Yurt. What do you think of when you read that word? A tent? A fun weekend glamping with friends? A home? Yurts can be many things, including custom homes and retreats for people looking to build a sustainable structure.
The yurt is a lightweight, foldable, fabric and wooden structure meant to be disassembled, transported, and assembled with ease. They were first used by nomads living on the steppes of Asia. Yurts provided protection from the elements while being compact and portable.
Today, yurts come in all sizes and are used for a wide variety of purposes. One popular option is glamping. Popular sites like Airbnb and Vrbo offer people the chance to rent any yurt from a simple yurt in the deep woods to a full-sized yurt home with all the modern amenities. Yurt-style tents are available for sale at major camping retailers everywhere.
So, what really is a yurt? Yurts are dome structures with round walls, usually built on a raised wood deck. They have supports made of latticework wood and a canopy draped over as roof and walls. However, the modern yurt has come to be more loosely translated as any round house.
Round houses have many benefits. The decreased surface area of the walls means less heat transfer and more energy efficiency. Yurts make very little impact on the land and don’t come with the downfalls of traditional construction. Yurts are open inside, allowing you to arrange the space any way you want, or even rearrange constantly. Yurts also feature a low, low price tag compared to a stick-frame home.
Whether you want a traditional yurt you can take camping on the weekends, a semi-permanent structure for relaxing and communing with nature, or a permanent yurt-building to call home, PSE Consulting Engineers, Inc. has the knowledge, experience, and skill to bring your yurt to life. We can start designing from scratch, or our engineering department can help you get your existing yurt plans approved for building permits. Call us today to discuss your yurt home options!