Designed as an extension to a home, this mobile live/work pod eschews conventional mobile home aesthetics in favor of something decidedly more eccentric. ‘Blob VB3’ is an oblong white living space that looks like a gigantic egg when it’s all closed up, but the sides open to reveal a gridded interior for storing small items, working and even sleeping.

Architecture firm dmvA came up with the prototype in response to strict building codes in the client’s city. It contains lots of open niches for storage, multipurpose platforms, lighting, a kitchen and a bathroom. When the airplane-like ‘nose’ is open, it functions as a roof for a small indoor/outdoor space.

Primarily made of polyester, the Blob VB3 is easy to transport, aerodynamic and versatile. It could be used as a guest room, office, pool house or garden house. A circular skylight lets light into the bright white interior.

While the open shelves don’t exactly make it ideal for pulling behind a truck like an Airstream, it’s an interesting way to add a little extra space to an existing building without having to deal with local building regulations.

When you live in a small space, every square inch counts, and furniture that can expand and contract on demand makes it a lot easier to fit all the functions you need into your home without feeling overwhelmed with clutter. Modular furniture sets and rooms-within-rooms containing fold-out and slide-out components make clever use of the space available, and the ability to hide things away when they’re not in use will please minimalists, too.

Sleepbox: Tiny Bedroom for Public Spaces

Sleepy travelers can catch a night’s sleep in private surroundings with the Sleepbox, a compact lodging pod meant for public spaces like airports and train stations. For those with layovers or unexpected delays, a room-in-the-box right inside the transit station could definitely be an affordable and convenient option.

Cocoon 1 Room Pod

This unusual room-within-a-room is almost as much an art piece as it is a functional living space. Cocoon 1 by Micasa Lab is a plastic pod offering a separated space that provides a sense of privacy and solitude while maintaining a connection to the outside world. It contains built-in furniture, a kitchen and a power pack that can provide either 40 hours of light, or 20 hours of light plus 30 minutes of cooking.

Boxetti: 3 All-in-One Fold-Out Living Spaces

Minimalists, rejoice – options that hide virtually everything from view when not in use are not only becoming easier to procure, they’re more stylish than ever, too. The Boxetti Collection by Rolands Landsbergs is a series of fold-out, slide-out living spaces contained within simple white modules. It includes a bedroom box, a living room box, an office and a kitchen.

Sleek and Simple Fold-Out Bedroom Box

For those in temporary living spaces, or who just don’t care about personalizing their homes, all-in-one box systems like the Room by ODA offer a modular dwelling system that collapses and expands. It comes with three elements – the pod, a media station and a satellite. Colors and materials can be customized.

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Fold Out Room 12 Ultra Compact Living Pods Systems

Why settle for a cramped corner of a noisy house when your home office could be a separate unit tucked into the greenery of your backyard? Detached office modules, art studios, recording studios and other work spaces help keep the line between work and home life sharply delineated, but cut your commute down to mere steps. Modern and often modular, these 14 compact office designs fit into virtually any outdoor space, and they’re so good-looking, they practically function as yard art.

WorkPod by Ecospace

(image via: ecospacestudios)

Sleek and minimalist, the WorkPod by Ecospace architecture studio is a compact detached office with optional integrated work areas and storage systems. You can even configure your own customized pod in one of five different sizes, and choose the color of the exterior.

Blob VB3 by dmvA

(image via: dmva architecten)

From the outside, it looks like a dinosaur egg: it’s simply a white blob. But open that discreet door on the side and you’ll find an ultramodern studio space with lots of built-in niches for storage. It features a skylight and a front hatch that opens to let in air and additional sunlight. The appropriately named Blob V3 functions as a mobile guest house, portable backyard office or secondary library space.

Tetra Shed by Innovation Imperative

(images via: archdaily)

Looking like an architectural interpretation of Darth Vader’s helmet, the Tetra Shed is a geometric volume with flaps that open to provide a door and windows. A single unit is large enough to function as an office or guest room, and multiple units can be connected. The Tetra Shed is made of engineered timber, matte black rubber and birch faced plywood.

