Compact house

Cube House System is a compact modular housing proposal developed for the competition promoted by Nomura Koumuten in Japan. The project explores a simple and flexible residential model, designed around the idea of a small but generous home for contemporary living. Sandro Gravili The house is organized as a clear timber frame volume, using a construction system connected to Nomura Koumuten’s wooden building technology. Its compact footprint is balanced by a double-height living room, which becomes the central space of the house and brings natural light deep into the interior. Sandro Gravili The internal layout is based on traditional Japanese tatami proportions, used as a modular reference for the organization of the rooms.... More

A compact semi-detached sustainable-house in an urban environment, putting all cards on very-low-budget, very-low-energy, but very-high-effort. High grasses, two shrubs and an oak. Somewhere in the 1970s, a row of dilapidated workers' houses had to be demolished here. Nothing remained of it and nothing was put in its place. The current green seems to have originated accidentally. An accidental green area due to the absence of buildings, not laid out, not functional. Recently the city decided to divide the perk into parts again, and to complete the building block again. A rare piece of building land was suddenly on the market in the Muide, near the ring of Ghent. There are three solid masonry buttresses against the wall of the neighbour. Th... More

This small family house is situated at the end of a street in a newly developed residential district in Bernolákovo. The living arrangement is composed of three distinct structures: the main house, a detached studio, and a garden storage building with an integrated gazebo. Peter Jurkovič Peter Jurkovič Peter Jurkovič Peter Jurkovič The volumes are deliberately rotated in contrast to the orientation of the plot. These varied alignments create richer spatial dynamics. Narrow residual spaces between the house and the fence transform into functional triangular zones—becoming integral parts of the site rather than mere regulatory setbacks—used for vegetable gardening, shaded retreats, or parking. The small... More

Arons & Gelauff architects designed a Tiny Forest full of starter homes for campus De Kwekerij in Utrecht, Netherlands: colourful, sustainable, and affordable due to a smart layout. Sebastian van Damme Sebastian van Damme Developer Jebber, a subsidiary of “Stichting Studentenhuisvesting”, develops living space for young starters. This also includes De Kwekerij, a former KPN plot in Utrecht near the Diakonessen Hospital and the HKU. After one solid residential block had already been placed, Arons and Gelauff architects were asked to arrange the rest of the campus, including apartments. Sebastian van Damme Sebastian van Damme The original plan was to place several of these massive blocks. The site also co... More

On a rest plot of land between 2 driveways of a nursing home at the back, an existing house with garden shed made way for 2 compact, linked three-fronted houses with an atypical layout and unusual views.  Ypsilon Business Photography The site is located in a typical Flemish municipality. The newly built houses follow the profile of the adjacent neighbour. The two starter homes are set back-to-back but together form 1 volume, 1 coherent whole.  The living area in both houses is located on the upper floors. This provides a beautiful panoramic view of the village centre from the various living areas, and shields the living areas from the noise of the busier main road. On the ground floor, in addition to a (bicycle) storage roo... More

DD16 is a prototype of modular compact house that was made for installation in remote places and extreme conditions. The house consists of 2 modules that are made at the factory. Ivan Ovchinnikov The prototype was designed and made as a tourist equipment where the weight of every detail is taken into account so it can be used in very harsh conditions. All the constructive elements were subject to change as well as the interior finishing compared to the regular houses. The frame is made of laminated wood with a milled ports. The ports helped to decrease the weight and cold bridges and gaps. Polyurethane foam is used as an insulation, the rigidity of which helped to decrease the weight of inner finishing materials. The exterior finishin... More

Hinterhouse is nestled into a densely forested hillside with sweeping views of the Mont-Tremblant valley. The 16-foot wide house, designed to be prefabricated, can be driven on local roads and delivered to site. The hintercompany hotel concept aims to provide an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life, providing its guests with an opportunity to strengthen their connection with nature. David Dworkind Striving to give back, the hintercompany plants 10 trees for every booking. This compact house fits two bedrooms, one bathroom and an open-plan living space into 930 square feet. The living space, flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides, is organized around a central wood stove that rotates 360°, providing relaxing vi... More

The brief from the client was quite simple: to design a compact house for a small family of three on a 450 sm site in Surabaya. The client wished for lots of spaces for recreational activities, both exterior and interior, to be used by the whole family and close relatives.   From the street, the house is perceived as a pavilion, where, apart from the garage, it hovers above the ground with only a small part touching the ground to provide a point of entry, from which a ramp leads to the main entrance of the house. The brief for a compact house leads to the arrangement of all living area and bedrooms on the first floor. The main living area opens fully to the internal court, a space dedicated for the swimming pool. An emphasis on the h... More

Located in a dense residential area of Bandung, Indonesia, RD - HOUSE is designed to build a modern tropical house with a combination of box shape and floating roof. The face of the building is made to be distorted by being dominated by the use of andesite stone and wooden planks combined with large transparent and translucent glass on the second floor.   Constructed on an elongated plot of land with 9 x 25 meters area, makes this site unique and it also poses challenges in completing its design. The challenge is for making a compact house that allows lot of sunlight to penetrates through the house, has good cross-ventilation, and an interesting circulation pattern whilst keep maintaining the privacy of its residents.   ... More

Although pandemic-related measures are slowly lifted, there are still millions working from home and dreaming about having an extra room designated as an office. The brand new, unique workstation designed by the creative architecture and design studio, Hello Wood (https://hellowood.eu/project/workstation-cabin) fulfils this dream without having to expand your home. The playful Workstation cabin is the ideal, private spot for work and meetings, but it can also function as a guest room or a playroom for the kids, and it is the perfect refuge should you need a tranquil place to relax or immerse yourself into creativity. When designing a compact house, the starting point is to create a complex, highly functional space; with the small size, eac... More

The site of the house is Located in 180 square meter lot with 30% slope at a gated community in Quezon City, Philippines, a modern house that looked like a stack of white, charcoal gray, and wooden boxes capped of with a gambrel roof. The exterior white walls of the house created a stark contrast with the dark colored paint & wooden walls. The roof fascia and the eaves were in the shade of charcoal gray almost black. The mix of verticals in the form of walls, columns and windows had been balanced of with the horizontal elements of the wood cladding and the carefully placed horizontal slit windows.  The main door, visible from the road, made of horizontal panels, with a solid vertical panel on the opening side accentuated simply by... More

Just outside the city centre of Lier, META has realised 60 dwellings for the Lierse Maatschappij voor Huisvesting, namely 3 autonomous buildings (containing a total of 33 apartments) and 27 houses. When designing the Bogerse Velden social housing, META placed the emphasis on the open space.   The practice expanded the terrain earmarked for the play network required by the programme and created a well-organised area that is geared towards cyclists and pedestrians. The surrounding green belt, hitherto comprised of small and large zones, was completed through the inclusion of additional greenery. The 3 apartment buildings present themselves as autonomous volumes.   The programme envisaged each individual building as comprising 11... More

Upon designing this house, we were asked to design within a very limited budget as well as fulfilling the following specific requests from the client; double-height living room with sufficient natural light, to be placed at the center of the house; three private rooms; and a large terrace.   The site is located in the suburb of a provincial city, along a bus route linked to/from the city center. The client’s property is a middle portion of a large land that is divided into three narrow and long lots oriented at a slightly rotated angle from east-west direction. Properties on both sides are still vacant, but naturally expected to be built in the near future. Considering the narrow and long shape of the site, which width is only... More