Could moveable micro homes be a solution for some in our soaring property market? Students in Munich are testing them out, writes Derek Scally
For six German students, home sweet home is seven square metres. The students are guinea pigs in an experiment in living, playing out in the woods near the English Garden in central Munich. The six white cubes sitting on the horizon like alien structures are micro-compact homes (m-chs): lightweight, mobile, transportable minimal dwellings inspired by Japan's notorious capsule hotels.
And, apart from the stares of passers-by at all hours, the Munich students say they're having a marvellous time.
"They've all asked to stay on another semester," says Dr Anke van Kempen of Studentenwerk Munich, the student organisation behind the project. "At the start they all thought, 'Oh God this is so narrow'. But they've all said that it seems much more roomy when you get used to thinking in a new way about the space around you."
That is the core idea of the micro-compact home: reconceiving living space and forcing the inhabitants to adjust and discipline themselves accordingly - the old student custom of leaving your clothes lying around on the floor is no longer an option. The m-ch cubes are divided into distinct zones, beginning, after entering through the outwards-opening door, with a tiny bathroom containing a toilet and shower. Then you squeeze past the sliding door and into the two-tier dining area with seating for up to five people. The sleeping area is in an overhead fold-out double bed and a second bed can be created by pushing together the seats in the dining area.
Huge windows create a feeling of brightness and space between the neutral grey walls and the cubes arrive fully equipped with a flat-screen television, a built-in sound system, broadband internet and a microwave.
The fixtures and fittings are so sleek it hurts and every centimetre has been so carefully considered as to give the impression of a caravan from a more evolved species.
"They were designed for student housing. We call them business class for students because they are small but good," says Prof Richard Horden, professor of architecture and product design at Technical University Munich, who was involved in the design of the dwellings. He has given the project his imprimatur by living in one of the cubes for three days a week, when he teaches in the city.
Munich's Studentenwerk has been searching for creative solutions to the student housing shortage in a city notorious for its sky-high rents. Students who are unable to find somewhere to live at the start of the term often turn to Studentenwerk, which is forced to provide emergency accommodation in sports halls.
"It's certainly no long-term solution to the accommodation problem; what we want to find out is whether it is suitable to tide things over," says Dr van Kempen.
Many locals in Munich have yet to warm to the idea, though German newspapers and architects have raved about the project, as have the students.
"I never would have thought that such a small room could be inhabitable," Christina Leuthold told Die Welt newspaper. The earth science student moved from a 55sq m apartment into the m-ch cube and the only downside she can think of is having to continuously tidy up. The upside is the great location in central Munich, the unbeatable monthly rent of €150, and the lively social life, with the people in neighbouring cubes all connected by a white walkway.
The beauty of the m-ch units is that they are small enough not to require planning permission and mobile enough to be lifted from one vacant site to another as needed.
The future looks bright for the micro-compact home: the designers have already had inquiries to use the cubes as mountain holiday homes, inner-city commuter stopovers and accommodation in hospitals and hotels.
The m-ch will make its UK debut in June at the Grand Designs Live show in London.
The Munich prototype cubes cost €50,000 each and the project has been sponsored by a mobile phone company. But the developers say that mass production should see a significant drop in price, to around €15,000 per unit. Think of it: a self-contained, compact home for the price of a broom cupboard in Blackrock.