Banyan Treehouse by RPA

(images via: archdaily)

This luxurious modern studio and guest house sits above a live tree trunk in Nichols Canyon, Los Angeles, and pays tribute to the treehouse aesthetic with three stylized modern pillars that evoke natural branches. Rockefeller Partners Architects designed the detached unit for the eastern-facing ridge location, topping it off with an evocative butterfly-shaped roofline.

Sett Studio

(images via: settstudio.com)

The prefabricated Sett Studio can easily be unloaded from a truck and slid right into place in your backyard. With layouts ranging between 97 to 192 square feet, the Sett Studio is perfect for a fairly small office, art studio, yoga space or guest room that won’t require a building permit in most areas. It’s made of SIP (Structural Insulated Panel) technology, which is energy-efficient and reduces manufacturing waste.

Archipod

(image via: archipod.co.uk)

The perfectly round, shingle-covered Archipod is certainly an unusual structure to see in someone’s backyard. Designed to be garden decor as much as a functioning studio or workspace, the Archipod is a 9-foot-diameter sphere that is shipped in segments so it can easily be carried, piece by piece, through a house. Inside is a semi-circular desk, a skylight and a porthole-like round glass window.

Office Pod by Manuel Villa

(images via: cubeme.com)

Architects Manuel Villa and Alberto Gonzalez designed this office pod for a backyard in Bogota, Colombia. The polyhedron-shaped structure has a pine wood interior, a black exterior with a honeycomb pattern and a large teak deck. A wall of windows and a bubble-shaped skylight bring in lots of natural light.

Sustainsia Cocoon

(images via: sustainsia.com)

Looking somewhat like the bottom end of a guitar, the Sustainsia Cocoon is a curvy detached studio space with built-in furniture that requires users to bring in nothing more than a chair and personal items. A bench can pull out into a futon bed, and overhead lift-open cabinets have doors that continue into the curving contour of the ceiling. The table pulls down like a Murphy bed, saving space when not in use.

Generation Design Studio

(image via: generation design studio)

Generation Design Studio created this ‘tiny house’ for a backyard in Portland, Oregon. Built from an old greenhouse foundation, the 198-square-foot structure is made from mostly recycled glass and lumber, and has custom-built cedar doors and windows.

OfficePOD

(images via: officepod.co.uk)

Another totally transportable, self-contained backyard working space is the OfficePod. The modular design makes it easy to move and assemble, and a rolling wooden facade enables it to be opened to the outdoors. A top-quality locking system ensures that valuables inside are protected. Built and delivered, the whole OfficePod comes out to about $24,000. Features include an integrated desk, built-in storage, LED lighting and window blinds.

Log Cabin Recording Studio by Piet Hein Eek

(image via: pietheineek.nl)

It’s anything but a traditional log cabin. In fact, when the window awnings are down, Piet Hein Eek’s recording studio looks like nothing more than a stack of logs. Cleverly camouflaged, the studio looks incredibly rustic from the outside but features a bright white interior.

Prefab Origin Design Studio

(images via: blu homes)

Prefab manufacturer Blu Homes offers a range of detached office/studios called The Origin Series, available in three sizes ranging from 24 to 48 feet long. Simple rectangular structures with lots of windows, the Origin structures come in a choice of floor plans that include mother-in-law apartments, media rooms, artist studios and even entire two-bedroom homes.

Garden Studio by in.it.studios

(images via: design milk)

The Garden Office Studio by in.it.studio is a backyard office with all of the comforts of home, including insulation, double-glazed windows and an optional bathroom. With enough room inside for two people to work, the studio boasts floor-to-ceiling glass that undoubtedly inspires a whole lot of nature gazing. It’s built from sustainably sourced timber using environmentally friendly construction methods and there’s no PVC anywhere on the structure, including in the rain gutter.

Modular Home Office by Stephen Meir

(images via: coroflot)

This modular ‘office shed’ by designer Stephen Meir takes just “one day, two people, three tools” to put together. The office arrives in what look like slices of the whole, which snap together in any configuration you like, in either a straight or curving line depending on how you align them. A rubber seal between each component creates a watertight seal.