The British are the happy owners of not only the mostbeautiful gardens, but also the smallest houses in Western Europe. We decided to find out how the British manage to use every meter wisely, and we selected three of the most beautiful and ergonomic small houses built or renovated in the past few years. In this article - all the details The Royal Society of British Architects (RIBA) made a sensational statement: the smallest houses in Western Europe are being built in England. The average area is 85 square meters for a family of three. For comparison: in Holland this figure is 115 square meters, and in Denmark - 137. Architects were divided into two camps. Someone thinks that the British humiliate their dignity, and scold the government for high taxes on real estate. And someone, on the contrary, finds many advantages in the new trend that will push the development of both construction technologies and architecture and design in general. Rick Frankland, studio Dwelle.ings, Manchester: - We can complain as much as we want about the crisis, lack of funds and everything else. But you can look at this process differently. I compare our baby houses to modern car engines: the best and most powerful technologies need to fit into the smallest space, and so that they work an order of magnitude better than the old ones. Look, modern small houses consume a minimum of energy, cost their owners half the price, allow the use of "green technologies", and most importantly, make designers think about the most efficient use of every useful centimeter. dwelle.co.uk Project dwelle.ing, 45 m. Square. Project dwelle.ing, 45 m. Square. A typical English micro-house project isopen-plan space, or into a natural environment, maximally accessible to light and air due to large windows, usually with an unusual and effective design that pays off due to significant savings on utility bills - up to 80 percent compared to a traditional house. Wedge wedge:London's narrowest house Neighbors in Clapham, an area in south-west London, call it a wedge house. Total 69 square meters of total area. Useful - one and a half times less than in any ordinary house, because this house is one of the narrowest in Europe. Only 2.4 meters wide. Three people live in the house: Tom and Sara Tidbury and their cat Arnold. The house is located in the historical building,"Reserved" zone of London. The exterior facade, which faces the street, should remain unchanged. But the pitched roof allows you to extend and continue the house in the direction of the courtyard and garden. Which was done as a result. Tom and Sarah Tidbury, owners: - Guests who come to our house for the first time are always surprised how big and capacious it really is. Outside, it seems that we really live in a shoebox. But this is not quite as you see it. Tom and Sarah bought their house in 2009. It was their first real estate, there was not much money, and in Clapham - all friends and favorite bars. In short, they bought that only house that they could afford where they wanted to live, and decided to turn it into the house of their dreams. For this, Tom turned to a school friend, who by that time had turned into a successful architect. A friend suggested that the house should be rebuilt in the direction of the garden, significantly expanding and extending it, but not changing the configuration of the facade, as it is prohibited by law. As a result, Tom and Sarah appeared in fact on an additional room on each of the three floors. The first was decided to be turned into a general cross-cuttingopen space. Now the front door leads directly to the living room, which goes into the kitchen and dining room. In front of the door there is a small hall with storage shelves, from the floor to the ceiling. At the other end there are glass doors leading to the garden. Thanks to this decision, there is always a lot of light in the house, even in the darkest and foggy days. On the next floor there is a laundry room with a boiler room andGuest bedroom. The main, the master's - under the roof. And in it now there is enough room for a normal double bed, which before did not fit here. Now there is even a small wardrobe - made, however, made to order from furniture plywood - and a full bathroom. Steep roof like a ski slope (sothey call her Tom and Sarah), leaves a lot of space in the corners for storage systems. Thanks to the dormer windows, the staircase has become bright and therefore seems more spacious than it really is. Tom and Sarah recall that they did not consider the house as a permanent home when they bought it. But for six years now they have been living in it so comfortably and happily that they have never thought about moving - it is very convenient for them. The house cost £ 430,000. About 90 thousand more were worth repairing. Now realtors estimate the house at about 800-850 thousand pounds. House on a million 62 square meters in Hackney,working area of London's East End cost its owners £ 275,000 in 2006. It took about 80 thousand pounds and six months of work to rebuild and repair. Now the cost of the house is estimated at about a million. But the owners are not going to part with him. The house, redesigned by a young architect for his family, has become the hallmark of his architectural office - an advertisement in brick, glass and metal. The English