If you are a fan of HGTV (the Home and Garden Television channel), you are probably aware of the popularity of tiny houses. An increasing number of Americans are choosing to downsize the space in which they live.
Kristin Knudson, a 2014 Annandale High School graduate, has gotten some hands-on experience with designing a tiny house at Bemidji State University. She played a key role in a project that will design and build a tiny house to be auctioned off in April. This is the first year BSU has attempted such a project.
Knudson is the daughter of Laurie and Al Knudson of Annandale. The senior will be graduating in May with a degree in technology, art and design, with an emphasis on exhibit and graphic design. Upon graduation she plans to move to Boston, where she has multiple job offers and is in the process of deciding which firm she will go with.
BSU’s tiny house project has been a collaborative effort involving students in a broad variety of TAD courses. According to the BSU catalog, technology, art and design offers majors with emphasis in applied engineering, applied management, art and design, engineering technology, project management, digital and exhibit design, studio arts, construction management, manufacturing management, operations management and facility management.
The project was managed by a team of eight TAD students, five from design majors and three from the construction side. Knudson headed up the design portion of the project starting early last fall, and they finished at the end of October.
Problems designing
The design team laid out the dimensions of the tiny house (eight feet by 24 feet mounted on a three-wheel axle) on the floor with masking tape.
"When we were marking it off on the floor we could not believe that people could live in something so small," Knudson said.
"With only 192 square feet to work with, it was really tough fitting everything into such a small space. If I am standing in the kitchen and you are in the bedroom, I can almost touch you."
The team managed to fit a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, laundry room, living room and even a walk-in closet in their tiny house.
"Well, as much of a walk-in closet as you can have in such a small space," Knudson said.
The team designed the house so elements would serve multiple purposes.
Knudson and her team utilized 3D software (3dxs-Max) to create the prototype. They presented their design concepts on Oct. 20, 2017, at a TAD faculty meeting.
"Our design was chosen as the final construction model," Knudson said.
Since that time the project has been handed over to the construction side of the project, which will oversee it until completion.
"It was really cool to get to work with the whole TAD school to create something that is actually coming to life," Knudson said. "We can’t wait to see the finished product."
The target market for the house would be someone living in northern Minnesota.
"We even designed storage space for winter clothes in the summer – a Minnesota necessity," she said, estimating the cost to build the tiny house to be about $20,000.
"The house will be auctioned off, so we don’t know what it will sell for," Knudson said. "It is hoped we don’t lose money." Why tiny houses?
According to the U.S. Census "Characteristics Of New Housing" annual report, the average home size in 2016 was 2,687 square feet. The typical tiny house is between 100 and 400 square feet.
The reasons for downsizing to a tiny house are varied but include financial concerns, environmental concerns and the freedom to pick up and move your home.
Tiny houses come in all shapes, sizes and forms, but they enable simpler living in a smaller, more efficient space.