Irish social enterprise Common Knowledge has collaborated with Tigín Tiny Homes to create low-carbon micro homes that are meant to provide sustainable and economical housing solutions to people struggling to buy their own homes. Currently, property prices in Ireland are increasing by 11 percent every year, and this project hopes to tackle this ongoing housing crisis, and “empower people to take action on the housing and climate crises.”

Designer: Common Knowledge x Tigín Tiny Homes

Besides building these sustainable and affordable dwellings, they are also providing training schemes to teach residents how to build and repair their own homes! The founder of Common Knowledge, Fionn Kidney said, “Ultimately, the plan of our Tigín project is not just to build these Tiny Homes, but to teach more than two hundred 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.”

“The reality for a lot of people is that they can’t afford a home that’s actually ready to move into. They can only afford a home that needs a lot of work, and they can’t afford to do that work and pay rent,” said Harrison Gardner, a co-founder.  “The Tiny Home is filling this gap; people can use it for a year or two or three, while they work on their forever home,” he concluded.

The twenty-square-foot homes feature a facade of corrugated hemp panels, cork insulation, and natural rubber flooring. The homes are spread out across two levels, giving them a spacious feel, although they are compactly sized. The lower level features a window seat that doubles as a bed, as well as a kitchenette, a toilet and shower, and a storage area or workspace. The large picture window is a cozy little nook to snuggle into and peer out into the surroundings. There is a ladder, that leads to the upper level, which has a mezzanine overhead.

To maintain a structure that is lightweight, the team utilized hemp panels that have been created by combining a sugar-based resin sourced from plant waste and UK-grown cannabis plant fibers from Margent Farm.

“We have now taught over 200 people how to build their own Tiny Homes,” said Kidney. “Of course, the byproduct of this is that we have produced four Tiny Homes that we can offer for sale.” At the moment, the homes are on sale for $54,800.