How comfortably could a person live in a home that measures approximately 10 by 10 by 10 feet? If that person lived in the Cube, designed by Dr. Mike Page–engineer and Reader in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire‘s School of Psychology–the answer is: more comfortably than you’d think.
This home is a marvel of efficiency, both in terms of energy use and space. A lounge area doubles as a dining room, with chairs that sequester storage space beneath seat cushions. A small set of stairs doubles as a closet, and leads to an upper level complete with a small double bed and a kitchen area. The space even contains a low-energy flat screen television, a washing machine, and a composting toilet.
All the Cube’s appliances are, of course, extremely efficient, as is the LED lighting employed throughout. Power is provided in the summer months via solar panels, and the excess fed back to the national grid–which means, as an added bonus, the Cube will pay its inhabitants around £1000 ($1,641.00) a year to live there, via the U.K. feed in tariff for renewable energy.
According to the World Interior Design Network, the Cube–which is believed to be the world’s smallest eco-home–was most recently on display at the Edinburgh Science Festival in St Andrew’s Square, Edinburgh.