Micro-accommodation for people in emergency situations
The number of homeless people in Germany is rising. Three pioneers demonstrate how tiny houses can be used to support those affected – and how important it is to be able to close the door behind you from time to time.
Van Bo Le-Mentzel has a soft spot for tiny houses. He has been exploring the idea of living in the smallest of spaces for the past 15 years. He does not consider it realistic to continue providing the average per capita living space in Germany today, which stands at over 48 square metres.
Living in a smaller space should still be enjoyable, however. But that wasn’t the reason the architect launched his NOT-Hotel project. “I’d received this sign for a parking space on our street from the council and thought it would be good to use this space for more than just parking a car,” explains the 48-year-old Berliner.
“If there were a small house on top of the car – a pick-up, for instance – someone without a permanent home who needs a safe space for just one night could sleep there every night.”
A night at the NOT-Hotel
Despite its mere 2.5 square metres, the NOT-Hotel has plenty to offer: one or two sleeping places, a toilet, cooking facilities, a shower cubicle and a gas heater. “Anyone wishing to spend a night here must register – just like in a hotel,” explains architect Le-Mentzel. “However, you can’t make a reservation.” In fact, people can sometimes stay longer than one night, but after three nights at the latest, it’s someone else’s turn.
“If it’s suitable and if the person wants it, we offer a hot meal cooked by us. Otherwise, there are always a few supplies of simple tinned meals in our ‘fridge’.”
But who exactly is “we”?
The NOT-Hotel is part of Berlin’s Cold Weather Assistance programme and receives appropriate financial support – including from other sponsors. Above all, however, “we” are volunteers who take turns ensuring that these supplies are replenished and that the tiny house is kept in good condition – after all, the mini-accommodation has a dry toilet that needs to be kept clean.
Anyone using the NOT-Hotel has to think carefully about every move, as many functions require folding down or pushing aside pieces of furniture, meaning other functions are temporarily unavailable. Storage space under the worktop, for example, means I should only start chopping vegetables once I’ve taken all the utensils out of the storage space.
If, on the other hand, I want to work at the folding desk top, I need the step I used to climb into the van. It’s great that, for all its simplicity and small size, the NOT-Hotel was designed with a flair for creating special spaces. For instance, there’s a dormer window on one side of the van that lets in plenty of daylight and also offers a wonderful ‘window seat’. After all, nobody needs to know just yet that the dry toilet is located beneath this spot.
The tiny house is built using a simple timber frame construction with wood fibre insulation and a tar paper roof fitted with a solar panel. The architect is currently developing another hotel, one size larger – in S rather than XS, so to speak.
Van Bo Le-Mentzel’s fundamental aim is to inspire others with his idea, to make his pitch available to homeless people as a site for another NOT-Hotel – unfortunately, without success so far.
