Portable Homes Popular at London Design Festival
A celebration of creativity in the design industry, the London Design Festival is currently focusing on the crisis affecting the capital – housing. Innovative designers are presenting ways to tackle the shortage of affordable homes.
Space and costs are the issues affecting many Londoners today, making portable new homes popular at the festival.
The Decorex trade interiors exhibition, from 20th-23rd September, will host the launch of Bert & May’s first box house at Syon Park, West London.
The Bigger Box, part of the interior design firm’s prefabricated home range, is factory-built within 14 weeks and assembled on site in just a day. All buyers need to do is find the land or a flat roof.
Co-founder of Bert & May, Lee Thornley, explains: “We wanted to recognise that space itself is a big thing. And prefab has had the association of being cheap and lacking in design.
“The boxes were born out of a desire to provide really amazing prefabricated living spaces.”1
The 540 square foot home will be displayed at the entrance to Decorex, where the public date is Tuesday 22nd September. Interested buyers can contact Bert & May for tickets and book a private tour of the home, which has two bedrooms, an open-plan kitchen/living area and a bathroom.
The box house on show will be auctioned at the event by sealed bid with a strong reserve price. The new owner can expect delivery within a week. Visit the company’s website for more information: http://www.bertandmayspaces.com
In Bloomsbury, two recycled shipping containers have been converted into an energy-efficient smart home installation, providing around 310 square foot of living space and costing about £25,000 to build.
Named A New House for London, it has been fitted with voice activation systems and automated lighting. It will be displayed on Store Street, WC1, from 21st-27th September.
The interactive prototype is perfect for daring Londoners who wish to build their own homes for a much smaller price, now that planning rules are being relaxed and building on brownfield sites is supported.
The property was designed and backed by planning and engineering firm Arup, Carl Turner Architects and The Building Centre. Brazilian mining and tech business CBMM has also supported the project. Find out more here: http://www.ct-architects.co.uk