Happy Christmas from Tiny House Scotland
A NestHouse - all snug and cosy in a wintery scene!

A NestHouse - all snug and cosy in a wintery scene!
Hygge (pronounced “Hoo-guh”) is a Danish word which far from having a single translation is an umbrella term for the Danish ritual of enjoying life’s simple pleasures - friends, family, graciousness, contentment, good feelings, a warm glow; in short a sense of well-being! It actually originates from a Norwegian word meaning well-being and found its way into Danish writing in the 18th century.
Hygge is intrinsic to the Danish lifestyle - the long cold winters and up to 17 hours of darkness mean spending a lot of time indoors staying warm and cosy! It works best when there is not too much empty space around you - an intimate space - in which you can feel cosy, relaxed and try to forget life’s worries - concentrating on the moment and sharing basic pleasures with family or friends, often over coffee, beer, pastries or other treats.
Thanks for the amazing feedback on the last post - I am humbled and amazed!! It’s hard work being self-motivated on such a comprehensive project for so long, so it’s great to find that maybe I haven’t gone mad and lost the plot! PS. there’s a full size shot in the gallery.
So here’s a view in the opposite direction towards the bathroom and sleeping loft. I am still working on the sleeping loft although it’s not far off, but the bathroom is still a bomb site having been finished once and then redesigned and ripped apart again (twice!) - oh well, that’s what prototypes are for!
#tinyhouse #TinyHouseScotland #affordablehousing #sustainability
The UN predicts that by 2060 66% of the world’s population will live in urban environments. One of the biggest challenges ahead of us is meeting housing requirements for this tribe of city dwellers. Space is limited and expensive so some home developers are thinking small. How does this help as we also consider the needs of those currently without a home?
Last night saw an audience of over 80 people at an Edinburgh International Science Festival discussion hosted by architecture author Jane Field-Lewis, to discuss the hot topic of Tiny Home Living.
Tiny House Scotland’s NestHouse prototype was featured in a presentation by Susan Carleton, a proponent of affordable small housing solutions, as the only moveable modular small eco-house currently being developed in Scotland!
Dr Mike Page from the University of Hertfordshire discussed the Cube Project - now on its second outing to the Science Festival, while Dr Caroline Brown of Heriot Watt University discussed the planning and social implications of small space living. The benefits of a small form factor for disaster relief housing was outlined by Julia Glenn of Extremis Technology. It was great to see the potential of serious small housing getting some attention in the UK!
Whether in a tiny house or a small house - Living Small also implies a degree of self sufficiency, but is this realistic - must we become Hippies from the 60’s to have a better lifestyle?!
You can simplify your life wherever you live - urban or rural; Lloyd Kahn the original small living guru wrote, rather comfortingly, in Shelter that
Small is a path on a journey - houses evolve naturally - adapting to the needs of their occupants - this is ‘proper architecture’ in my opinion - see Stuart Brand’s fascinating book How Buildings Learn - if small facilitates young people achieving their first home then being able to add to it as needs and funds allow - means they means will have a healthy regard for their own property and not be pressurised by having to aspire to some unachievable mansion lifestyle which is not only un-affordable but unsustainable.
What’s the state of play at Tiny House Scotland as we enter 2016? Well I’ve had a restful break over the Xmas period after building non-stop for the previous five months.
The NestHouse prototype is now fully finished externally - I finally got on to the lathe over Christmas and turned the roof finials (no, really, turning IS restful and meditative!!) so they are now in place on the roof - the last tick on that list!
So now I have to get my act together and crack on with the inside. The shell is complete and the interior spruce ply lining has already been cut and fitted, first fix electrics are all in place, the stairs to the sleeping loft are complete and the bathroom door is built. Now I just need to make the final decisions for the decoration of the panels - some will be natural and some will be painted.
After that it should be plain sailing to do the final fit-out. Well maybe not plain sailing; this is a prototype after all - so there are still a lot of decisions to be made, decisions which are fundamental to the ethos of the project. The electrics are 240 volt from an external 16amp pluggable supply but I will be adding a hybrid solar feed to this to allow off-grid use as well.
There is a wood stove to fit and a Jonathan Avery kitchen - the first in a while! In fact I think I will be building all the furniture for this NestHouse even though there will be very little actually built-in as I prefer a much freer and less caravan-like environment with freestanding, comfortable furniture - I have even designed a sofa so it looks as though I will be upholstering as well!
