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Cube Project is UK’s Net Zero Tiny House


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The Cube Project tiny house is an effort to create comfortable housing for one person while having the least impact on the environment.

It’s a modest size at only 10 feet on all sides, or 3x3x3 meters.

Experience this tiny home in the video at the bottom of this post.

Here are just a few of the cube’s highlights and features:

  • Couch
  • Large LED Television
  • Slide-able table with chairs
  • Double bed
  • Full size shower
  • Composting toilet
  • Kitchen with fridge
  • Stove top
  • Sink and drainer
  • Microwave
  • Washing machine
  • Air conditioner

How did they fit all of that into less than 100 square feet?

The Cube Project Tiny House
Photo Credit: Nick Edwards

The answer is a great design with multi-functional features.

In order to remain as energy efficient as possible LED lighting is used throughout, even for the television.

There are enough windows to enjoy plenty of natural light.

The Cube is Made to Generate More Energy Than it Uses

The Cube Project Tiny House
Photo Credit: Nick Edwards

Using solar panels ,the little home is able to generate more energy than it uses.

There is plenty of room for the panels on the roof and there’s additional space on one of the exterior side walls of the dwelling.

This home was designed by Dr. Mike Page who is an engineer at the University of Hertfordshire.

It was recently featured in St Andrew’s Square, Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh Science Festival earlier this year.

The Cube Project Tiny House Interior and Kitchen
Photo Credit: Allan MacDonald

View of Living Area and Table on the Cube Project Tiny House
Photo Credit: Allan MacDonald

Video Tour of the Cube Project

Video length: 6:06

If you enjoyed this net zero tiny home from the UK you’ll love our free daily tiny house newsletter with more!

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 29 comments… add one }
  • Kyle
    August 3, 2011, 3:05 pm

    I absolutly love the design. Unfortunatly I wouldn’t be allowed to live in it due to our building codes.

  • claire
    August 3, 2011, 3:19 pm

    I love it. From my research so far we Brits are quite a long way behind you when it comes to tiny house design so it’s nice to see we might just be catching up!

  • August 3, 2011, 5:05 pm

    Kyle, I know, building codes make me mad!

  • August 3, 2011, 5:09 pm

    I liked the design Claire. You’re right, I haven’t seen too much of small housing from your region, but then again haven’t looked for it specifically either. Let us know if you find anything else during your research.

  • August 9, 2011, 7:02 pm

    WHERE CAN I GET THE PLANS FOR THE CUBE HOUSE FROM UK???? THANK YOU GREAT HOUSE

  • August 10, 2011, 2:51 pm

    Hi Mel, not sure that plans are currently available. Your best bet for that is to try contacting the designer who is Dr. Mike Page, an engineer at the University of Hertfordshire.

  • August 10, 2011, 6:51 pm

    where can i get plans????

  • Patricia
    December 10, 2011, 5:02 pm

    I love the space saving staircase but I find cube houses are not pleasing to the eye because they don’t follow the golden ratio.

    • December 12, 2011, 9:04 am

      Glad you liked the staircase in there, Patricia. Thanks!

    • Marcy
      May 14, 2016, 10:38 am

      Patricia, what’s the golden ratio (in regards to houses)?

      • Patricia
        May 14, 2016, 11:38 am

        Marcy, the golden ratio can be seen in the golden rectangle of 1 x 1.618. It is has been found to be the most desirable shape – most pleasing to the eye.

  • Ruth R.
    May 24, 2012, 8:30 am

    Very nice, compact, etc. but I would really like more light from outside…perhaps a couple more windows or a built in sky light somewhere.
    Thanks!

  • Jim Sadler
    February 28, 2013, 10:59 am

    This tiny home i think meets the goals that I like in most tiny home designs. People do tend to like different things but to me tiny homes get off track when they try to become downsized suburban homes. Those units end up squashed full of things that have no place in a tiny home life style. But compact and simple structures can serve us and serve us well. Harvesting more energy than the home consumes is one great mark of true success. Having very low maintenance costs is another very worthwhile goal. And having a very low initial cost is another. Keep in mind that if that tiny home is on wheels there is a very good chance of finding a business that will supply a bit of electric and water just because you would be on the property at night in the wee hours.

  • Cahow
    March 14, 2013, 8:35 am

    I would SO have this for a guest house on our property! You can tell it’s British: they have an electric tea kettle properly featured. LOL Two things I’d do differently: 1) Ditch the massive sliding table! For a house this size, NO ONE is going to have dinner parties! If I needed a space for my laptop, I’d use a laptop pad (hard top, cushioned bottom) which is what I use every single day, now. If I needed a surface to eat from, I’d go “Old School” and use fold up TV trays. You can buy vintage ones, online, or go to a big box store and they sell nice versions, straightaway. 2) The second thing I’d do, if it didn’t compromise the structure, is add some more windows! I’m naturally claustrophic, so I have to restrict myself to buildings where I can see “outside” while I’m “inside”.

