Studio Precht has designed a flexible and unusual home with its Bert model. The tiny dwelling will be able to run off-the-grid and offer multiple interior layouts. It also draws inspiration from rather unlikely sources: Minions characters and Sesame Street.
The Bert was created for a company called Baumbau, which is a start-up that specializes in tourist-friendly tiny houses and treehouses. It will feature a stacked tower-like design that is made from wood as standard but can also be built using steel. While its circular form, green roof, and leaf-like shingles on the facade make it look more like a tree than a cartoon character to us, the architects clearly took a lighthearted approach to the project.
"We are fully aware that architecture is this serious and profound craft with a long culture and tradition," says Studio Precht. "You see that when we architects find reference for our projects in art, philosophy, literature or nature. For this project, we also looked at art to find reference. But not at Michelangelo or Dali. Rather we looked at cartoon characters of Sesame Street or Minions."
The ground floor will be accessed by stairs and host a composting toilet and some kind of water treatment system, while the next floor up will have a kitchenette, some seating and a bed. Moving up another level reveals more seating area and a bed, while the uppermost level is a rooftop garden. It also features a small balcony with chairs.
All of this can be changed though as the layout is flexible due to its modular nature.
"The modular system of Bert makes it easy to react to a client's brief in real time," says Studio Precht. "The client informs the architects about the desired program, like bedrooms, kitchen, living room, library and bathroom, after which they can make immediately different variations of arrangements with all necessary information of cost, size, schedule, etc. That gives the clients a certain transparency about things that keep uncertain during a common design process for a long time."
The Bert could be optionally outfitted to run off-the-grid with the composting toilet, as well as solar panels installed either on the roof or nearby.
It's due to be made available for purchase in early 2020 starting at €120,000 (roughly US$137,000).
Sources: Studio Precht, Baumbau