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The Konga Is an Off-Grid Cabin Built With Waste Materials

Many believed tiny houses were just a passing fad, but the trend still seems to be going strong, with their popularity growing at an unprecedented speed over the last few years. Tiny houses now come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and configurations, and some of the most accessible and inexpensive models are modular tiny houses that can easily be assembled at your desired location.
Konga off-grid cabin 17 photos
Photo: Dovalde Butenaite/Konga
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And given that tiny home living has become so much more than downsizing, manufacturers are now also focusing on highly sustainable living and providing low-income earners a shot at homeownership.

Lithuanian kitchen manufacturer Konga has upped its game and designed a highly adaptable modular dwelling that can serve many purposes, from permanent home to leisurely retreat, Airbnb rental, or backyard house. It’s highly adaptable and can cater to your basic needs.

Designed by Danish architect Mette Fredskild, with whom Konga has collaborated for their kitchen designs, the company’s new structure is a 28 square-meter (301 square-foot) off-grid cabin that comes fully furnished and was “designed as a recall for people who are longing for nature with a feeling of doing same things ‘differently,’” the company says.

Known for emphasizing their deep connection with nature through their kitchen designs, the manufacturers now try to build even more durable ties with the outdoors by building an off-grid cabin using natural materials like burnt wood on the exterior façades and wooden oak veneer panels combined with rough Rotband plaster on the inner walls. The floors are made of oversized oak planks, while the furniture is crafted mainly from oak and features some graphic black metal details.

Konga off\-grid cabin
Photo: Dovalde Butenaite/Konga
Living tiny with a big heart and celebrating the surrounding nature is a new lifestyle, and that’s the idea that Konga tries to highlight with this cabin, characterized by simplicity and elegance.

The Konga cabin is designed as a modular building that doesn’t require a foundation and can be built on-site within one day. It features an open floor plan that offers prospective owners great flexibility in terms of furnishings and decor.

Powered by solar panels mounted on the rooftop and equipped with a wood stove, a water heating system, and a rainwater collection system, the tiny house is not only self-sufficient, but also sustainable, as Konga used waste materials from its kitchen production unit when constructing the rectangular prefab cabin to keep its carbon footprint to a minimum.

The tiny home also boasts triple-glazed windows that, besides providing awesome views of the outdoors, are designed to regulate interior temperatures, thus helping keep heating costs down.

“With Konga, we stand for a lifestyle that celebrates natural materials and craftsmanship. With the cabin, we wanted to invite people to escape the ordinary and be conscious about their daily decisions,” the company’s cofounder Goda Zemaite says, referring to the fact that the modular tiny home is designed to promote greener living.

Konga off\-grid cabin
Photo: Dovalde Butenaite/Konga
In terms of interior layout, Konga kept things as minimal as possible with neutral tones and comfortable furniture pieces that match the Scandinavian-style timber-clad interiors.

The small kitchen has all its cabinets and appliances aligned against the wall and incorporates wood leftovers from the company’s kitchen manufacturing. There are plenty of upper cabinets that represent Konga’s “signature zero-waste 25×25 shelving system,” as the builder explains.

The space comes equipped with everything one might need for their daily cooking needs, including a gas stove, a refrigerator, a sink, and a well-planned storage area. Opposite the kitchen, the builder set up a wood-burning stove with a water heating system.

The house features a fairly large living area that opens out onto a porch, thus creating a sense of continuity between indoor and outdoor living spaces. It comes with the basics, such as chairs, stools, and other furniture pieces made primarily from oak.

Konga off\-grid cabin
Photo: Dovalde Butenaite/Konga
Designed to accommodate four people, the cabin has two separate sleeping areas. One is a full-fledged bedroom, while the other is an area that can be transformed into a workspace when needed. Small windows alongside the bed will allow dwellers to connect to their surroundings.

The bathroom in the Konga tiny dwelling is small, but it fits a full-size shower and a freezing toilet at -22 degrees Celsius. If this is a new concept to you, know that a freezing toilet is a contraption that uses electricity to freeze the waste contents for storage. The shower tiles in the bathroom are also leftovers from Konga’s kitchens.

If you look at the photos of Konga cabin’s interior, you’ll see the company only included the essentials, but the house is big on storage space, with enough upper push-to-open cabinets that owners can use for storing their belongings. To make the most of the compact floor plan, the builders also included some storage space beneath the sleeping areas.

It’s worth noting that Konga also offers a regular model version (GRID) for people who prefer to set up their own water, electricity, and waste systems. The regular model is available for roughly $59,000, while the off-grid upgrade costs around $73,000.
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About the author: Ancuta Iosub
Ancuta Iosub profile photo

After spending a few years as a copy editor, Ancuta decided to put down the eraser and pick up the writer's pencil. Her favorites subjects are unusual car designs, travel trailers and everything related to the great outdoors.
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