    Overall rating for this structure and design? 10 stars out of 10 stars! Brilliant job, Dr. Mike Page!

  • Lionel
    January 22, 2014, 9:54 pm

    What is under the bathroom? What is under the kitchen? Is it really practical, accessible space? How do you manage to carry meals from kitchen to living\dining room with this stair? Impossible living for a couple and to complex for single. Space organization unachieved. Nice looking anyway.

  • gail poulton
    January 23, 2014, 1:48 pm

    Love it! But as someone else mentioned, I would have the kitchen on the lowest level and the living room on the second where the bedroom is. If nothing else, one could figure out a way so that the bed area could be seating as well, besides I like watching TV in bed.. and would rather have the kitchen and bathroom on a separate level.
    Great design, now to get Canada and it’s ridiculous building codes in line and costs down.And as we now know, Vancouver BC is the 2nd most expensive place in the world to live, when wages are taken into account!!

  • Lydia Mclaughlin
    May 14, 2015, 11:18 am

    are the cubes used for storage? If not that is a lot f wasted space. Could be open sides for book shelves or with doors for clothing etc.

  • JC
    May 14, 2015, 12:04 pm

    I think the design is really amazing! A single person could live comfortably there. I hope the designer does more projects like this — maybe a cube for family living.

  • David
    May 14, 2015, 12:25 pm

    If you go to the main site http://www.cubeproject.org.uk/ they have the finished house addressing some of your feedback.

  • Merryl
    May 14, 2015, 1:30 pm

    Amazing! I agree though, kitchen and table need to be on the same level.

  • Karen R
    May 14, 2015, 6:16 pm

    I vote with Cahow on the table – it is huge! Otherwise, pure genius!

  • Susanne
    May 14, 2015, 10:37 pm

    Very cute… 🙂 oh, if it were me and I could afford it-would increase the size… Must draw the line somewhere! Saw a TH locally; was 207 sq. ft. without the lofts-wonderful for one person, but long-term for two would go little larger….

  • two crows
    May 15, 2015, 10:51 am

    Wow. So much for the solar energy nay-sayers. If 8 solar panels can take care of this house in BRITAIN, 3 would be plenty in Florida [where I am.]

    And, by implication, covering the roof of virtually any 2 story home with panels would likely handle all it’s electricity in foggy, cloudy Britain. So any home South of Britain could, almost certainly, be electrically self-sufficient.

    I have 22 panels. Since I moved to my small house, I won’t have room for all of them on the roof but I’m designing a work-around to take care of that. Once that’s done, I’ll be generating far more electricity than I use. And how cool is that? The downside, at the moment, is that I have to wait till the old, big-house sells before I can afford to get the covered deck built to take them. 🙁

  • Terry Smith
    May 14, 2016, 8:47 am

    This is such a great set up . it could be enlarged or joined with another cube

  • Nancy M.
    May 14, 2016, 9:57 pm

    Love it! And building codes would not allow it here, either. In fact, the house I designed out of concrete block 25×25 was not “up” to code, either, because the bedrooms were so small (7×7), even though the beds were built-in! And it had a huge loft which I wanted, to have room for guests (with a second bathroom up there!), with an actual staircase up to it! But alas, I have had to resort to putting a shed on my property, 14×24, which will be inspected and found acceptable as a shed — and then I will CHEAT and finish it out to live in it! I am really disgusted with the “rules” — we are not cookie cutter people, and don’t need cookie cutter homes! Sorry, know I’m ranting, but I am really fed up with it! I TRIED to follow the rules and get a building permit — that was my mistake! If I had just built it, I would be very happily living in my concrete block home by now!

    • Steve in Palm Bay
      May 16, 2016, 5:32 am

      Nancy M., I’m with you on this! Here in “Flaw-rida” as the Yam Dankees all seem to pronounce it, the local governments are all so intrusive. Generally lobbyists working for developers and/or realtors, can be counted on to make sure any one desiring a “too” small of a house gets treated like a loon. As more often than not, do-gooders can be counted on to come out of the woodwork tell let you know that they know what’s best for you and your life.

      Building codes, while wrapped in the “greater good” flag, are all about money and control. This can oft be translated into “unless you pay us off, you are way too stupid to know what’s best in your life”.

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