This Affordable Tiny Cabin Is for Weekend Retreats or a Home Office

With working from home becoming more popular, we've seen a number of interesting home office solutions pop up in recent years: exquisitely renovated Airstream trailers, tiny offices on wheels, and of course, the good old backyard shed—ones that you can work in, do some yoga, and even serve booze.

Following in that growing trend, Hungarian design studio Hello Wood (previously) recently debuted Kabinka, a prefabricated flat-packed structure that's inspired by tiny houses, but is intended to use as a weekend retreat, extra guest room or hotel suite, or a backyard office. It's touted as an affordable tiny cabin that can be self-assembled on-site in about three days, with a price tag of about $20,000. Though that doesn't include shipping or furniture.

Coming in four sizes ranging from 129 square feet to 215 square feet, Kabinka is intended to be modular, meaning that users can always purchase extra modules to have a larger space. In addition, accessory elements like an outdoor deck or extra roof shading can be added on.

As project architect Péter Oravecz explains on Dwell, the relatively inexpensive modular cabin is still customizable:

"We’ve received interest from people looking for an extra room in their backyard, a tiny home for vacations, and even people investing in resorts. We can make changes to the design based on each customer’s needs — we can put the cabin on wheels, change the location of the doors and windows, create different sizes, and use different materials."

The design of the Kabinka has apparently evolved over a period of several years, beginning as a prototype that was hammered out by architecture and design students participating in Hello Wood's summer design workshops.

The exterior of the timber-framed cabin is outfitted with cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, as well as cost-effective sandwich panels, which consist of two rigid outside layers of aluminum, and a low-density insulating core. This combination of materials gives the unit a modern, yet warm, feel.

Coming in past Kabinka's glazed front door, we enter into a multipurpose main room, which can be used as a workspace, a meeting area, or a living room. The main source of natural light here is the uniquely large round window, which Oravecz says was chosen based on a mix of practicality and tradition:

"The design of Kabinka draws on rural architectural heritage. Because of the shape of the facade, traditional windows wouldn’t have worked — so we used a round window. Basically, the whole structure looks like a bird feeder."

Underneath the loft and near the entrance is a space that could be used to install a kitchenette. The ladder leads up to the loft above.

The upstairs loft could be used as a sleeping area, or as an extra space for storage. Echoing the large round window below, we have here a smaller, round window that can be opened to let fresh air come through.

On the other side of the tiny cabin is a yet another room that can be closed off with a sliding door. According to the company, it can be used as a space to install a bathroom, or anything else that might be needed in a home office or hotel suite.

According to the design team, Kabinka's design is intended to be as flexible and as "green" as possible. For instance, a concrete foundation isn't needed as ground screws can be used instead, thus reducing the environmental impact on the site. Much of the cabin is built with sustainably sourced or recycled timber, and its flat-packed design reduces transportation costs. As assemble-it-yourself options go for modular cabins, Kabinka is an attractive option that looks good, and won't cost too much either.

To see more, visit Hello Wood.