Lighthouse is a Lightweight Mobile Office Space made with SIPs

Called Lighthouse, this small oddly shaped building serves as an office space. The project was carried out by architecture firm KnowHow Shop, who saw it’s completion in 2017.

The office’s current location is in Highland Park in Los Angeles. Thanks to its size, the structure can be moved from one place to another with relative ease, going where the work is.

The unit is composed of a 154-square-foot (14.31-square-meters) space. According to the designers, it’s been constructed “like a piece of furniture”.

Lighthouse is a micro-building designed and built like a piece of furniture. We discarded typical details and assemblies in favor of new methods of construction from the ground up. – KnowHow Shop

KnowHow Shop opted for less traditional methods of construction, taking advantage of shop fabricated SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels), materials typically used in boat building and hardware used in the film industry.

The result is quirky angular building, capable of accommodating four workers, and plenty of storage space for books and materials. The estimated cost of construction amounts to $50,000.

The result is a project designed to test our craft in materials and our perceptions of space… We bypassed the normal methods of architectural production, and relied on the most experimental potential of our design/build model. – KnowHow Shop

Lighthouse is now used by KnowHow Shop themselves, providing them with a mobile office that showcases their craft.

We hope that future Lighthouses will become beacons for those searching for smaller sustainable buildings that embrace contemporary architectural design.

Photos © Stephen Schauer, Marisa Vitale, Nephew LA