One of Mighty Buildings' units in progress. (Image credit 6sqft)
I love this. On-demand structures! Though, I do see this as a rather expensive shed option. Perhaps they'll get cheaper over time.
Housing is one of the biggest common expenses in any household regardless of whether you are renting or own your house. But the housing market has been morphing due to the introduction of new unconventional housing options such as tiny houses, bus-houses or van-houses. Although many of those options are not recent discoveries, they seem to promise those who turn to them an opportunity to afford housing without stress. In order to provide even more affordable options, many companies are working on developing technologies that will allow them to build homes at the lowest costs possible and offer very competitive prices.
One such company is Mighty Buildings, an Oakland-based startup with a vision to make housing better. They specialize in 3D-printing a studio apartment of 350 square feet in 24 hours. To accomplish that feat, they utilize a 20-feet-high printer to create designs that have been molded with a blueprint diagram. Tiny pearls of synthetic stones emitted from the printer are stacked on top of each other and solidify under the sun or UV light, revealing the solid structure of the house, which is said to last longer than concrete.
When the company receives an order, they complete the printing at their headquarters before transporting the whole unit to the location designated by the customer, where a crane is used to position the unit properly. Each studio is priced at £75,000, but the company offers other models like a compact cottage with all the amenities necessary to be a guest house in a backyard or a getaway cabin in a remote place, and luxury homes. The differentiator between Mighty Buildings and other companies offering the same service is the variety of options and details in the houses they build.
For example, cabinetry, heating ventilation, air conditioning, smoke and CO detector, etc. are incorporated all provided in the final product, but plumber has to be added separately. Their competitors only offer the basics: floors and walls. In addition, Mighty Buildings is able to provide houses at a price per square footage that is about 45 percent lower than that of a conventional home of the same size. To top it off, Mighty Buildings' units are completed with only 5 percent of the labor required to build a conventional house while reducing their waste by 10 times. The startup provides designs for all pockets: from a £75,000 studio to a £215,000 luxury unit.
With their know-how and their diligence in respecting housing regulations and laws, Mighty Buildings might be the answer to a lot of issues such as homelessness, eco-friendly building practices and even a revival of the economy in certain areas.
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