Tiny Houses

Generous glazing floods compact tiny house interior with daylight

Generous glazing floods compact tiny house interior with daylight
Ia Orana measures a total length of just 6 m (19.6 ft)
Ia Orana measures a total length of just 6 m (19.6 ft)
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Ia Orana measures a total length of just 6 m (19.6 ft)
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Ia Orana measures a total length of just 6 m (19.6 ft)
Ia Orana's living room contains a sofa and a small work desk
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Ia Orana's living room contains a sofa and a small work desk
Ia Orana looks filled with daylight inside thanks to its generous glazing
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Ia Orana looks filled with daylight inside thanks to its generous glazing
Ia Orana's bathroom includes a toilet, shower, sink, and a washer/dryer
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Ia Orana's bathroom includes a toilet, shower, sink, and a washer/dryer
Ia Orana's shower is quite spacious and measures 160 x 80 cm (5 x 2.6 ft)
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Ia Orana's shower is quite spacious and measures 160 x 80 cm (5 x 2.6 ft)
Ia Orana's kitchen includes some pull-out steps
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Ia Orana's kitchen includes some pull-out steps
Ia Orana's pull-out steps are used to reach the overhead storage
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Ia Orana's pull-out steps are used to reach the overhead storage
Ia Orana's kitchen includes a propane-powered two-burner stove
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Ia Orana's kitchen includes a propane-powered two-burner stove
Ia Orana's kitchen includes a freezer but no fridge, at the owner's request
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Ia Orana's kitchen includes a freezer but no fridge, at the owner's request
Ia Orana's bedroom is a typical tiny house-style bedroom with a double bed and low ceiling
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Ia Orana's bedroom is a typical tiny house-style bedroom with a double bed and low ceiling
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When you're dealing with the kind of small living space offered by a tiny house, maximizing glazing can really help make it feel less cramped. France's Baluchon embraced this approach with its recently completed Ia Orana, and it really opens up the home to light and views.

The Ia Orana (which means Hello in Tahitian) measures just 6 m (19.6 ft) in length – to put that into perspective, US tiny houses usually exceed 9 m (30 ft) – and is based on a double-axle trailer, and is finished in cedar, with an aluminum sloping roof.

Ia Orana looks filled with daylight inside thanks to its generous glazing
Ia Orana looks filled with daylight inside thanks to its generous glazing

Visitors enter the home via large glass doors, which run almost from floor to ceiling and will eventually connect onto a planned deck area outside. The layout is quite simple too, which is always a good idea when there's not much space available.

The living room is furnished with a sofa, a small work desk, and a coffee table, plus there's some storage space in there and a nice high ceiling since there's no loft above it. Next to the living room is a relatively spacious kitchen that has a freezer (but no fridge, at the owner's request), a two-burner propane-powered stove, plus cabinetry. There's also some pull-out steps to make it easier to reach the overhead storage space.

Ia Orana's living room contains a sofa and a small work desk
Ia Orana's living room contains a sofa and a small work desk

The kitchen connects to the bathroom, which is pretty roomy by French tiny house standards and has a sink, toilet, washer/dryer and a shower measuring 160 x 80 cm (5 x 2.6 ft). Above the bathroom is the home's one bedroom, which is reached by a space-saving removable ladder. This is a typical tiny house bedroom with a low ceiling, and has enough space for a double bed and some shelving.

The Ia Orana has now been installed in the French Alps. We've no word on its price, but Baluchon's tiny houses start at €80,000 (roughly US$92,000).

Source: Baluchon

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