112 | Wanaka Tiny House Factory T T Virginia Wright Good things come in tiny packages They have off-the-shelf standard drawings but they customise in consultation with the client before signing off on a fixed-price contract just as it would be for a conventional build. “Shaye’s Tiny Homes have an international network of licensed builders because her designs are so much better.” BUILDING Owner of the Wanaka Tiny House Factory and Nelson Tiny House Factory, licensed builder Thomas Schattovits, realised during the countrywide lockdown in 2020 that he wanted to trade building pre-fabricated homes for building tiny ones. “The rest is history,” says Thomas. Tiny houses took off around that time, and when two or three of their first enquiries were about Shaye’s Tiny Homes, Thomas, as a professional builder, opted to enter into a formal relationship rather than copy Shaye’s designs. “Shaye’s Tiny Homes have an international network of licensed builders because her designs are so much better. “It’s the little things that she puts in that make a difference, and some of them she has proprietary rights on, like an ingenious design of one set of stairs connecting two bedrooms with a full wraparound walkway that feels like a real room, or the materials she uses, or the number of windows and where she puts them.“ Originally from Austria, Thomas has been building for 30 years, 12 of them in Wanaka where he was attracted by the mountains, and where he also worked as a guide. He launched Wanaka Tiny House Factory first, then Nelson Tiny House Factory two years ago when he moved to that city. Both offer the same expertise and craftsmanship. Thomas has always been interested in alternative forms of construction: mobile, portable, prefabricated and so on, believing in the savings and efficiencies they offer. The teams at the factories have made a conscious effort to create high-quality, very versatile, smaller units that can be driven on the road if the client so desires. Four out of five of the Wanaka and Nelson Tiny House Factory designs comply with building code requirements such as having a downstairs sleeping facility, no ladder as stairs, and bedrooms with full head height. Thomas knows that customers might not be able to discern between what’s well built or badly built, but both the Wanaka and Nelson factories build the tiny houses like a house, tiny or not. “We build value for money, high quality and customised. We employ licensed building practitioners and we build to building code with wind load, earthquake load, and snow load, and with water ingress and insulation,” he explains. They have off-the-shelf standard drawings but they customise in consultation with the client before signing off on a fixed-price contract just as it would be for a conventional build. Their smallest homes start from under $100,000 and range through to highly customised two- to three-bedroom designs with luxury features priced in the high $200,000s. Thomas is clear that comparing the per square metre price with a conventional house build is futile: the expensive rooms such as the kitchen and bathroom are still there, and lots of windows relative to the size of the house, which are also expensive, he explains. “But you don’t have what I call the fluff, the open space like a big living room or bigger bedrooms, which drives the per square metre price down.” With his European background he knows that millions of people live quite happily in apartments measuring 40sqm and, given that some tiny homes are bigger than that, he believes they are here to stay. “It’s not a new idea. A generation back, a three-bedroom home was 80sqm and our tiny homes are apartment-size, and have mobility, but are as well built as a real house and feel like a house. So they’re not caravans, they’re a viable living option that’s coming into mainstream awareness.” There’s nothing temporary about their commitment to building bespoke tiny homes either. Whether it’s in Nelson or Wanaka both centres enjoy offering proof that good things can come in tiny packages. Phone: 03 983 5500 waterfordpress.co.nz Your Business, Your Industry, Your News. DO OUR READERS KNOW YOU EXIST?
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