Grandio created the Hüga, a $75,000 prefab concrete tiny home that is both weather and bulletproof.
Tiny homes have boomed in popularity this past year, and the Hüga is no exception. However, Grandio's decision to create a tiny home didn't come from a desire to follow living trends.
Instead, the Argentina-based company decided to create the Hüga after its employees, several of which are college professors, noticed students wanted to travel and live unrestricted by "debt and social structures," according to the company.
This inspiration sent the architecture and engineering firm on a mission to create a home that could accommodate these specific needs. And finally, after two years of work, the 77-year-old company unveiled the Hüga tiny home earlier this year amid the ongoing tiny home boom.
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"We are only in the early stages of our sales and marketing activities, but the interest we are getting from prospective buyers and partners is outstanding with requests flowing in every day," José Martin, an architect at Grandio, told Business Insider in an email interview.
The majority of Hüga inquiries have been from potential North American clients, but Grandio has also received requests from clients in countries like the UK, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, and Singapore.
North American-based customers can now preorder the tiny home.
"When we compare the demand curve to other similar concepts, we are way out in front," Martin wrote.
The rise of Hüga's popularity follows the recent tiny home boom.
A survey of 2,006 Americans published in December by Fidelity National Financial subsidiary IPX1031 found that 56% of survey respondents would consider living in a tiny home.
Source: Business Insider
And of the survey respondents who weren't yet homeowners, 86% said they would purchase a tiny unit as their first home.
Source: Business Insider
As a result, both tiny home sales and rentals started increasing as people began looking for a getaway during coronavirus pandemic times, according to a November report by the Wall Street Journal.
Source: Wall Street Journal
According to Martin, people have been craving space away from apartments and condominiums as the pandemic rages on.
However, home ownership can be costly.
This is where Hüga enters the picture, meeting these needs spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Hüga’s design is in sync with the changes we see in the way people want to live,” Martin wrote.
Like other popular mini living units, the Hüga is a movable prefab home that doesn't require a foundation, making it a flexible living option
Being foundation-free and prefabricated also means the home can be installed in a day.
However, Hüga still needs to be connected to power, water, and sewage points.
The tiny home's name was inspired by the famous Danish "Hygge" concept, therefore conveying the unit's sense of "life-based living," according to its maker.
Grandio decided to pursue the concrete route to make the home "indestructible."
As a result, the Hüga can withstand a range of weather types, including snowfall, hurricanes, tornadoes, and high humidity, according to its maker.
If that's not enough, the unit is also mold resistant and bulletproof.
Now, let's take a look at what the interior has to offer.
Hüga sits at about 484 square-feet and is lined with large windows to bring in more natural light.
This square footage includes a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, combination living and dining room, and a "relax zone."
This relax zone consists of a mezzanine that can accommodate a small mattress.
The home can also optionally come with a rooftop patio if the mezzanine and living room doesn't provide enough leisure space.
The entrance of the tiny home is guarded by a barrier that can fold up for easier access into the home, according to images of the Hüga.
The kitchen can accommodate amenities like a microwave, oven, electric stove top, and sink, according to renderings of the build.
The dining table, which can seat up to four people, is located between the kitchen and living room.
The bathroom — which has a shower, sink, and toilet — then separates the kitchen from the bedroom.
Hüga also has several storage units integrated throughout the interior, including closets in the bedroom, and hidden storage units in the staircase leading up to relax room.
Grandio has partnered with precast concrete companies to make all of this a reality.
It's also planning to establish sales and production partnerships in different locations to help meet the rising Hüga demands.
By diversifying the location of the partnerships, the tiny homes can be customized to appeal to a local market, according to Martin.
The Hüga was designed for a variety of customers — such as families, couples, and communities of older people — but the concept itself can be used as more than just a home.
According to Martin, the Hüga can serve as a hotel suite, school, and office.
This multi-use capability has already started catching the eye of other industries.
According to Martin, Grandio has been receiving requests from hospitality companies, specifically hotels that are interested in adding stand-alone units to create more physical distance between guests.
