Dive Brief:
- Avava Systems, headquartered in San Francisco, has created a tiny house prefab system that aims to create trouble-free transportation and onsite assembly of its various home models, Dezeen reported.
- Components for Avava's Britespace line of diminutive dwellings, ranging from 264 square feet to 480 square feet, are manufactured and then shipped to the site in dozens of flat-pack boxes.
- Avava said traditional prefab methods result in a completed structure that is awkward and expensive to ship, and bills its process as "a completely new way to do prefab." The homes cost between $117,000 and $223,000, and the price includes permitting, delivery and construction.
Dive Insight:
Avava homes include a living area, kitchen, bathroom and closet, and the company said each site installation takes approximately two months. Company representatives also told Dezeen that they are working on a tiny house model that can be quickly disassembled, allowing the owners to relocate and take their homes with them.
It seems more tiny house builders are cropping up every day, but the concept has yet to take significant hold on a large scale, mostly due to municipal zoning laws across the country. Depending on the location, local authorities are addressing the issue from a variety of angles. Washington, DC, recently changed its zoning laws to allow more accessory dwellings to be built in the backyards of the District's outlying areas.
And in what some view as the most significant tiny house zoning move, Tucson's Pima County recently amended its zoning regulations so that tiny homes can be built anywhere single-family homes can be as long as they are built on foundations and hooked up to city services like water and sewer.
Although many tiny home designs, like Avava's, come with a hefty price tag, companies like 84 Lumber appeal to the more frugal homeowner. The building material supplier developed its own line of tiny homes this year, and the models range from a $6,884 DIY model to a completely built house for $49,884. All of 84 Lumber's models are less than 200 square feet and come with a trailer.
