A Considered Template – Minima by Trias

Conceived as a small, low-impact prefabricated home, Minima combines considered detail and integrated amenity with deliberate restraint. Trias partners with Fabprefab to develop the factory-built self-contained structure that brings the familiar warmth and comfort of the home, through a minimal lens.

Minima is a duplicatable structure with widespread suitability, designed and constructed out of Sydney as an offering for the growing appreciation of small and compact homes. Entered from two opposing points, the structure is designed to be inserted in an array of landscapes and site conditions. The home’s mere 20sqm of internal living, sleeping, preparation and bathing space makes the use of movable elements to transform the internal conditions. The collaboration sees the use of Fabprefab’s prefabricated methodologies and technology, optimised together with custom design and detailing by Trias. A thorough approach ensures the home space can function under multiple guises, while its folding and sliding interlocking pieces see the allow the slight footprint to expand, contract and adapt to its users and use.

A thorough approach ensures the home space can function under multiple guises, while its folding and sliding interlocking pieces see the allow the slight footprint to expand, contract and adapt to its users and use.

Built by Fabprefab, together with engineering by SDA Structures, Minima is an answer to the increased interest in structures that have a lighter touch, can be constructed in a smaller timeframe and delivered directly to site. Constructed out of Fabprefab’s Sydney factory, the modules are brought together under controlled conditions, eliminating the need to work with and be dictated by changing and uncontrollable climatic conditions. The size is determined by the allowances of transport on trucks, but a double version sees two modules transported separately and joined together when insitu. The original module is a one-bedroom unit, with its moving joinery elements allowing for use as a home office or spare supporting space.

The ingrained flexibility is intentional and allows for a cross-pollination of uses, from a home, a studio or a retreat space – all of which as their own self-contained entities. The structure is comprised of a base of CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) structural elements, offering a sustainable and highly rigid alternative, while the exterior is clad in Australian cypress, adding warmth and pattern depth through the batten use. The internal condition sees Victorian ash used together with porcelain to minimise material use and add an element of contrast, while also reinforcing a sense of scale and proportion by encasing the space completely.

The ingrained flexibility is intentional and allows for a cross-pollination of uses, from a home, a studio or a retreat space – all of which as their own self-contained entities.

As an elevated alternative to the current offerings, Minima brings an architectural precision to the small home market, while also conjuring a calm sensibility through its select materiality. The collaboration between Trias and Fabprefab optimises the use of resources to conjure a more achievable alternate to the custom designed tiny dwelling.