- The Tiny Housing Co has created the Natura, an environmentally friendly tiny home on wheels with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom.
- To emphasize the importance of eco consciousness in the build, its maker included solar panels, a water filtration system, “efficient” insulation and appliances, sustainable materials, and the option to upgrade to an Eco Package.
- The Natura build recently skyrocketed in popularity amid the pandemic, receiving three times more webpage visits than any other tiny home that the UK-based company offers.
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The Tiny Housing Co has created the Natura, an environmentally friendly tiny home on wheels with a lofted bedroom.
The tiny house, which sits on a trailer for easy transport, was built to be both eco-friendly and luxurious. It’s also not the only little living unit that the UK-based tiny home builder has in its lineup: the curved Natura is joined by the Nomad, Endura, and Itinerant 1L, all with varying floor plans and exterior designs.
However, to emphasize the importance of eco-consciousness in the Natura build specifically, its maker included several features — both obvious and hidden — that convey this goal. This includes solar panels, a water filtration system, “efficient” insulation and appliances, and environmentally conscious building materials like cork boards.
“One of our big aims is to promote more eco-friendly living, be that using more eco-friendly materials, or just really trying to offer something new and unique,” founder and director of The Tiny Housing Co Dane Smith-Burchnell told Business Insider. “Tiny houses have been around for quite some time in America, Canada, Australia, but a lot of the designs are fairly standard in one way or another.”
“We didn’t see too many which either have curvature [like the Natura design] or use these kinds of materials,” Smith-Burchnell continued.
An energy recovery ventilator that helps warm and purify the air comes standard in both options.
The upgraded Eco Package comes with a wood burner that also heats the floors, and 3,000-watt solar panels — as opposed to the standard 1,000 watts — which allow all of the tiny home’s appliances to be powered exclusively by solar.
Both the standard and the Eco Package’s power systems include an inverter and either a 24-volt or 48-volt battery.
According to Smith-Burchnell, about 60% of customers opt for the Eco Package add-on.
The other 40% often don’t because of the additional costs, which is important to note because a chunk of the company’s customer base is made up of lower-income individuals looking for affordable housing solutions, according to the company’s founder.
However, the company caters its tiny living lifestyle to more than just people who are seeking an alternative to expensive mortgages.
According to The Tiny Housing Co’s founder, the company’s customers have included 21 to 55-year-olds, company directors, people in the forestry industry, and farm owners, to name a few segments.
The one recurring trend is that the majority of its customers are women.
For Smith-Burchnell, integrating eco-friendly practices into the company’s tiny homes wasn’t a hard decision to make.
“As negative as [the coronavirus pandemic] has been throughout the world, a positive thing that’s come from it is people have really come to realize nature is actually quite important to people’s lives,” Smith-Burchnell said. “I think that’s come into [the tiny house units from the company] as well, which has supported what I believe in and what the other people in the company do too.”
The pandemic has also played a role in boosting the popularity of the Natura tiny home.
According to Smith-Burchnell, the tiny home has been “exploding in America”, which he attributes to its unique design, spacious bathroom, deck, and eco-friendliness.
As a result, the Natura tiny home has received three times more webpage visits than any other build that the company offers.
“During coronavirus and after, people are really considering their life and what it is that they want to get out of it, so I think a tiny house, for some people, is really tuned with them,” Smith-Burchnell said.
The tiny home is 22.97 feet long, 7.87 feet wide, and 12.96 feet tall.
The 250.26-square foot space makes room for a lofted bedroom, kitchen, living room, and bathroom.
The front of the tiny home consists of a large glass wall and door that leads into the outdoor deck.
Besides this glass wall, natural light comes in through the various windows across the tiny home, including some by the bedroom, kitchen, and dining area.
The lofted bedroom can fit a king bed with under-bed storage, allowing the unit to accommodate two people.
Storage is also hidden throughout the tiny home, including under the stairs and between the walls, according to its maker.
The ground floor’s living room has space for a couch and entertainment system.
Natura’s walls are insulated using various materials to better maintain its interior temperature.
In line with its eco-conscious design, the tiny home’s kitchen uses energy-saving appliances, according to its maker.
Similar to a normal home kitchen, there’s a dual induction cooktop with a fan, refrigerator-freezer, oven, and a water filter under the sink.
The dining area is right across from the kitchen.
Meanwhile, the bathroom has a standing shower, toilet, cabinets, shelves, and a vanity mirror.
Unlike the rest of the home, the bathroom has a strong blue colored theme.
By popular demand, the Tiny Housing Co can now ship its little living units to the US.
In the coming year, the company hopes to create tiny home communities — called “tiny towns” — across the UK, although this is contingent on changes to the current zoning laws.
