A new breed of largely timber-built mobile home will make its debut at the 100% Design conference at Earl’s Court, London on September 26-29.
The m-house, which is constructed in plywood on insulated timber studs, emulates North American split timber frame house assembly and can be sited anywhere – even on water.
The m-house is the brainchild of London-based architect Tim Pyne who wanted to build a house next to a river in Essex. However, he could not obtain either planning permission or insurance as the ground was liable to flooding – but he could get permission for a caravan structure and the idea for a mobile house was born.
M-houses are built in two rectangular sections, each to a maximum allowable size of 17x3m. The external framerwork comprises an internal face of 9mm birch-faced ply to class 1 fire resistance on a vapour control layer on 11×50 studs at 400mm centres with 100mm polyfoam inserts and breather membrane and 12mm WBP plywood outer sheathing.
The frame is then clad in materials to suit individual specifications, including cedar cladding.
