This Tall and Slender Micro Home Takes Up Less Land Than Two Cars
Ana Rocha Architecture’s Micro House Slim Fit is a 538-square-foot home that can slot right into forgotten city lots.
"I believe that, in the Netherlands, we should intensify the existing infrastructure instead of allowing cities to spread more and more into nature," says architect Ana Rocha, who designed Micro House Slim Fit—a 538-square-foot house in Almere—as a solution to urban densification.
"I wanted a footprint that would be smaller than the area used by two cars," the architect says. "Micro House Slim Fit’s footprint is 172 square feet, allowing the house to fit almost everywhere in the city—even between cars."
Ana Rocha Architecture designed this tall and narrow micro home for small and slender lots in cities in the Netherlands. The exterior is clad in Ayous wood.
Christiane Wirth
The tall and slender three-level home features a kitchen, a dining area, and a storage/technical room on the ground level, a living area on the second level, and a bedroom, bathroom, and closet on the third level. "The storage/technical room is located under the stairs," Rocha says. "And the closet uses the free space above the stairs."
A built-in floor-to-ceiling bookcase integrates with the pine staircase on the first and second levels. "It’s 26 feet high," Rocha says. "It was important to make clear that compact living does not mean losing space for all of your collected items."
The kitchen cabinetry, counters, and walls are covered with pale birch panels that lend lightness and texture.
Christiane Wirth
Stay up to Date on the Latest in Tiny Homes
Discover small spaces filled with big ideas—from clever storage solutions to shape-shifting rooms.
The living room is located on the second level, where large openings provide natural light and ventilation for the interior.
Christiane Wirth
Shop the Look
The Citizenry Sheepskin Throw - White
Plush, warm, and oh-so-soft. An ethically sourced sheepskin throw that instantly ups your cozy quotient.
ShopHerman Miller Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair Wood Base (LCW)
Hailed by Time as the Best Design of the 20th Century, the LCW — or Lounge Chair with wood legs (1946) — began as an experiment in Charles and Ray Eameses’ apartment, where they were molding plywood in what they called the “Kazam! Machine.” The machine pressed thin sheets of wood veneer against a heated membrane that was inflated by a bicycle pump. From these humble beginnings came what would become one of the world’s most widely recognized and highly coveted chairs.
ShopMagna Lake 4 by Hamish Robertson Print
A series by Hamish Robertson that calls into question “a viewer’s initial perceptions." Taken in 2017, this six part series explores the textural, intricate details of nature that often go unnoticed. The subject of each photograph feels otherworldly and unnameable, and incites a desire for further exploration. Each work is printed using a fine art quality digital glicée technique on heavyweight, archival-grade pearled paper. Printed as limited runs of 30 per size, each work is signed and numbered by the artist. Available in five sizes, either framed or unframed. Hamish Robertson is an English born, Los Angeles based photographer whose work focuses on the intersection of memory and coincidence. His work has been shown in the Whitney Museum of American Art and several internationally renowned galleries. Photo Courtesy of TRNK
ShopRocha clad the exterior of the home with Ayous wood because "it’s sustainable and very light," she says. "The interior is covered with birch panels on the walls and the ceiling, and the flooring on the first two levels is covered with a layer of cement and synthetic resin." The kitchen, too, is finished with birch panels that were treated with a resin varnish.
A built-in pine bookcase integrates with the staircase and climbs one of the walls on the first and second levels.
Christiane Wirth
"It was important to make clear that compact living does not mean losing space for all of your collected items," says Rocha.
Christiane Wirth
The position of both large windows opposite one another facilitates natural ventilation and provides the interior with plenty of sunlight. Sliding doors, made from birch panels, along the stair can be closed to preserve warmth or opened to allow for extra natural ventilation. The home is connected to an urban heating system, and all of its glass surfaces are heat-resistant—and the roof is finished with a white, heat-resistant foil.
The bedroom, which is located on the third level, is finished with birch panels on the walls.
Christiane Wirth
Micro House Slim Fit is compact, but it feels spacious. "The openings are large, and the rooms are full-height," Rocha says. "The home can stand alone, or it can be grouped in rows or squares. The ideal context for its compact footprint is the lost space in cities or backyards, between buildings, and in areas that can be densified so that we don’t further encroach on nature."
Related Reading:
A Towering Tree Grows at the Heart of This Super Skinny Hanoi Home
Slim Is in For These 10 Skinny Homes
Project Credits:
Architect of Record: Ana Rocha Architecture
Construction: Goedhart Bouw
Civil Engineer: ATKO, Meijer & Joustra, Heerenveen
Installations and Building Physics: Lineair Bouwmanagement
Installations: Herold Pouwels
Photography: Christiane Wirth
Published
Last Updated