Somersby NSW
Australia
Overview
Minima is an architectural solution to a gap in an increasingly unaffordable housing market. The structure can be an architecturally designed, small footprint home, or simply an addition - balancing quality, flexibility, and attainability.
-33.3569025, 151.2904349
Structure
Minima was always designed to be a structure that celebrates the sustainable use of timber in construction.
The floor, walls and roof are all made of prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. These pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, with the structure of a base unit being built in less than a day. The whole Minima home comes together in around ten days.
CLT is an emerging timber technology that glues timber ‘planks’ in layers at alternating orientation to produce a strong sheet material like plywood.
CLT is also a renewable and highly sustainable building material that locks carbon away, rather than creating more. The material can offer substantially shorter construction times, less foundational work, and far less wastage due to prefabrication.
Sourced locally from sustainably managed pine forests, the CLT panels are designed and made in Australia, at X-Lam in Wodonga. Aside from supporting local industry, this also reduces shipping, saving time and lowering price points.
Exterior
The cladding of Minima continues the minimalistic language, and defines the pure form. Stained native Australian cypress wraps the entire structure, chosen for its incredible durability in exterior applications.
Minima is screened by two large layers of glass doors and sliding timber screens, also made from native cypress. The screens pull back in two directions and pocket neatly into the building façade, bringing in natural light and airflow.
High openings elsewhere in the design ensure cross ventilation and glimpses of the landscape are available anywhere in the home.
Interior
The interior of Minima embraces the CLT structure as finish throughout. The fact that CLT can act as structure and finish increases the sustainability credentials further, as it decreases material use.
The more utilitarian, knotty look of pine is offset by finer grained joinery made from sustainably sourced Victorian ash timber.
Being a compact structure, storage was an important element of Minima. Built-in cupboards, shelves and drawers are focused around the edge of the room, leaving an open and versatile space in the centre, without clutter. Ensuring there is a spot for everything to be put away is an essential part of the minimalist strategy of the project. A fold down bed reveals the CLT lining behind, and allows the main space to operate as an open plan living space during the day.
Timber was used as an affordable and aesthetically beautiful choice for the cabinetry.The timber cabinetry is finished with thoughtful details, like joinery pulls and integrated designer lights, many of which can be folded down or tucked away.
One of the benefits of CLT is the ability for cutouts to be made easily in the factory. A beautiful skylight hovers over the bathroom, exposing the CLT layers where the cut has been made.
