RJA Micro-Home
BEST VALUE FOR MONEY
What makes your project special?
With an internal floor area of just 25m2 this Micro-Home has been designed for sustainable,
comfortable and practical living. With moving platforms, hidden storage and integral
sustainable systems this home is adaptable and future-proof. This house has been based
around a hand crafted structural Douglas fir timber frame with integral timber Belfast truss
giving this home its unique character and charm.
The interior of this Home is flexible with a bed platform that is raised using a winch and pulley
system to create additional space during the day so there is no need for spending money on
building additional rooms. The Micro-Home has been designed so that two more platforms
can be added in the future for dining table and seating area to create even more
adaptable space. The service spaces of the Shower room and Kitchen are tucked neatly
down one side of this responsive building.
Good quality, natural external materials have been utilised within the construction of the
house, with a combination of natural roof slate, vertical ‘hit and miss’ larch timber weather
boarding and douglas fir timber framing.
‘Time is money’ and the Micro-Home was designed to be built under Permitted Development
Rights which avoided Planning fees and time spent waiting for a Planning decision. Also,
there was no need for the client to rent following the sale of their previous house as the
watertight shell was completed within 2 months. We envisage this construction time will be
even faster in the future, within 2-4 weeks, as this Micro-Home was built as a prototype.
However, this building could form part of a new house design.
An efficient thermal envelope with dramatic spatial quality has been created using the
douglas fir frame with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs). SIPs have integral insulation
eliminating the need for cavity insulation, have reduced foundation requirements and
provide a highly insulated and airtight shell with minimal waste material. The panels are prefabricated and assembled on site, and similarly the timber frame is crafted in the framing
yard and raised on site. This reduces on site construction time and therefore saves money.
The home is completely off-grid keeping running costs to a minimum with cooking, heating
and hot water provided by a solid fuel Esse wood burning stove avoiding the need for
separate systems.
Generous storage spaces are hidden within the ceiling voids and the central roof lights at the
ridge provide ample sunlight into the building.
This Micro-Home has been designed so that it is possible for someone planning to build their
new home can construct this as a wing to their new house to save on VAT as part of a
phased self-build programme.
We are delighted to have worked with a fully committed team who have enjoyed the
opportunity to work with materials and designs in a new and innovative way.
This Micro-Home is flexible, innovative, highly efficient, comfortable and value for money.
…not just a small house!