Interested in building the Beetle House? Here’s your chance!

A collaborative effort by a team at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, the Beetle House (entry 35), was awarded the Honourable Mention award in the 10 Square design competition. Michael Mehta, an Environmental Sociologist and member of the TRU team, forwarded this article to me. It speaks to the concerns underlying the group’s entry, and makes the offer of free plans to anyone interested in building it!

Entry 35, the Beetle House, winner of the Honourable Mention award in the 10 Square design competition

Beetle killed wood is also being featured in a $28 million dollar project currently under construction for Okanagan College in Penticton, BC. Designed by Vancouver-based CEI Architecture Planning Interiors, it will house the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation upon completion. Read the Vancouver Sun article here.

To my knowledge, despite the apparent abundance of the supply, beetle killed wood isn’t widely available through wood retailers or suppliers. Perhaps with enough interest, that could change.

Be sure to check out Jay Blackmore’s blog “Cabin Fever” that documents his efforts thus far in building his own tiny house, which was inspired in part by the 10 Square competition.  Go Jay!

Michael Mehta (pictured  below) wrote a great article that makes a compelling case for reducing the footprint of the spaces we live in. In addition to being the Dean of the Faculty of Arts
at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC, Michael was also one of the members of the dynamic TRU (Thompson Rivers University) Team, whose entry #35: the Beetle House was given an Honourable Mention award in the 10 Square competition. Click here to view the article, it’s well worth the read.

Okay, first off – apologies if you tried to vote on the final day and weren’t able to – due to a technical glitch (mine), voting ended at 5 am instead of 5pm PST. That being said, the front runner had a pretty substantial lead that would have been extremely tough to overcome in a day, so the results stand.

In any event, A big gratulálok (congratulations) to Dora Edelmann, winner of the “People’s Choice” award! With a whopping 1867 votes, her entry, #12: “Solaris 10″ obviously captured the imagination and interest of a great many people! Our thanks to Dora for her stellar entry, and she will also receive cash or gifts with an approximate value of CDN $200.

I’m also pleased to announce that we will be awarding an Honourable Mention to the TRU Team! With 1010 votes, their entry, #35: the Beetle House also gathered a substantial share of the votes. In special recognition of their efforts and support, we will make a $100 donation to the charitable organization of their choice.

Wow! What a great competition. Given the relatively modest recognition and awards, this was clearly an area that has connected to the values and interests of many people. I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing every entry that came in, and have been amazed and inspired by the creativity and effort that was so clearly in evidence. So, many, many thanks to all those who entered – keep up the good work! And a big thanks as well to the 4,641 people who took the time to look at the entries and vote for their favourite.

In closing, let’s hear from you: do you have a favourite tiny house design site? Maybe you’re a builder specializing in affordable homes? Post your link here and tell us a bit about it, we’d love to check it out. Also, a reminder for those of you in the Nelson area that the Shelter exhibit will run at Touchstones Nelson until November 14th, 2010. Stay tuned for more posts until then.

With many strong entries, the 10 Square jury members had their work cut out for them! After much thought, deliberation and discussion, three finalists were selected for the 10 Square design competition.

The finalists:

First Finalist: Entry #4, Sarah Little

Comments from the jury:

“This concept appears to have been developed by a person accustomed to living simply, and understands the necessary dovetailing of lifestyle with small space.  Teamed up with a designer this could be a true gem, workable anywhere and built by anyone.”

“Functional for a small family taking into account all of the needs a single parent would have.”

Second Finalist: Entry #7, Kai Korinth, “Nelson City Micro Dwelling”

Comments from the jury:

“This concept has a pleasing aesthetic, and versatile functionality, could even be portable.  This person has offered clear simple ideas to answer the basic questions of “How does the small house work in our society?” and “What can we build in this area with what we have?”"

“Interesting use of recycled tins cans for siding. Varying roof levels make an interesting aesthetic.”

Third Finalist: Entry#15, Dimitri Lesniewicz, “Infrastructure”

Comments from the jury:

“I like the courage taken with this project, using no-build zones that are everywhere and turning them into viable and highly successful accommodation for the segments of our populations who desire or need less to live by.”

“Varying levels built into a hillside make it unique and attractive.”

The jury members:

Dave Wahn, Manager of Development Services & Sustainability, City of Nelson

David Dobie,   BD.AIBC, Registered Building Designer, owner of David Dobie Design, Nelson, BC

Deb Kozak, Councillor, City of Nelson

Paula Kiss, owner of the Building Tree, a green construction / renovation store located in Nelson, BC.

It’s not over!

Each finalist will each receive cash or gifts with an approximate value of CDN $200, and scale models of their designs will be installed in the Touchstones Nelson gallery (located in Nelson, BC). Congratulations to the three finalists, and a reminder that voting for the “people’s choice” award will continue until October 26th at 5pm PST!

We’ve had an amazing response to the 10 Square design competition, with 39 entries coming in from 7 countries! There has been a tremendous amount of effort put into these designs, and there is an incredible range of innovation and diversity. If you haven’t had a chance yet, visit the “10 Square Entries” page to see them all and vote for your favourite.

A composite image showing details from a few of the entries. From left to right: Traian Cimpeanu “10 Sq”, the TRU Team “Beetle House”, Andy Sheldon “Cottage 10m2”.

We’ve had a fair amount of interest, both locally and further afield about the 10 square micro-building design competition! To give everyone a bit more time to complete their entries, the deadline for submissions has moved back a week: all entries must now be received via email on or before 5 pm PST, Thursday, Oct 7th, 2010.

Good luck!

P.S. If you have questions about the competition, you can post a comment on the “10 square” page of this blog, where you’ll also find questions that others have asked that you may find useful.

This first one is a bit more rustic than Jay Schafer’s tiny home, but a whole lot cheaper. I like her can-do attitude and resourcefulness finding materials, but have to say I think the novelty of a chamber pot would wear off pretty quickly.

She does make another after this one  that’s a bit more upscale though, that video is here if you’re interested.

The previous couple of tiny homes are downright palatial compared with this next one however. The part about your legs sticking out when you sleep seems problematic in any number of ways, but how many people can pedal their homes around?

Thanks to all who made it out to the opening reception for Shelter on Friday night! It was a busy night, lots of people came out, and I really enjoyed seeing some familiar faces and meeting some new folks as well. With the entry deadline for the 10 square design competition coming up before long, I thought I’d start posting some tiny house videos that might serve as inspiration.

Here’s one by Jay Schafer of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company who you may well have heard of – he seems to be fairly prominent in the tiny house field (although it’s not a big field), but a nice tour of his wee home nonetheless. It’s a pretty resolved space, not that inexpensive, particularly with his labour included, but relative to a house or even many cars it’s still pretty reasonable. More to come.