IKEA.SmartCarHouse
There is something that puzzles architect Ed Binkley about the current state of home building and buying. “We don’t buy cars by the pound, so why should we buy homes by the square footage?” says Binkley, an Oviedo, Fla.-based partner in the venerable architecture firm BSB Design. “[T]his is the underlying design statement in the development of the 600 sf Series homes.”
Because “we buy cars based on comfort, price, accessibility, features, uniqueness, and how well they address our needs, wants, and desires,” Binkley believes, we should use the same criteria for making our home buying decisions.
So Binkley began considering popular iconic symbols that extol these virtues and set out to come up with a housing prototype that incorporates them. Behold the IKEA.SmartCarHouse. The 600-square-foot home revolves around a design that meets all of the aforementioned criteria and does so in a way that is progressive, affordable, and available in a variety of architectural styles. Though small, the spaces allow for flexibility. A smaller version of the home, with the garage, contains a single bedroom and measures 528 square feet. The total construction cost, minus site, is estimated at $40 per square foot or $24,000 for the 600-square-foot model.
“The challenges are apparent; the need for (real) affordable housing is obvious,” Binkley says. “There are plenty of great examples of systems housing out there but most are still outside the price range of those in the most need. The intention of this concept is to bridge the gap between mass market housing and the very low-end housing that often does not address the style factor that many buyers desire.” www.bsbdesign.com.
