Tiny House Blog

Micro-lofts and Housing Affordability

Burns Block is an innovative market rental housing project built by Vancouver companies Reliance Properties and ITC Construction Group. Located at the site of the historic Burns Block in the Gastown neighborhood of the Downtown Eastside, the building dates back 100 years and is on the Vancouver Heritage Register. The building features 30 self-contained affordable furnished market rental suites or “micro-lofts.” Suites range from 226 – 291 sq. ft., making them the smallest in Canada. The spatially-efficient design contains built-in, pull-down wall beds with integrated folding tables, flat screen televisions, compact appliances, ample storage and built-in safes for storing valuables. Typical rental value for each suite is $850 per month, including cable and Internet, and starts as low as $760 per month. The building is 18,000 sq. ft and has five floors. The majority of occupants are between the ages of 25 and 35 and include students and those working in the heart of the downtown area.

While the former use of Burns Block was for a Single Room Occupancy hotel (SRO) with shared facilities, suites in the redeveloped building each contain a “wet” bathroom and full kitchen. The building also features a rooftop garden, basement gym, bicycle storage and several environmentally-friendly elements. The Bitter Tasting Room, owned by Heather Hospitality Group, is conveniently located on the ground floor of the building, which also includes 1,421 sq. ft. of future retail space. Continue Reading »

Kirsten Dirksen from faircompanies.com just sent me a new video she produced about a transformable tiny apartment in Barcelona.

When Christian Schallert isn’t cooking, dressing, sleeping or eating, his 258 square foot apartment is an empty cube. To use a piece of furniture, he has to build it.

If Christian wants to sleep, he rolls his bed out from under the balcony, his stairs then become bedside tables and he can even swing a TV out from the wall.

When he is ready to dine, he lowers a plank from the wall, turning his flower-stand into a table support and using his stairs as a bench.

When it is time to cook, he clicks a spot on his vast wall of click-able furniture, and a spring-loaded door swings up to reveal an instant kitchen: double-burner, dishwasher, sink, countertop and microwave oven. The full-sized refrigerator and freezer click open just alongside. You really have to know what is behind door number two.

The apartment is located in Barcelona’s hip Born district, the tiny apartment is a remodeled pigeon loft. Christian (a Barcelona-based photographer) says its design was inspired by the space-saving furniture aboard boats, as well as the clean lines of a small Japanese home.

There is definately more work involved in constructing and deconstructing your dining room/kitchen/bedroom every day or meal (one of his friends has dubbed it “G.I. Joe’s flat”), Christian claims it helps keep him in shape.

In the video, Christian shows his lego-style home and invites a few friends over to cook and lunch with him in his small space.

Kirsten Dirksen from faircompanies.com located in Barcelona, Spain contacted me the other day to share some more of her videos. I had posted a couple of her videos about Jenines tiny house and she is sharing a series on tiny spaces with the Tiny House Blog. I have started a new category called Tiny House Video and plan to post these videos on Wednesdays. I will also be adding a new tab in the menu bar called Tiny House Video and you will be able to see all videos posted on the Tiny House Blog there.

Today’s video is about Felice Cohen who lives in a 90 square foot microstudio in Manhattan. By choosing a studio that measures just 12 feet by 7 feet, Felice Cohen can afford to live in Manhattan’s Upper West Side where apartments rent for an average of $3,600 per month. She pays just over $700 for her 90-square-foot microstudio.

“I think a lot of people have a lot of space that they’re not using. I grew up in a place where my bedroom was 17 feet by 17 feet with two walk-in closets that combined where almost the size of this apartment that when I go home now I go in the closet just to feel like I’m back in New York.”

Video via faircompanies.com

Tammy Strobel is off on vacation this week and is taking a digital break as too. Tammy writes about minimalism and she also lives the life that she promotes. Tammy recently took these pictures of their small apartment in Portland to share with her readers and before she left on vacation gave me permission to share them with you. Tammy and Logans apartment is less than 400 square feet.

When Tammy and Logan moved from Sacramento to Portland they downsized to where they were able to load all their belongings into the back of a standard size pickup. That is quite an accomplishment. The neat thing is that they have stuck with a minimalist foot print. Just check out Tammy’s tiny library and the clothes closet.

If you are interested in minimalism which most of us are who follow this blog be sure and read Tammy’s blog Rowdy Kittens and check out her books Smalltopia and Simply Car-free. Thank you Tammy and Logan for sharing your life with us.

Photo Credits: Tammy Strobel

Tammy and Logan plan to eventually build a tiny house on wheels and are planning to have Dee Williams and Katy Anderson from Portland Alternative Dwellings assist them in the construction. I am looking forward to seeing that project started.

Continue Reading »

Amanda brought to my attention the Pocket Suites in Winnipeg. The Pocket House model is a recent development aimed at alleviating one segment of the affordable housing need in Manitoba.

The study concluded that construction of new buildings on scattered narrow infill lots would fit well with the City of Winnipeg’s inventory of vacant lots in residential neighbourhoods.

Each building is two storeys high and has 8 units each with separate entrances, private washrooms, and separate ventilation systems. Each Pocket House features three barrier-free suites and one fully accessible suite on the main floor, with four other suites on the second level accessible by two outside staircases. Continue Reading »

Chelsea brought this article and this fantastic little apartment to my attention. I am guilty of not covering apartments very often but I love the use of space in this one and you must see it.

The article written by The Seattle Times Rebecca Teagarden is titled “Tiny apartment shows the value of a good fit” and talks about Steve Sauer’s 182-square-foot Seattle condo which shows the value of a good fit, from the soaking tub built into the entry floor to the “video lounge” tucked beneath the “cafe area.” Sauer shopped Ikea for many of his home’s furnishings, such as a little table, and used tabletops to fashion cabinet fronts.

Saurer’s says, “What I really wanted was one place with exactly what I needed and wanted. Quality is more important than quantity for me, and extra space only a problem,” he has written, describing his nearby too-big-for-him, one-bedroom condo.

“I wanted to compress my home to squirt me back out to the community,” he says, taking inspiration from dwellings in Scandinavia and Japan, places where space is dear. “That was one of the philosophical reasons. I want to be able to shop daily, not store a lot and eat really well.”

When Sauer couldn’t find the things he needed, he designed them and built them: The stainless-steel shower caddy, towel bar. For other pieces, “Ikea came through again.” Lighting, cabinet pulls, and butcher block for shelves, the table top and cabinet fronts. The rich flooring, Brazilian walnut, was installed by Matt Messenger. A bureau from West Elm fit to 1/8 of an inch, and so it was ordered.

“My dream is to put 300 of these in a building and not have it be a tenement.”

Read the Seattle Times article here.

I am excited to see my friend and fellow blogger Tammy Strobel featured in the New York Times today. Inspired by books and blog entries about living simply, Tammy and her husband, Logan Smith, both 31, began donating some of their belongings to charity. Eventually giving up their car and using only bicycles for transportation and than leaving her day job and relocating to Portland, Oregon, Tammy and Logan have made some major changes in their lives.

Read the complete article called But Will It Make You Happy? at the New York Times website and visit Tammy’s website Rowdy Kittens and follow her journey there.

Photo Credit: New York Times

Tammy Strobel and her husband, Logan Smith, in their pared-down, 400-square-foot apartment in Portland, Ore