Since March, millions of people around the world have been forced to figure out how to work from home, from improvised office space to quick childcare solutions. London-based Whitaker Studio's unique answer to this problem is a house the can be any shape and size, and go anywhere, as in the name The Anywhere House.
The house is made up of one or potentially dozens of individual units, each small enough to be transported by road. Then, they go together in a custom, possibly one of a kind house that was specifically built to meet the owners' needs.
Prefab and modular housing was a growing industry until the onset of COVID-19, which disrupted it in a few ways. Like most of the economy, remote work and social distancing requirements slowed construction and made growth more difficult, and the industry is predicted to see an 11% decline from 2019 to 2020, with an anticipated bounce back to a $23 billion industry by 2023.
Logistics necessary for prefab housing, like trucking and shipping, were already a difficulty for the sector, further disrupted by COVID-19 as supply chains were forced to reorient around necessities.
Despite these difficulties, Whitaker Studio is still confident about The Anywhere House. Take a look here.
James Whitaker said that his goal in creating the Anywhere House was the potential for no two homes to look the same.
Potential customers came to Whitaker wanting to buy prefabricated homes after his design made from shipping containers in Joshua Tree took off in 2017.
But, he said that if he had to design a home to mass produce, the shipping containers wouldn't be his choice.
Instead, he designed the Anywhere House.
The design is made out of individual units that can be combined in all kinds of ways.
Each unit has at least two openings that can become connections to the next unit, or be closed off with doors or windows.
Whitaker says there's no limit to have many units could potentially be strung together, given enough time and money.
All the pieces are made out of a few common elements.
Each unit is small enough to be transported over the road.
That way, a home can be put together on site wherever the destination.
So far, the studio has designed two bedroom units, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a study, with plans to design more.
The first Anywhere House was built in Alberta, Canada.
Although this house is prefabricated in a way, the unique structure leads to plenty of customization options.
