The Smart-hub Community Centre is the core of each 12-tiny home neighborhood or POD. The centre is planned to include the following:
- 40′ x 40′ in size
- solar panel roof – 96+ panels
- battery connections for each POD to the community and each tiny home to the POD
- water, storm, hydro, sewage, renewable natural gas (RNG) and internet transfer station – community <> POD <> tiny home
- small commercial kitchen – cook for 30 people
- indoor dining seating for 24-people
- outdoor dining seating for 24-people
- outdoor lounge seating for 12-people
- indoor lounge area with fireplace for 12-people
- 4-washroom stalls
- 2-counselling offices
- 2-washers, 2-dryers – laundry facilities
- geothermal heating for the centre
The POD Community Centre has gone through quite a transition from it’s first concept. Originally conceived as a solar roof over an outdoor fire-pit, today’s community centre is a social, as well utility Smart-hub. We have looked to include guest accommodations, fitness centers, meeting centers, and many other activities. We have looked at building using converted shipping containers as well as single, 2-story and including basements.
We have simplified the design with the following key points in mind:
- a place to collect/store solar power,
- a location where the POD will connect to the wider utility grid and each home will connect to the POD,
- a place where the neighbourhood can prepare and share a meal together, indoors or outdoors,
- a place where people can meet in small groups or with a counselor,
- a warm place where people can meet socially within the community, during the long winter months.
Because of the structural complexities of using shipping containers as large buildings, we are considering modular or 3D printed buildings.We have eliminated the guest accommodations, as we feel this is best managed by the individual home owners as they require, and settled on a single floor design Other activities have been moved to outside, or can be done inside by re-configuring of the main building space.
A final design has not been chosen at this time.