- Cloud Architects designed the Double Ring House, which is 515 square feet over two floors.
- The spherical house is prefabricated and will be available for sale around the world.
- The 26-foot-long orb shape allows designers to maximize space.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Tiny homes come in all kinds of unusual designs, from shipping containers to eggs, but an orb is still a rare occurrence.
New York City-based Cloud Architects is expanding the already out there world of tiny homes. The limited-edition spherical home will go on sale within the next year and ship anywhere in the world. The designers created it to fit within a standard shipping container.
The Double Ring House is on the larger side for what traditionally counts as a tiny home, but the 515 square feet includes the loft space on the second floor. The sphere has a 26 foot diameter.
Cloud Architects, with founders Ostap Rudakevych and Masayuki Sono, is not new to making innovative and unusual designs. Their portfolio includes designs like the Hydrolander interplanetary vehicle concept, House 02 built into a hill, and the Mars Ice Home concept created in collaboration with NASA. The Double Ring House, though, will be available for anyone to buy, as long as they're still in stock.
Take a look.
The double ring name comes from the two round windows that take up much of the surface area of the exterior.
For this project, designers adjusted their normal method of study the location's sun exposure, climate, topography, and views. They wanted to make the home suitable for nearly any site.
They tried several shapes before landing on an orb, asking themselves what design allowed the most flexibility.
The final product has the advantage of being able to rotate for the best orientation at a particular location while keeping the same circular footprint.
The rounded shape also maximizes interior space, and curved walls make it feel larger.
It can accommodate any climate, and the curved exterior works well for snow and rain. Additional insulation panels can also be added, planned by the designers.
Double Ring Houses will come fitted with all parts that won't move in transit, including electrical work, plumbing, and finishes.
When it goes on sale later this year, customers can pay a deposit and give some standard information about the site before receiving their new home.
