For over a decade, the Brussels-based company Wildernest has been offering a type of custom-made "micro-house" – both an ecological and original alternative for people looking for a new home.
Very fashionable and in tune with the times for a few years now, the concept of the tiny house has been experiencing an unprecedented development for some time, attracting more and more owners, young or old, looking for a home that can be described as "different".
Tiny houses are unsurprisingly small mobile homes that offer their owners an interesting alternative to larger, hard-wall housing, which can be described as "traditional". They are smaller but also more mobile, more ecological and also more easily modulated to the desires of their future owners.
"Historically, they were born in 2008 on the other side of the Atlantic, in the United States and Canada," Emile De Dryver, architect at Wildernest, told RTBF. “Following Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005 and the subsequent crisis, there were huge housing concerns and people had to be relocated urgently, with a real consideration for the ecological aspect. This allowed those who were afraid of hurricanes not to be in the places where they were expected during the summer and to have a nomadic life. All without neglecting a certain comfort and at a lower cost, with a more ecological vision."
The concept crossed the Atlantic a few years later to be embraced by Europeans, at first in a rather modest and marginal way, before becoming a real craze that is still growing. "In Europe," explains Emile De Dryver, "the concept has arrived a little differently, because becoming an owner is proving to be more and more complicated. People don't necessarily need or want a big house, it's a trend we see today in real estate. In this sense, the tiny house is a real alternative to traditional housing."
Among the buyers of Wildernest’s houses, some have placed an order with the intention of actually living there, while others want to make it a second residence in the countryside or on the edge of a wood, or sometimes to make it an Airbnb-type vacation rental.
"Some also ask us to transform it into a mobile bakery or a food truck," says Emile De Dryver. The field of possibilities is in any case enormous and depends both on the imagination of future customers and the technical constraints.
"We can dream of many things because we are not bound by planning permission. We can therefore customise our offer, adapt it to many scenarios or places. First, we make an appointment with our customers to analyse their needs, and their desires. If the estimated price suits them, we launch a pre-project phase and model our offer in 3D. The customer can then get a better idea of the property thanks to the use of 3D glasses that will allow them to project themselves into their future house and possibly make small changes to the layout, or the quality of the material used. As soon as the customer validates their choices, they are given an estimate for the cost."
While trying to make their houses affordable, these tiny houses still come with a significant cost: the prices can vary between 70,000- and 140,000-euros excluding VAT depending on the size, the facilities that are included or the quality of materials. In general, delivery is expected within four months.
"We can also provide for the installation of special furniture, blinds, custom cushions, for example,” says Emile De Dryver. “In any case, we are proud to be able to say that everything is made to measure, by Belgian craftsmen we trust and who give it back to us. We do not have a factory in Eastern Europe like some of our competitors, which allows us to have regular contact with our suppliers.”
In terms of water and electricity supply, it is possible to place solar panels, heat pumps, wood or pellet stoves and/or rainwater harvesting systems as desired. "Of course, there is also a possibility of connecting to regular water or electricity systems," concludes Emile De Dryver.
