Biokabin: our modular eco-home to snap & build in backyard, Nature
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Published 2024-03-31
At first we didn't know everything about it, but we were sure that house needed to belong to the place, to be healthy and to age well. But the real challenge was: could we build it ourselves without fancy tools, and to create a design that could work for other people as well?
Over the past couple years, with the help of architect and carpenter friends, we designed and built a modular home that can be as small as 100 square feet (one module) to as large as you'd like by simply adding modules. The components are cut in a factory and can be assembled with just a few people, and a wrench and a ladder (no need for a crane).
Living in small apartments and seeing very compact dwellings we also realized that it's not the layout, but the 3D-space that matters, so we wanted to design something high to allow for two-story setups. Style and quality were important, so we used our collective experience of Scandinavian, Mediterranean, and California design.
Soon we will be building the first three-module Biokabin Living as an ADU in our California backyard, but we would love to see it in other parts of California or Southern Europe (as a start). We can only produce ten the first year because we want to be able to focus on each one.
— Take a look: www.biokabin.com/
— Press release: docs.google.com/document/d/17TQWvjt9p_Zsmq_WitziRO…
— Models: www.biokabin.com/models/
On *faircompanies: faircompanies.com/videos/biokabin-our-modular-eco-…
All Comments (21)
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This is wonderful. My cabin is 12' x 16' and I often feel it's bigger than I need. I've lived here two years, with a large dog and two cats. I'm almost 70 years old. I plan on staying here the rest of my life.
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One summer in the mid-'60s, in NY, my family lived in a 2-room lean-to. The bedroom had 4 bunk beds there was enough room that a wall could have split that room in two. There were shelves for clothes. There was a screened window on each side. The was a toilet and a sink. The shower was private, but outside. The other room was the kitchen/😅all purpose room small not tiny refrigerator, 2-burner stove, sink big enough for a spaghetti pot. The entire short end of the cabin was 2 sets of French (folding) Doors that were screened. I am pretty sure there was a ceiling fan too. I would get up in the morning, have breakfast, run down to the lake, swim and read my books, only came back up for meals. After dinner we would read or play games, build a campfire and cook out and do campfire type stuff. If it rained, we would stay in the cabin, or go into town. We were campers, and in all my years, I stll think that was one of the best vacations I ever experienced!
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Watching the men putting the cabin together, it suddenly dawned on me “wow, it’s so quiet “. I love the shape and height of these cabin pods. The fact that so much head room in a loft is amazing plus the added bonus of being able to construct the roof from using existing interior supports as scaffolding. Very clever. It’s so neat to see your family’s journey through the years in old footage. I’m a huge fan of this show and I look forward to each and every one. Thanks for taking us along with you. ❤
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Love the flash backs in your family’s journey ! The growth of children depicts the passage of time better than any timepiece. Safe travels.🍁🤙
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Your series have been a go to when I like to unwind and relax. Thank you for putting in all the work that made this possible!
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“Home became an investment, and we forgot the meaning of home. You want to have a home that improves over time, that she’s well. And you also want to participate in the beauty of a place”. “A dwelling is a soul - also”.
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This is it!!!! This healthy, eco cabin is what the world is craving for! It's exactly the kind of build I would like to have. Always interesting and enjoyable videos, but this one was something else. Thank you guys for showing over and over how much is there outside the box. Congrats from Argentina
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I know that the inside of that cabin must smell wonderful. I also imagine that the children will quickly take over the cabin.
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Hi Kirsten and Family. I would be very interested in your ADU journey, including permits, process and cost. This looks like a wonderful cabin, a flat pack build process seems economical and diy-able.
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Safe travels. We’ve been watching for years and we love you for what you brought to Building and living culture here in the US and around the world
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Just what I've been looking for here in my little piece of land in the middle of nowhere.
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I look into the world - and feel so shut. Then I watch this, and feel normal.
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Thank you for promoting such great, sustainable housing. Would be great if this was the norm instead of the exception. Going back to our pioneer days in a way- reminiscent of the log cabins. Happy Easter everyone. 🐇
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I love the idea of a modular cabin made entirely of wood and able to assemble by 2 persons. In the Netherlands they developed the Wikihouse into a little village. Same idea of modularity and diy build. The components of the wikihouse are made of CNC cut standard plywood throughout, no steel fixings (but of course glue for the multiplex). A big jigsaw puzzle.
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I think I've been on this channel the longest. Like two minutes after I discovered YouTube I started watching Kirsten Dirksen (I think?) But I still like it as much as I did.
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Thank you for covering the glues and formaldehyde, and off gassing. I was wondering about that very thing!
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I wish you could revisit the man living up in Mendocino in the redwoods again and see how he's doing. Maybe you could focus on the details of his gardening, irrigation and solar etc. if you return someday.
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Very cool. I love the way they're using "wild" wood culled from local forests and the modular way that these can be fit together. It strikes me that something like this could provide disaster relief shelter or even temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness that would be adequate and quick to erect. In that scenario, they could operate as living/sleeping rooms (with a toilet and sink) with things like a kitchen, laundry and bathing facilities being in a more centralize area, kind of like a camping area with small cabins where you go to the shower room to bathe, etc.
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I love every single thing about this build. Three of them would probably be enough for me.
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Freaking brilliant. America needs more innovation like this
