Social Distancing Tiny House
The Social Distancing tiny house was designed as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, tight lockdown restrictions and our secret dream to live off the grid. At first glance the tiny house appears to be a black steel box with hardened edges. As it transforms, the softness of the wood starts to shine through and it becomes a place where you leave all your worries behind to relax in the openness and sun.
As everyone’s world started to feel smaller, we needed our tiny house to be transformational. The design is easily haulable and unfolds to twice its footprint. Two of the walls unfold into decks by stainless steel cables with fully openable hydraulic glass wall systems behind it for floor to ceiling windows or open to the outdoors. When the tiny house is completely open, it breaks the barriers between indoors and out, making the space feel larger, open, and connected to nature. There are many configurations of how compact or open you choose to have the tiny house based on the location or climate.
The design aesthetic is simple, beautiful, and functional. Materials were selected by trying to keep the color palette to a minimum while emphasizing nature and sustainability. All materials selected needed to be easy to machine (cut, install, exc.) and highly durable. The interior consists of Appleply, which exudes soft nodes of wood to warm the space. The kitchen was outfitted in Richlite for its durability and beauty which contrasts the wood to give the kitchen the primary focus and draws your eye. And corrugated metal panel with exposed fasteners on the exterior for durability and prominent presence to help symbolize strength of the hardened shell.
One of the biggest challenges was designing it to be self-sustaining for off the grid living. We incorporated a green wall for growing herbs or other plants, a rainwater retention system, solar panels on the roof, and planned for a compostable toilet system. We wanted to make sure wherever it was hauled, location wouldn’t be hindered by lack of resources.
Project Details
Location Anywhere, USA
Size 225 SF
Collaborators Windsor Engineers