Transportable Housing Container

In the short Finnish summers, many town dwellers go out into the countryside in search of unspoilt nature. For these “urban nomads”, the architect has developed a prototype “summer container”, a transportable single-room dwelling that can serve as a holiday home in the woods. Once a suitable site has been found, the timber cabin can be transported on a trailer, set on the ground and levelled by means of timber blocks. The container is based on the principle of a matchbox. It consists of a wooden cube with an opening in one side, through which an extension volume can be drawn out. This inner element contains two beds and a storage space beneath the raised floor. Once the unit has been extended to its full size, a flap can be folded out to create a table and sitting space next to the inbuilt kitchen block. All openings are protected by external flap shutters when the cabin is in a closed position. The door flaps, when opened, form a canopy over and a ramp up to the entrance. The container has a timber-framed structure with an infill of polystyrene rigid-foam slabs. It is clad internally and externally with plywood sheeting. Virtually all the timber connections are adhesive fixed. The cabin can be equipped with a cooker, a heating stove, water tanks and a sink, with electricity supplied by solar panels or a wind generator. The varied colours of the plywood surfaces reflect the coloration of the forest.