The Burrow Bunkie
Small urban living on a budget
Hintonburg, Ontario, Canada, 2024
Architecture, Residential, Tiny House, Coachhouse
Photo: Render of coachhouse, done in Revit & Enscape
The Burrow is a backyard coach house which was designed by myself with assistance from a structural engineer for a client in Ottawa, in the Hintonburg area. The coach house is located on a tight lot, with a narrow passageway to the rear of the yard where this is located, so accommodations for space were the focus of the design, both for the resident and the construction of the project, as well as cost.
Typography Coachhouse
Location Hintonburg, Ottawa, Canada
Photo above: Render of interior of coachhouse
Status Design Completed, Construction Underway
Client Confidential
Efficiency and Constraint
During the design, there were two main things to keep in mind: the issue of size of the lot (7m wide by 30m deep), a tight budget, and the client wishing to build it on their own. To help the client, I tried to design with minimal digging required and did a pier foundation, and made sure the setback from the lot line could fit the client with a nail gun for the siding. We also designed for roof trusses and pre-fabricated walls as well to try to make things go as smoothly as possible during construction, and used nominal or pre-cut lumber wherever possible to reduce waste and costs.
Due to the narrowness of the lot (7m x 30m), a zoning review was required, as this was using a new by-law in the City of Ottawa to get approval, as well as site visits, contacting engineers and the city to get all required drawings and approval for the design. Once all was complete, the City of Ottawa approved it and construction began in spring 2024.
Photo to the left: Render of kitchen area
Above: Floor plan
Left: Site Plan and review
Above: Front Elevation and Section