Living in a Box from channel4.com/4Homes

Short Stay Smart Living – The sales pitch for a new product from Micro Compact Home. These tiny cubic “homes” are designed to fill a gap for affordable luxury housing in both the city and the wilderness. But what are they like to actually live in?
By Rich Payne

1. Living in a Box
2. Money Matters

page 1 2

Living in a Box

“How big is the average prison cell?” Funnily enough this was the first question asked to me by a curious member of the public who came to enquire about my new home from home. And there is something ominously oppressive about spending prolonged periods in this thing. True, there’s bags of goodies like climate control, a flat screen TV, a flushing toilet and a shower, but they’re all crammed in to an area that’s just 2.6 metres squared. Yet I’ve been reassured that this is no glorified caravan minus the wheels and plus the price tag. At 35 grand (closer to 55 when installed with all the extras) this better be long way better than your average family caravan.

Article continues below

And it is. Or at least, the fixtures and fittings and general quality of the thing is far superior to a grand tourer. Everything feels well-finished, plush, and there’s an inescapably aeronautical tinge to the sliding furniture and flip down beds, like a 1950s vision of what the moon’s towns would be like by the 70s. And there’s no doubting the ingenious usage of space.

micro compact home interior featuring fold out furniture and beds

Image: Dennis Gilbert

Seats, beds and kitchen appliances fold and slide out of every nook and cranny, and no space is wasted. Even the toilet doubles up as a shower cubicle, creating the world’s pokiest wet room.

The makers have maximized space with a liberal sprinkling of mirrors, but they haven’t fooled me – this thing is tiny. And the full-length mirror on the front door (which also happens to be the shower door) is going to get covered in all sorts of water marks and scratches. All this means that not only do you have to welcome people back to your tin shed by opening the front door straight into the bathroom, but that they’ll be greeted at the door by smeared and blurry doubles of themselves.

fold out beds and seating area with desk in the micro compact home

Image: Sascha Kletsch

Ok, so “tin shed” might be a little harsh. We’re talking aluminium, which is no moot point because at 1.4 tons these things can be moved about with relative ease (but not as easily as a caravan!). This means they should appeal to people with nomadic lifestyles and a sense of adventure. But what is striking is the hypocrisy that emanates every positive sales pitch for the Micro Compact Home.

It’s great that it has proper plumbing and electricity, but that’s not so good when you try to move it about, which is another of its supposed benefits. So to go from the sand to the city to the slopes would be reasonably straightforward, were it not for the contradictory benefit of having real plumbing and 240 volts on tap.

Find out more about the Micro Compact Home >>

Related Features


		Ikea's Flatpack Revolution Now they're making prefab houses


		Compact Building How to build on a tiny plot


		Up on the Roof Advice on building on an existing rooftop


		Property Search Find a new place from a choice of over 200,000

page 1 2

NEW Property Search

	4Homes on 4oD

	Watch the best of 4Homes programmes online with 4oD >>

	4HOMES MAIL


	Enter your email to sign up to the 4Homes newsletter