Small house living is… in college?

If you’ve ever wondered whether small house living has a place in university life, students in Germany say, yes! Since 2005, the Technical University of Munich has hosted a student “village” of Micro-Compact Homes (otherwise known as m-ch). Each term, six students and professor/architect Richard Holden populate the tiny village of transportable prefabricated dwellings.

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

The m-ch is a 2.66 meter cube with a timber frame and aluminum external cladding. It contains two compact double beds, a dining/living space for five people, a shower/toilet cubicle, a flat screen television, storage for bedding and cleaning supplies, and a kitchen complete with sink, refrigerator, freezer, double cooking hobs, waste compartments, storage drawers, and double level work surfaces. The m-ch is also fitted with electrical plugs, internet links, a smoke/gas detector, and thermostat-controlled heat, air conditioning, and water heating. A carbon neutral “low e-home” is available too—this model incorporates solar panels, a wind turbine, reserve batteries, and LED lighting.

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Some joke that the m-ch gives the phrase “living in a box” too literal a meaning, but students staying in them have thus far given positive reviews. One student loved her m-ch so much she extended her semester-long stay to two and a half years. Another student agrees, “It’s better quality living. I have my own kitchen, I can hear the birds singing, and I can sit out. It’s sociable—I have barbeques with my neighbors.” Of course, says this student, “you have to be neat, tidy, pretty organized – and open to new experiences,” but it’s hard to argue that this is a bad thing. The most serious complaint is that the tiny toilet/shower cubicle is simply too cramped. One visitor (not a student) says that you can take a shower only by sitting on the toilet and that steam from the “shoilet” frequently sets off the gas-detector.

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

All in all, however, this nifty little living cube is a fascinating architectural accomplishment. Each nook and cranny is carefully planned out, and mirrors and lighting are used to create a feeling of spaciousness. According to Holden’s design team, the m-ch uses “techniques for high quality compact ‘living’ spaces deployed in aircraft, yachts, cars, and micro apartments.” Aesthetically, it takes after “the classic scale and order of a Japanese tea-house.” And lest you think the colors are cold, all interior surfaces are warm to the touch.

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Price constraints aside, then, college students might be Holden’s ideal clientele. According to Holden, the m-ch isn’t suitable as a permanent home, “but for the short term, they’re absolutely brilliant.” They might teach us a better attitude towards stuff too; as Holden says, “micro-compact living means you relax about your possessions.” For now, the student village in Munich is only a test project, but rumor has it a new village of 16 micro-compact homes is planned for Vienna, Austria. Stay tuned—it is hard to imagine that micro-compact homes will ever replace dormitories completely, but in crowded and expensive urban settings, prefab micro-dwellings like the m-ch might open up a small door to a wide world of housing alternatives.

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Micro-Compact Home m-ch

Images by Sascha Kletzsch via m-ch and Andrea Leibner via Architecture Week

For more information on Richard Holden’s m-ch: Mirco-Compact Home

via The Guardian and The Guardian and The London Independent and The London Independent.

1 comment

Add yours
  1. 1
    memory foam

    In Holland I’ve seen a few campuses that are doing something similar. At one I watched the modules being lowered in, and it’s clear that another advantage is fast construction. In those cases the modules were placed side by side and formed a large building, so the idea here of making them a small house unit is a nice improvement.

    One issue that can come up though, is the building materials in prefabbed units are not always the best. In the one I visited there were issues with the glues and other chemicals. It sounds like the Technical University of Munich is taking an environmentally sound approach, which is great to hear.

Leave a Reply to memory foam Cancel reply