miniHome - Suburban Infill
Prefabrication, compact interior quality proposes new way of living
Distinctive cladding consists of corrugated galvanized steel and Prodema wood panels.
by Jim Taggart .In spite of increased urbanization, the average size of single family houses in North America has more than doubled in the last 50 years, while the size of the average family has decreased. Given the intermittent use of most rooms in the home, this represents a highly inefficient use of land, materials and resources.
As a counterpoint to this unsustainable status quo, architect Andy Thompson has designed the ‘miniHome’, a radical new alternative to suburban sprawl. This suburban infill solution first went on public display on the Toronto waterfront this past summer.
The ‘Solo’ miniHome is a 2.6m x 11m towable trailer unit [the 'Duo' model illustrated above measures 4.8m x 11m] that, in scale and form, resembles those found in a typical trailer park. The surprise, however, is on the inside where the compact design is of a quality more usually associated with a luxury yacht, and brings with it an unexpected sense of light and space. The miniHome prototype, includes a kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom and two bedrooms - one of them a loft space tucked beneath the trailer’s 4m ceiling.
Designed to operate off-grid, the miniHome needs no connection to municipal electrical or gas service, although it does require a potable water supply and a waste water treatment system. It produces all the energy required for its on-board electrical loads from photovoltaic panels located on a pivoting aluminum canopy over the front door. There is an on-board propane system for space heating, hot water, cooking and refrigeration.
Small and well insulated, the miniHome can be heated and powered with a fraction of the energy required in a regular house. All lights, pumps and fans in the miniHome run on 12V DC power - right from the batteries, and all 110V AC loads are run through a 2kW inverter.
Heavy thermal loads, like the refrigerator, furnace, hot water and oven are powered by propane - which is extremely efficient as a primary energy source. The appliances and fixtures that are supplied with the miniHome are the most efficient and up-to-date technologies - from the 0.5gal/min showerhead, to the 3W LED light bulbs.
As a result, the miniHome consumes only a fraction of the energy - specifically, 1/10th the water, 1/10th the fuel and 1/100th the electricity - of a conventional 2,000sf home.
It also incorporates the efficiencies of factory production including low cost insulated wood framing, reduced waste, and specifications to ensure the highest possible indoor environmental quality, such as:
- No vinyl
- No formaldehyde
- No toxic adhesives or finishes
- All water-based, or plant oil-based finishes
- No CFCs or HCFCs
- All woods from FSC-certified sources
- High natural ventilation rate [windows open]
- Constant fresh air supply [windows closed] via heat-recovery-ventilator
- Durability and low-maintenance
There is a danger that a finely crafted miniature such as this will be seen as something of a fetish object, particularly if first encountered among the high rise buildings of Downtown Toronto.
While a few units might find their way into revitalized trailer parks, the most likely short term application is for high end ski cabins or summer cottages. If this proves to be the extent of its application, we will have missed out on the most important messages of miniHome - those that relate to suburban infill and infrastructure.
As Patrick Condon, author of ‘the Site Design Manual for BC Communities’ observed about miniHome in a recent interview with CBC radio, “I’d rather think of this not as an alternative to the suburb but rather in the context of a new model for housing for the suburbs. Why not think about the whole idea of the small lot home as the norm rather than the exception. The advantages of lightweight infrastructure and efficient land use that we ascribe to the trailer park should be universal rather than regulated out of existence.”
In the end, sustainability is about touching the earth lightly. Raised above ground, harvesting rainwater and the sun, conserving energy and designed with compact, flexible spaces, the miniHome does precisely that. Undoubtedly, its most valuable contribution to sustainability would be as a suburban infill dwelling but, as with many radical ideas of the past, there is a danger that the miniHome will be ‘too little, too soon’ to be taken seriously.
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Credits
- Architect: Sustain Design Studio, Toronto [Andy Thomson, Principal]
- Photos: Andy Thompson
Materials
- Insulated wood frame construction with corrugated galvanized steel and Prodema wood panels, green and membrane finished roof, photovoltaic panels.
- No-formaldehyde wood panels, partial western red cedar interior, Mondo rubber flooring, Pionite wall and ceiling panels; propane appliances; lights, pumps and fans run on 12V DC power from batteries, all 110V AC loads run through a 2kW inverter; water-conserving fixtures and 3W LED light bulbs, lighting fixtures by Juno and Eureka; IKEA kitchen cabinets.