For those of you who have been following the project from the start, I hope to be able to unveil the finished NestHouse over the next few months, sorry but there will not be any photographs of the inside until it is sufficiently complete. There are orders for two more NestHouses in the pipeline… so it’s going to be a busy year!! Happy New Year to all!
Finally, the NestHouse is coming out of its weird UFO-resembling phase (comments such as “when is it getting the rockets fitted Grommet?”!!); or as I prefer to think of it, its chrysalis phase! Its been looking diaphanous and semi transparent for too long now while I developed the timber cladding methods.
So here is a sneak preview of where this project is headed in terms of final look and character with its timber cladding finished in a beautiful microporous natural oil based stain. My addiction to Swedish Barns is showing. Bra, jag älskar det!
Moveable Modular Small House System from Tiny House Scotland
Central to the NestHouse concept is the ability to actually move the house when desired….well I am pleased to say the prototype has passed its moveability trials with flying colours!! Time to get on with the external cladding and turn this weird looking UFO into a proper wooden house!
There’s still another 2 tons to add to the build - it’s currently 5 tons - so a bigger tractor may be required!
I was looking for inspiration for the NestHouse front door…and it turned out to be diagonal. So chevrons it is!
Maybe you have acquired some land and are planning to build a house on it? So then you are probably facing the prospect of spending at the very least £100,000 through an architect and builder before you can live on that land.
Imagine as an alternative taking delivery of a beautiful SMALL house which is light-filled and cosy and has everything you need to survive the world for less than £50,000! Welcome to your NestHouse from Tiny House Scotland! It will be ready for delivery within 4-6 months and can be the start of a whole new way of life. Small Living is the art of living in a compact, carefully designed space with minimal impact on the environment. It is ‘light’ on the land and doesn’t require tons of concrete for a foundation - it can be moved without leaving a trace!
The insulation levels exceed the new stringent Scottish Building Standards. It comes to you fully built (subject to site access) and can be plug and play to services or self sufficient with off-grid systems.
The planning advantages are that is moveable and classified as a caravan and also within Householder Permitted Development parameters although of course these factors will depend ultimately on the land use of your site.
The NestHouse is built with many Passivhaus principles and being small – allows thorough attention to detail during the construction process. But this is definitely NOT a caravan, hut or shed!!! - this is a proper SMALL HOUSE and weighs between 4 and 10 tons depending on size and specification! For more details click:
The NestHouse by Tiny House Scotland and an Autumn sky. I know its a bit late for topping out - but I couldn’t do it when the frame was first finished because the weather was threatening a wet spell and I wanted to get it wrapped and roofed!!
Framing for the NestHouse 4.8 prototype is well under way here. Watch this space for updates!
NestHouse: a moveable modular Small House with character and architectural integrity - comprising a significant entry point, functional spaces to cook, bathe, sleep and LIVE. A light and airy compact living space with organised storage and a high level of comfort and cosiness when required.
“As snug as a bird in a nest in a nestbox!”
©Jonathan Avery Tiny House Scotland 2015
I am currently working on my prototype NestHouse Moveable Modular Small House system. This will be available in three lengths, 3.6/4.8/6.0m and two widths: 2.4m Tiny House (road towable) and 3.2m Small House (mobile on site). They range from 8.6m2 - 32.7m2.
I am aiming to have the production version available for sale from September 2015…watch this space for news!
After seeing a great piece by the RSPB on trying to help our beleaguered House Sparrows by putting up communal nest boxes - I decided it was time to ‘Practice what you preach’! These cute little birds were a very common site when I was a child - always nesting and chattering around the eaves of the house, but as with many other species they have fallen on hard times and the way we build now does not give them the same nesting opportunities.
We have quite a population of house sparrows here at Shangri La Farm - usually in and around the beech hedge but I don’t know where they actually nest. So as an act of solidarity with the RSPB I rattled up a triple nest box for them…its just scrap OSB but it will be well sheltered under the house eaves…I have finished it with a coat of Osmo’s superb Country Colour which is very similar to Falu red.
OMG#tinyhouse all in a row ha ha - Tiny House Scotland - IS a housing developer after all!!!