Stackable, Portable Apartments Are Tiny Homes for the Homeless

[KamaAina]

https://www.yahoo.com/realestate/stackable-portable-apartments-are-tiny-homes-for-001438323.html

A new kind of “pop-up” apartment building, made of prefab tiny homes called Y:Cubes, can be stacked into place – and later dismantled and rebuilt – in just a few months.

Each 280-square-foot unit has an open-plan living area/kitchen plus one bedroom, one bath and a deck:

“By having my own space with my own front door, I will regain my independence. But it’s not just that,” Omollo says: When the time comes to move on, “I will be in a far better situation than today” because she’ll be able to save up money.

“On paper, the benefits are clear and indisputable,” the Guardian’s architecture critic writes, though he has qualms about the aesthetics, or lack thereof. The units are built in a factory, with all the services – gas, plumbing, electric – pre-made in the cube, so the unit only has to be plugged in, so to speak.

[Shandris]

1. Oh wow, that's kind of neat.

I'd rather a yurt if I had to have a tiny shelter other than my current one, but these are pretty cute too. Not a huge footprint I'd wager, although I'm a bit suspicious of the construction. I still think rammed earth would be better in most cases. Probably wouldn't do well in a big city, though. Something about building codes not liking solid mud houses.

[pipoman]

2. Looks like a bigger tornado magnet than a mobile home park..

[KamaAina]

3. So put them in the Bay Area where we seldom if ever have tornadoes.

[pipoman]

12. yep

[KamaAina]

4. And they cost less than $70,000 apiece.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2015/sep/08/inside-richard-rogers-ycube-homes-for-homeless-people

While Richard Rogers’ practice graces this year’s Stirling prize shortlist for the sixth time, with the controversial Neo Bankside development and its £22m penthouses, it might come as a surprise to learn that a little further south, in the London borough of Merton, his office has just completed this scheme for a cost of around £45,000 per apartment, to be rented at less than the council’s affordable housing allowance.

At the current exchange rate of $1.53 per pound, that works out to about $68,900 per unit.

[GP6971]

6. That's $246 per sq ft.

Pricey

[awoke_in_2003]

27. My 1900 square foot house

(Plus 500 sf mother in law suite) cost $120k.

On edit: spelling

[cherokeeprogressive]

5. Just think how many cars there are in junkyards that could be recycled to make these.

I'm thinking in some instances they could be doubled in size for different size families and fit into the structure like Tetris blocks.

I also like the idea of storage containers used for dwellings. In the high desert near my house there is a home made from four of them. Two parallel on the ground and two on top at 90 degree angles. It's very interesting to look at and I'd guess it has enough living space for a family of four.

Oh yeah, before you start: Dodgers haha yada yada hee hee hee. There's always next year. And the year after that... and the year after that...

[catnhatnh]

7. Cute but expensive...

Here's a local supplier of mobile homes with prices. At the low end a 14X48 672 sq. ft. 2 bedroom unit costs half the price. Base price for a double wide with 3 bedrooms and 1500 sq.ft. is just under 70K.

http://www.cm-h.com/category_details.asp?comm=73470

[KamaAina]

10. Mobile homes aren't stackable.

These work nicely in crowded places like London (where these are) or the Bay Area (where I am).

[SoCalDem]

11. Most mobile homes must be in a "park"..which can charge exorbitant

monthly space rent, and have lots of rules about ages/guests/shares/etc.

Around here you can get a home quite cheaply, but the space rent can be $700 a month

[SheilaT]

19. Several years ago I worked as a temp

in an office of a mobile home park, and I was truly appalled at how much the space rents were. Many of those living there paid significantly more for their mobile home itself and the space rent than I did for my mortgage on a small conventional home. And these were people who probably had less money than I did. It was unconscionable.

[arcane1]

8. I love that they include decks. There's something about decks, patios, balconys...

When one doesn't have a yard, but want a part of home that's outside. Like me

[smirkymonkey]

9. Not bad. For some reason the tiny home/apartment thing is seeming very

appealing these days. Probably because i know that sooner or later I will have to adjust to one.

[2naSalit]

13. THat's about the size

of the little hovel I live in now but I have nobody on the other side of my walls or under or over me either. I have PTSD and thumping sounds like those made in joined dwellings drive me crazy in a hurry. I can't live in apartments or townhouses, I'd rather live in my car or a tent in the snow first... been there, tried that many times and had to get out because my neighbors, by just being there, was too much for me... it wasn't them, it was definitely me.

I like that they create homes for the poor, it's needed and I would probably live in one of those if I didn't have the PTSD issue. I hope they can help lots of people.

[leftyladyfrommo]

14. I saw some the other day made from

Railroad cars. Even a small space works.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. We have a huge supply of low cost, durable, stackable modules to use for this

There is a massive oversupply of shipping containers scattered in all areas of the country. Literally more than a million of them.



They stack well and, while not indestructible, can withstand VERY heavy weather better than any mobile home based unit.



They have been repurposed for housing for quite some time. Single family and vacation homes are not uncommon.



Here's a multiunit complex, atop a grain silo, of all things, in South Africa someplace.



There have been model "FEMA home" type living units built. They can be as small as 8x20 feet, shipped two to a truck, stacked by crane, simple plug'n'play utility connections, erection of decks, stairs, and porches for upper level access, and that's it. Fast, compact, transportable, stackable.

The internet of jam packed with info. Good search terms are "container home" or shipping container home".

[Midnight Writer]

18. One just went up in my hometown

Small, but it sits on an actual foundation. They have fixed it up very nicely, with window shutters, flower boxes and a cute little yard. I was told that the inside is finished out with abundant insulation, it has one bed and one bath, a living room and kitchen.

And you can beat the sumbitch with a hammer and not make a dent.

Don't know the cost, but the owners refurbished it themselves and did most of the work.

[KamaAina]

25. Some hipsters in Oakland are doing that

Being a port city, Oakland has an abundant supply of shipping containers. There is a huge stack of them next to the BART tracks out by the Coliseum.

But they had to move their "Containertopia" (!!) inside a warehouse because of zoning regulations, rendering the solar panels useless.

[w0nderer]

16. K&R n/t

[oldandhappy]

17. I like them. Color and roof line make them interesting.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. That is so cute

[Liberal_in_LA]

21. Inside pics

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/E_Kod5Uv3OTr8wh7PNq4sw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9NjQwO2lsPXBsYW5l/

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/YTcZf34Un0oOVAmLF.py1g--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MzIwO2lsPXBsYW5l/

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/J5XCL8vGnZtFPL6FktrJxA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9NjQwO2lsPXBsYW5l/

[Lyric]

22. I think this is brilliant.

It's a wonderful use of limited space, and it provides the homeless what they truly need--HOUSING.

Services and interventions and counseling are all nice, but the number one NEED for homeless people is, simply, housing. Meet that need unconditionally, and worry about the rest later. This is a step in the right direction.

[KamaAina]

23. Hey there! How ya doin'?

[Lyric]

28. I am recovering from surgery and hating these panic attacks.

Can't sleep most of the time. It gets really hard to cope with after a while...

[yuiyoshida]

24. omg..reminds me of a song

[DonCoquixote]

26. Go to Ikea

and you will se apartments designed in this manner, COMPLETE with a real kitchen and bathroom