backyard house | GIZMODO.cz

Not every family can move into a larger home when they are falling short on space as children grow up. While it would be an ideal solution, it involves uprooting everyone from friends, extended family, adjusting to a new school/job as well as the whole process of moving which is extremely draining. To offer a smarter, more convenient solution, Parsonson Architects created the Herald Garden Studio – a functional, flexible, freestanding 183-square-foot structure that sits in your backyard to accommodate for all those growing pains!

Sometimes the best solution is to find a way to make the most of what one already has. Herald Garden Studio was born from one such situation because the client was a couple from New Zealand and they live in a small two-bedroom Victorian cottage that was getting cramped with their two growing sons. They didn’t want to leave their neighborhood and this compact backyard studio was the perfect economical solution. It provides additional space for a peaceful retreat, to study, work from home, make-shift guest house, or even storage. It is separate from the house but visually connected and linked by a sheltered outdoor space.

The interior incorporates an office space toward the front of the studio, a bathroom, and storage space at the rear, and the play area and guest bed in the loft up the ladder.

The loft is a cozy space, made more secure with the installation of netting at the edge.

There are a number of windows on the upper level to let in natural light and bring in a view of the valley outside.

To keep costs low, a range of simple materials was chosen. Wooden beams, set in a triangular arrangement, form the supporting structural framework, while the walls are clad with zero-formaldehyde oriented strand board (OSB), and the roof and the rear and side walls covered with green, corrugated Colorsteel, a low-cost option that matches the surrounding garden.

In addition, there is a pergola covered with durable but inexpensive polycarbonate and a wooden deck that extends around most of the studio. A hole has been cut into the deck to accommodate an existing olive tree.

The architects explain:

“Both the deck, pergola, and the main interior space have been conceived as one triangulated structure, stitching together the spaces and reinforcing the interior-exterior connection, while relating to the delicacy of the surrounding vegetation. Materials are unadorned, raw and but carefully assembled.”

Besides the walls, the interior sliding doors and bathroom counter are made from OSB as well, all finished with natural WOCA oil. Some people may understandably balk at the idea of having wall-to-wall coverage of raw OSB, but it’s an economical choice that is both easy to maintain, and also helps to emphasize the openness and minimalism of the space.

Nevertheless, there are pops of color here and there in the sea of honey-colored OSB, most notably in the bathroom at the rear of the studio, which features a shower stall clad with a red Invibe panel board. There’s also a custom-designed lighting sconce, again made with the red Invibe panel board.

Created with simple and cost-effective materials, this award-winning garden studio is a great example of urban infill on a small scale, a well-built solution that allows one family to continue living on a compact property closer to the city, without having to move further afield.

Designer: Parsonson Architects

Do you love DIYs? Me too! But let’s think big. Okay, a little bigger but not more than a tiny house. Now, what if I told you that you can build your own tiny cabin DIY style? Perfect 2020 project! A Hungarian company called Hello Wood has designed a tiny minimalist cabin that you can assemble yourself for creative space solutions or just an escape from your living room.

The prefabricated cabins start at $10,200 and have been crafted in a way that anyone can put it together, it is truly the ultimate DIY project. With the tiny home market ‘growing’ rapidly, the Kabinka cabin is positioned to be like IKEA furniture – easy to assemble with an aesthetic that is loved by most. The Kabinka cabin comes in four sizes that range between 129 and 215 square feet. It is a tiny cabin but it has high ceilings – over 12 feet high actually – that bring a sense of spaciousness and luxury to the otherwise simple structure. The ceiling space is well optimized to give the cabin a loft-like setup that can be used as storage space or a cozy reading nook.

Another cool thing about Kabinka is that it is a flatpack design! You can also customize it to suit your needs – it can be a private backyard workstation or a mini weekend holiday home without the heavy price tag (since you assemble it, it brings down the costs!). The assembly can take between 1-3 days and the designers say all you need is “a good bunch of helpers, basic tools and enthusiasm” to build Kabinka. The basic layout can easily fit a couch, a tea kitchen, and a stove but Hello Wood allows you to add any of these extras – landscaping, loft bed, bathroom, extra windows, glass wall, furniture, and more. While the base model isn’t suited to year-round living, with the right additions it can be easily transformed into a permanent tiny home.

“Our design-build projects are developed with people in mind. We work primarily with wood to create installations that invite participation, benefit local causes, and best serve our clients’ needs. Creating a quality space was the focus of the design process. Spatial quality isn’t necessarily characterized by big size, rather deliberate complexity. Each and every millimeter counts but we believe that for those who share this level of consciousness it is not a challenge but joy to spend their time in a minimalist home.” says the team. In my opinion, we all need to flee this urban lifestyle and get our own tiny homes so we can WFH with views for days!

Designer: Hello Wood