Common Knowledge Unveils Hemp-Clad Micro Home on Wheels
With the aim of helping residents to escape the escalating “rent trap”.
Social enterprise Common Knowledge has teamed up with Margent Farm to create a series of tiny homes, which are intended to offer an affordable, sustainable housing option in the wake of rising rent and mortgage costs.
Collectively named “Tigín Tiny Homes”, each structure has been built around a very small footprint and with three key focuses: to be sustainable, affordable, and consciously designed. Inside, the 20 square-meter floor area comes paired with high ceilings, which allow for a lofty, bright feel. The living space includes a pull-out double guest bed, while the main living quarters are located on a mezzanine level and have enough room for a king-size bed. The kitchen is fully equipped with a working oven, gas hobs, and a sink, and the bathroom features a shower and a composting toilet – adding to the structure’s sustainable credentials. Across its exterior, each home is covered in sustainably sourced corrugated hemp cladding from Margent Farm, and underneath, insulation has been created from breathable cork across a framework of pine.
Beyond the design itself, the teams hope that their creation will help to alleviate some very tangible issues facing their local communities. In tandem with the homes, they offer training schemes to help residents build and repair their own spaces, as a way to “empower people to take action on the housing and climate crises”.
“Ultimately, the plan of our Tigín project is not just to build these Tiny Homes, but to teach more than 200 people with the skills to build these or any other project themselves, whilst creating and releasing a free-to-use blueprint at the end of this year,” adds Common Knowledge founder Fionn Kidney.
Given that it’s moveable, the home can be transported to any location of choice, and the team’s sustainable efforts mean that its efficiency keeps down running costs – with it allegedly using up to 30 percent less energy than the average UK home.
On their new venture, Common Knowledge said:
With many people currently impacted by a severe housing crisis, we believe a tiny home can provide an affordable solution, which is both highly adaptable and completely mobile.
We wanted to create something that would be useful, both in terms of offering a housing solution to people without the time to create one themselves, whilst enabling others to do it themselves.
The Tigín Tiny Homes are now on sale via the Common Knowledge website, and are priced at around €58,000 (approximately $59,085 USD). Elsewhere in design, creative couple Candice and Darren Romanelli have unveiled collections that celebrate their wedding anniversary.
