flexibility and adaptability are also at the heart of the interior organizational strategy.  While the underlying space is a simple box with fixed millwork at each end, a centrally located mobile millwork module breaks the box into a variety of programmatically driven scene sets. Based on high-density mobile shelving systems often used for library stacks, the mobile module contains everything from fold-down living and dining room furniture to kitchen pantry storage, hanging closet space, and a ladder to access the added loft module. With five set floorplan positions for the mobile unit, the “simple box” can be transformed into a wide range of room setups tailored to various activities, functions, and moods over the course of a single day. 

STRUCTURE / ENVELOPE:

The exo-skeletal truss structure, designed out of shop-fabricated glue-laminated timber, allows for seamless vertical expandability from a single home module to a multi-family complex. The four corner posts allow stacked gravity loads to pass straight to the foundation without impacting individual modules, while the diagonal braces provide added shear and lateral support.  Cross-laminated timber floor slabs are used for their high strength-to-thickness ratio, maximizing underfloor cavity space for insulation, cabling, piping, and hydronic tubing runs.  Additional dwelling modules can be simply added or removed from a stacked configuration via the galvanized steel bolting plates at the top and bottoms of each corner post. 

The building envelope maximizes thermal performance while minimizing wall, floor, and roof thickness.  OSB-faced interior SIP panels and insulated metal façade panels create a continuous thermal barrier, while the outboard superstructure is connected to interior elements via thermal breaks. Assembly R-values, noted here in metric units, are designed to meet or exceed Passivehaus standards.