Open Architecture Network

The award winning micro-compact home (m-ch), a revolutionary light-weight low energy dwelling
pioneered by Horden Cherry Lee Architects, is to make its debut in Birmingham next month as the
centre piece of the inaugural Festival of Extreme Building.
The Festival of Extreme Building, curated by SOZO Collective, is a six-month exercise in experimental
building which will highlight the £6 billion regeneration of Birmingham’s Eastside by taking over a site
donated by Land Securities (Birmingham Alliance) opposite the new Matthew Boulton College.
The intention is to showcase design innovation in a highly prominent exhibition platform to broker
genuine cooperative working relationships between the city’s developers, regeneration and design
professionals, the local authority and the people of Birmingham whilst the city undergoes major
redevelopment.
Since its launch in November 2005 the micro-compact home has taken the world by storm, inspiring
consumers the world over to embrace the beauty of “sizing down”.
Inspired by frequent flights on business class, the m-ch applies the rules of interior aviation design and
demonstrates how state of the art technology can be integrated into a lightweight transportable
dwelling to produce an efficient, compact and desirable living space. The 2.65m aluminium cube is
specifically designed for short-stay smart living and is suitable for a variety of locations, providing
sophisticated compact accommodation for business or leisure use. All mod cons are integrated
including furniture, sound, flat-screen, communication and energy systems. It’s quick to install once on
site and has minimal impact on the natural landscape to satisfy sustainability concerns.
The first case study ‘village’ of seven micro-compact homes, commissioned by Studentenwerk Munich
and sponsored by telecommunications company 02 Germany, won over students from the Technical
University Munich and prompted international media attention. Other applications including nursing
accommodation and a snow-board village are currently being explored and a carbon neutral prototype
with solar panels is also in development.

micro-compact home O2 student village launches in Munichhorden cherry lee architects press release : 4 November 2005
A village of seven micro-compact homes (m-ch), sponsored by international telecommunications company
O2, launched at Studentenstadt yesterday. The m-ch is a new, lightweight, transportable dwelling that
combines high-technology and low-energy use, like the Smart car.
Specially selected students of Technical University Munich are to live in six of the 2.65m cubes for the winter
semester 2005-6 alongside their British professor, architect Richard Horden, who masterminded the design
of the micro-compact home and who will occupy unit no. 007.
The micro-compact home student village has been commissioned by Studentenwerk München e.V. (Student
Housing Authority) and features Vaku Isotherm Insulation and home technology, including a plasma screen
and kitchen appliances, provided by co-sponsors Fujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH and Siemens
Electrogeräte GmbH.
The concept has been developed over four years by Richard Horden (Horden Cherry Lee Architects) with
German practice Lydia Haack + John Hoepfner Architects. Lydia Haack teaches alongside Horden in the
University’s Institute of Architecture and Product Design. Their students worked on the m-ch project, as have
students at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, where Professor Horden also taught.
m-ch demonstrates how state of the art technology can be integrated into a lightweight transportable dwelling
to produce an efficient, compact and desirable living space, bringing architecture of the home into line with
advances in other manufacturing industries.
The layout is influenced by traditional Japanese tea house architecture. Internally the space is divided into
zones. A compact zone of wet services houses the toilet, shower and the kitchen. On the central axis is the
entrance and kitchen circulation area, which also serves as access to seating in the lower dining area. The
upper level sleeping bunk (for two) can be folded out of the way, while below, the sunken dining area can
also double as a second sleeping space (also for two).
Lightweight technology is used throughout, including insulated vacuum aluminium panelling mounted on a
timber and galvanised aluminium section providing the basic structure. Several units can be mounted on an
external aluminium frame in vertical and horizontal formations, around central lift and stair cores to form a
‘village’.
m-ch is ideal for business travellers, holiday homes, or other short-term residential or academic uses. It
requires no furniture and comes with all integrated energy and communications systems. Raised off the
ground, it has a minimal impact on its environment.
If the village is judged a success after a year of testing, m-ch is to be marketed in Europe with a guide price
of around £50,000 (Euro 72,000) including installation.
Orders and technical enquiries to: www.microcompacthome.com
Media enquiries & image requests:
UK       Claire Curtice
GERMANY     Lydia Haack

Well I don't want to sound strange but I love the way these kitchen are technically equipped. I specially love modern appliances, low space consuming and multi functional. On top of my preferences are Maytag parts.

Dear Mr,Mrs,

I am a french student in architecture, and i’ve looked at your project for my english class. My teacher actually asked us to look at the projects on the website and find one that we find interesting. I think that your creation has a interesting way to tackel a point that is sourrounding us more and more.
Thus I have some questions to ask you about what you created.
Is it a buiding that we can put in any city ?
How much would be the rent for a place like this ?
Can anyone live in this kind of place ?

Thank you for answering to my letter,
Regards,
Violette Prost