Environment

Living In A Box - Could This Solve The Housing Shortage?

by liamssoft | June 8, 2007 at 03:08 am

530 views | 0 Recommendations | 6 comments

A very nice compact design, ideal for such places as London where land is very expensive and there is a dire shortage of affordable accommodation. At a cost of £50,000 ($100,000), this is the cheapest accommodation to buy in London. There is also the cost of a land plot to consider.

Could an eight-foot aluminium box be the solution to the housing shortage? But what's it like to actually sleep, eat, wash and entertain in one? BBC News's Rajesh Mirchandani did just that.

I've brought a cat, to see if I can swing it. I can. It's stuffed - the cat, that is - so don't worry.

Even Paris Hilton's prison cell is bigger than this, although I doubt it had as many mod cons. Just old lags.

Click source to view video

At least this initiative keeps the housing shortage in front of the governments eyes, as well as a living design of a funcional dwelling. Well done to the designers for thinking up this brilliant design.

''A room for living and sleeping in would be ideal for within the workplace grounds, say for MPs when working in London.''

The Japanese capsule hotel, in the Video section, shows a sleeping only accomodation.

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Jordan Yerman

at 12:37 on June 9th, 2007

Looks too tight for even one presenter and a camera operator... livability issues definitely would bring the value below £50,000 (roughly US$100,000). If anything, it seems more like a statement against rising real-estate prices than a viable housing option, unless the resident works all day and parties all night, seven days per week.

liamssoft

at 12:54 on June 9th, 2007

Thank you

jordan I agree, there are many workers in cities who do work all day and party all night, espesialy those who have the money to.

Jordan Yerman

at 14:24 on June 9th, 2007

What I meant was that the flat-in-a-box is too small for the resident to have much of a home life. I think that most people could deal with it for a week or so, but just try to host a dinner party...

liamssoft

at 12:21 on June 10th, 2007

Thank you

jordan,

I agree, it is more for one person who works a lot of the time away from home.

Jordan Yerman

at 14:28 on June 9th, 2007

I remember seeing something similar coming out of Japan-- an apartment building in which the units (similar to the ones liamssoft posted above) were customized and loaded via crane into the superstructure of the building... extra points to whomever finds that building online!