Black Aluminum and Cedar Wrap a Traveling Couple’s Tiny Home
French builder Baluchon created Ala Köl for their clients’ life on the road.
Ala Köl, the latest design from Baluchon—the French company that designs and builds custom tiny homes for people around the world—was inspired by wanderlust.
Nina and Guillaume, the couple who commissioned Ala Köl (pronounced "cool"), have a penchant for travel, so when they approached Baluchon about creating a tiny home–on–wheels, their biggest concern was size: The structure had to be large enough to accommodate everything they needed, but small enough to be towed legally.
Ala Köl, the most recent design imagined by Tiny House Baluchon for a couple who love to travel, is clad with black aluminum, cedar, and glass.
Tiny House Baluchon
The power for the tiny home–on–wheels comes from a standard RV-style hookup.
Tiny House Baluchon
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With a length that measures 19.6 feet, Ala Köl is clad in cedar and black aluminum. The aluminum wraps one side of the tiny home and continues on the roof, creating a waterfall-like effect. Slim, vertical cedar boards lend texture for the three remaining elevations. The juxtaposition of the two materials—in combination with a saltbox-style roof form—provides a striking, sculptural aesthetic for the micro home.
The dining area displays a solid French walnut table that extends and can accommodate up to four people.
Tiny House Baluchon
The large staircase features integrated storage and accesses the mezzanine, where the designers arranged the sleeping area.
Tiny House Baluchon
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SHOPNina and Guillaume named the tiny home after Ala Köl lake in Kyrgyzstan, a place the couple visited together. In the same way the black aluminum wraps the cedar on the exterior of the tiny home, the Terskey Alatau mountains wrap around the circumference of the turquoise blue lake.
Large windows on each elevation flood the interior of the tiny home with sunlight, giving a feeling of spaciousness and warmth. The shiplap walls and wood flooring, crafted with heat-treated solid Landes pine and stained solid spruce, are insulated with cotton, linen, and hemp. In the dining area, a wood table doubles as a desk and accommodates two people; when necessary, the surface extends and can serve as many as four people.
The kitchen is outfitted with two solid French walnut counters, a refrigerator, a gas stove with an oven and four burners, a sink, and plenty of cabinetry that's painted a mint green tone.
Tiny House Baluchon
Two solid French walnut counters provide a good deal of space for food preparation in the kitchen, where mint-colored cabinetry adds brightness and plenty of storage. The room also features a large refrigerator, a sink, and a cooktop with an oven. Just beyond the kitchen is the laundry area with a washing machine and the bath, where there’s a full-size shower and more cabinet storage.
The bedroom, located above the bath and the laundry area, is accessed by a large staircase that incorporates storage within the treads. The compact mezzanine area has a cabin-like feeling that’s supplied by a spruce ceiling, insulated with wood fiber, and spruce flooring. A floor-to-ceiling window runs the length of the space, drenching it in sunlight and connecting it to the outdoors.
The bedroom accommodates a queen-size bed and built-in wood shelving.
Tiny House Baluchon
The bathroom is accessed via a partition door with a full-length mirror. The room also features a sizable shower, a dry toilet with a stainless-steel bucket and chip compartment, a large wardrobe, and a washing machine.
Tiny House Baluchon
Wood walls, flooring, and ceiling in the bathroom offer texture and a feeling of warmth.
Tiny House Baluchon
And in the living room—where a tall ceiling and large windows make the tiny home feel surprisingly expansive—a sizable wood map affixed to the wall marks all of the places the couple has traveled—as well as all of the places they’d still like to go.
A wood world map installed on the wall in the living room reminds the young couple of their many excursions.
Tiny House Baluchon
Double-height ceilings mark the living area, where large windows harness plenty of natural light.
Tiny House Baluchon
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Project Credits:
Design and Construction: Baluchon / @tinyhousebaluchon
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