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Size matters, but good design matters more
Environmentalists occasionally complain to us here at Construct Ireland for featuring big houses - houses that are too big to be green, arguably. Our view is that no matter how big a building is, if it boasts interesting or innovative green features it's worth writing about - after all, other (and potentially better) buildings can learn from it. And few buildings are perfect from a green perspective - some might be too big, but others don't use the cleanest fuels, or don't pay attention to airtightness, or have various other flaws.
Still, there's a contradiction between making a building as energy efficient as possible and at the same time, as big as possible - if you genuinely want to save energy, why make it unnecessarily huge? I'm always a bit uncomfortable seeing "green" houses that aren't just massive, but that stick out aggressively and make no effort to fit into their surroundings.
But at the same time, I also dislike the idea that people should be crammed into uncomfortably small spaces for the sake of saving energy - that's no way to convince the average person to go green, and besides, creating green buildings should also be about creating comfortable buildings - spaces that are a pleasure to live and work in, that people want to use, and that convince others to follow their example.
But I'm nonetheless intrigued by the small house movement. Not because I think everyone should live in tiny houses, but because there's an art to getting the most from spaces. That doesn't mean living somewhere cramped, it just means making spaces feel bigger through clever design - a concept I've yet to see much of in Ireland.
Take a look at this apartment in New York - it may be tiny, but the clever use of space (such features like storage stairs) makes it seem bigger. I was once impressed to see how loft beds made a 40 square metre cottage I visited in Mayo feel much bigger. In a way, it made me think that the conventional option - of not even thinking at all about making the most of internal spaces - is just lazy.
Here's some profiles of interesting small homes that seem very well designed.
L41 Home
Experimental Dwelling for a Greener Environment (Edge)
Low impact cabin
Hokkaido house
The Tiny House Blog is also worth checking out. And if you want to see what a really tiny house looks like, check out this video from Tumbleweed tiny houses - it's far too small for most people to bear, but it's nonetheless fascinating.
Experimental Dwelling for a Greener Environment (Edge)
Low impact cabin
Hokkaido house
The Tiny House Blog is also worth checking out. And if you want to see what a really tiny house looks like, check out this video from Tumbleweed tiny houses - it's far too small for most people to bear, but it's nonetheless fascinating.
Last modified on Wednesday, 11 August 2010 16:33