have a saying: "Get a house - get a girl." In the case of architect George Bradley (George Bradley) this happened literally. That day, the code he moved to a dark cramped cottage in the center of Hackney, he met on the street with a pretty Dane Helen, who was looking for housing in the neighborhood. As a result, she became his wife, and then the mother of their daughter Ilaria. George Bradley, architect Bradley Van DerStraeten: - My agent laughed at me when I announced the budget I was going to spend on the purchase. They gave me the house without bargaining - it seemed so horrible to everyone. But even then I looked at him through the eyes of an architect. And I decided that for that kind of money, it was actually theft. We quickly shook hands. b-vds.co.uk Earlier, George met someone like himyoung architect Ewald Van der Straeten, tired of working in large companies. Both wanted to do something unusual, but close to the needs of ordinary people. And they decided to start with themselves, more precisely - with George. Planning and fundraising took three years. In fact, the house had no merit other than a granite-faced plinth and a brick façade. Two tiny rooms on the two lower floors and a dark bedroom hidden under a roof cornice near the roof. There were doors everywhere and an awkward spiral staircase in the very corner. To save money, we decided to do everything ourselves: Helen was interested to try, and George and Ewald decided to gain invaluable construction experience, which is important for their profession. The main internal material is wood,.The staircase now had to run in the center so that the widened doorways created a sense of spaciousness and open layouts. On the floor, a building oak board was used, which was processed with our own hands. The usual front door was replaced with a higher one, glazed with frosted glass, and a huge balcony window with a half-wall was placed above it, significantly adding light and space. From the same plywood, the kitchen was designed and made. Only the countertop was ordered specially. It is made of corian - an artificial stone, and gives their creation an expensive and stylish look. Secret and obvious cabinets and lockers are hiding all over the house - they hide under the steps of the staircase, between the roof slopes, occupy narrow and long piers. Each element is perfectly fitted in shape andSize, but because the storage system does not differ from the usual wall or opening. This makes the house more visually than it really is, and much more convenient than it was before the intervention of the team. Hemp Cottage in Northern Ireland In 2008year this cottage cost its owner only 100 thousand pounds: by British standards, almost free - major repairs of most London apartments are much more expensive. From the side of the road, the house does not differ at all from the old country houses, although this is a typical remake. But not easy. The author of the project, Scottish architect Tom Wooley is a member of the Royal Academy of Architecture, professor at the University of Scotland and laureate of all possible architectural awards in Europe. The project was developed for a 90-year-old customer who wanted to spend the rest of his life in harmony with nature. Not surprisingly, the house is still one of the symbols of British green building. 70 square meters of total area, includingExternal terraces, built entirely of natural materials. The house stands in the middle of an apple grove, on the bank of the fast Irish river Ballinahinch, which is famous for its magnificent fishing for salmon. Tom Wooley, Rachel Bevan Architects:“This was our first attempt at finding a way to build low carbon, energy efficient homes using natural materials alone, affordable and simple design. The experience that we gained then is still used in the company. The mixture of hemp and lime that we used for construction has become an extremely successful technological solution. bevanarchitects.com The frame of the building is assembled from a spruce log, the roofCovered with turf and insulating material based on sheep wool thickness of 350 mm, the walls are assembled from hemp-lime slabs. It was an amazing material with exceptional sound and thermal insulation properties. The design on one side is encased in it as a cocoon, and on the other hand it lets in air. Vouli swears that during constructionThere was used no gram of plastic - only local renewable materials. The climate in Ireland is not easy - summer is short and quite cold, and in the off-season is very high humidity and strong strong winds blow. But hemp cottage such tests are not at all, despite the large windows in the southern part of the building and in the roof and the lack of central heating. Batteries there are replaced by an ordinary burzhuyka, and it is enough even in winter - the walls perfectly retain heat. Life in such a space is not only completeConvenient, cheap, but also useful for health. For two years, the cottage has been used as a gift for ecotourism and fishing lovers. They come mainly with families. The British believe that living in such a house helps children feel closeness to nature and teaches useful rural skills, such as kindling a stove, collecting and drying apples and other things. Those who dare to get to the cottage by bike or walk on foot - great discounts.