Micro-home with space for growing vegetables
This micro-home is a lightweight, DIY-buildable dwelling that incorporates space for growing vegetables. The pitched roof structure is created from insulated, 800mm x 600mm SterlingOSB Zero space frame modules covered in water proofing cladding and with a prefinished inner face. At either end, a micro perforated stretch fabric reduces the wind impact on the modest structure.
The design is planned in modules to minimise waste from each sheet, with a 5mm shadow gap between each on the inner face to emphasise the modular character of the construction.
Planters are located between the trusses with the weight of the pots contributing to the stability of the house. They are protected from the elements by a glass panel that can be removed in summer. There is easy access to them through a window, allowing occupants to tend their plants without going out onto the roof. The plants benefit from a warm interior in winter and provide solar shading in summer. Vegetables can be watered using rainwater collected from the pitched roof in tanks positioned beyond the planters.
The flooring is cork. Services are incorporated at high level to enable easy access and maintenance, with the drainpipes located under the raised house structure.
According to Alessandro Tessari, the In Season lightweight homes could be installed side by side on a roof and would help to improve the quality of the host building by adding green components and providing affordable new accommodation.
Raise the Roof was produced in association with Norbord Europe
Introduction
This year's judging process
Winner
Rooftop Refuge by Reed Watts Architects
Commended
Sterling Boarder by Nina Antin, Claire Chabrol and Sibylle Metge-Toppin
Temple Heights/Music with a view by Soraya Somaranthe, Studio Soraya
Longlisted
Anywhere in the Universe – the Nowhere Building by Brian Ditchburn
Peckham Parliament by Kennedy Woods
The Hide by Brett Mahon