Some of them looked like they’d come straight out of sci-fi movies, resembling spaceships, designer camping tents, boats turned upside down, and others with interiors resembling a smartly done up budget hotel or the cabin of a cruise vessel. But they were eye-catchers. On a rain-washed Edinburgh afternoon, people visiting the venues of the Edinburgh International Science Festival that ran through April were checking out these models on display at the city centre with great curiosity.

With the UN predicting that about 66 per cent of the world&’s population will be living in urban environments by 2060, a growing number of home developers are “thinking small”, challenging conventions and expectations as to what a home could look like and in their bid to overcome obstacles through innovative architectural design.

In the Year (2016) of Innovation, Architecture and Design in Scotland, the “Tiny  Homes Village” was part of that campaign, transforming the city centre into a platform for discussion on what turned a simple roof over our heads into a place we’d be happy to call home.

From tiny homes to self-sustaining eco pods, traditional Mongolian yurts and emergency housing solutions, the models challenged Edinburgh&’s residents to consider how far – indeed, how small — they would be prepared to go.

So what were some of the ideas behind these tiny homes? Mike Page, director of Cube Project, which builds tiny homes called QB1, QB2, QB3 (that were on display at the festival), said, “In all our buildings we have aimed to show that even small houses can be fun and comfortable places to live in, with very low demand on energy. We believe that many people who currently do not have access to housing (most notably in expensive cities like London) might deploy these efficient homes in small plots of currently unused space. Ideally, they would be deployed several at a time, so a small community might be established around them.

“With our first building, QB1, we wanted to show how one person, or two friendly people could live a compact but modern life with a minimum impact on the environment. QB1 was only three-into-three-into-three metres internally, but took advantage of a number of low-energy technologies and techniques such that it generated as much energy, in an average year, as its occupants would use (even in the not so sunny UK; more so in India).

“So many people contacted us about the QB1 that I designed, and we built a production version, QB2. This was one metre bigger in one dimension, so three-into-four metres in plan and three metres in height (all internal), but it really did provide a very comfortable level of accommodation for a couple.

“QB3, our latest building, is the same internal volume as QB2, but is on one level – three-into-six metres in plan, and two metres high. This makes it more appropriate for those with movement difficulties. It makes the most of its floor area by having walls that move, allowing one to reconfigure the internal spaces to the tasks and activities required at a given time.”

Page, obviously inspired by the response to all their buildings so far, continued, “I can honestly say that we have had very little negative reaction. We are just launching the Cube Project commercially, with our partners, Bolton Buildings, but the key enabler will be the availability of land with planning permission suitable for deploying these microhouses.”

According to him, it is feasible to have such homes in our urban areas in future. “Even expensive urban areas have underused spaces, for instance spaces on top of other buildings, or on land waiting for later development. The practical problems (we need only an electricity supply, water and drainage) are much less than the challenge of getting those who either own the land or those who can grant residential permission to be more imaginative regards what is possible,” he said.“If the exhibitions and festivals we have attended are anything to go by, we have hundreds of potential customers, but only if we can get the land issue sorted. Maybe our initial client, therefore, could be a local authority with its own housing needs.”

QB2 has been lived in for a year now, in an urban setting, as part of a trial with a London borough. “If we could provide land with planning permission, my view is that we would have many, many customers. However, the people that would be most interested are the same people who do not have access to land. So there are issues other than just the design that will affect the uptake of our microhousing solutions. Our microhouses could be used for leisure purposes in picturesque places,” said Page.

According him, these homes could be a solution to eco-friendly urban housing in countries like India in the future. “India has more sunshine and, therefore, great potential for use of, say, solar energy. Our designs can be deployed under license in India using a local workforce and local materials. The Cube Project microhouses, QB2 and QB3, are very comfortable to live in and are much less polluting than previous generations of housing.  The modern approach would match very well with the emerging image of India as a vibrant, hi-tech and forward-looking country.”

Another version that grabbed attention at the festival were the upside down boat-shaped tiny homes built by a company called Armadilla, which has sold 506 of these till date. Armadilla is a family business based near Edinburgh and managing director Archie Hunter and his son Ross, a designer, built the first prototype in 2009 and have honed and perfected the design over the years.

“All Armadillas are constructed with three core principles in mind — durability, quality and longevity. Our unique steel base, which is integrated into every Armadilla, provides a rigid and perfectly level and square chassis to build from. Manufactured from Grade A Siberian Larch and Marine Grade stainless steel fixings, every aspect of the Armadillas’ design guarantee longevity and beauty,” they said

Dr Simon Gage, director of The Edinburgh International Science Festival, said the tiny homes were meant for building a better eco-friendly world given how people were grappling for space in urban centres. “We need interesting and economical solutions to urban space shortage. We have to make our infrastructure look beautiful. We have to think about how to make more beautiful cities. The houses on display here are all designed keeping in mind that people can actually live in them. They are the poster boys of this festival and they provoke you to talk about issues (environment and urbanisation.

“I also strongly believe that a house like QB3 will have takers in countries like India or China. These are houses for young people and here you are not a slave to electricity companies,” Gage said. “Also, at the price £40,000, a house like the QB3 costs only one sixth of a normal house in the UK.”

India Blooms News Service/Trans World Features