400 square feet living in the air.
The latest hotspot proposed for micro-housing: car parks.
Raising the structure, a small Hawaiian miniature home company, plans to add compact, affordable housing to cities across the United States, without sacrificing parking. The company’s pre-engineered design supports the small dwellings on a trunk-like base so they float on the asphalt. Add “tree trim”, with exterior walls finished in green leaves to reduce air pollution and a roof that channels rainwater into the storage tank hidden in the “trunk”, and you have also sustainable architecture in the mix. (This stored water also helps weigh down small structures.)
fast company Remarks– that with approximately two billion parking spaces in the United States, many are often empty. “It’s just incredibly underutilized space,” Nathan Toothman, co-founder of Elevate Structure, told Fast Company. “There are huge oceans of concrete. In some cities, I think a third of the area is parking lots. We are trying to bring more use in this area.
The base of the houses would be 40 square feet, with rooms ranging from 250 to 400 square feet.
The startup is raising funds to build a demo on Starter.
Marielle Mondon is a freelance writer and journalist in Philadelphia. His work has appeared in Philadelphia City Paper, Wild Magazineand PolicyMic. She previously reported on communities in upper Manhattan while earning a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
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