We’ve all heard about building a house one brick at a time, but an innovative new construction approach could see homes built ‘one room at a time’, in a bid to tackle the current housing crisis.
Designer, Daniel Bambridge is proposing a new building concept that will see homes constructed, room by room, allowing homebuyers to enter the market at a lower price point and expand as their budget and family needs grow.
The process is similar to a staged build, however, new rooms are added over time and the home is constructed using flexible modular technology.
He said the state of the property market means out of the box thinking is required to help people find an affordable place to live.
“Everyone can see the challenges of trying to find affordable housing and for many families still earning a wage it is still disheartening to see that sometimes it isn’t enough,” Mr Bambridge said.
“My aim is to provide a new option because no one should have to sleep rough or in a car.”
With more than 30 years of experience in construction, spanning all trade fields, including the heavy steel industry, engineering and bricklaying, Mr Bambridge said he could see a better way to build homes.
“Essentially, this will allow people to aim for a standard four-bedroom, two-bathroom house and plan for it through local council,” he said.
“Then, customers purchase rooms as they can afford to add more.
“To maintain streetscapes, the front rooms of the property can be placed first, with the rear added later.
“This will reduce the initial repayments, enabling today’s less affluent individuals to have an equal opportunity to buy and cherish having their own home, with the potential for future growth.”
Mr Bambridge has designed and patented the construction system that is currently in the concept phase.
He is now looking to raise crowdfunding to help commercialise the process, or even sell the system to a builder who can make use of the innovative construction approach.
He said under the construction system, the homes are fully customisable and allow for a range of different uses.
“Flexibility is at the core of this system,” he said.
“Whether it’s a single-family home, a multi-unit housing complex, or a disaster relief shelter, the modules can be customised to meet diverse housing needs.”
Mr Bambridge said this flexibility allows homeowners to adapt their living spaces to their changing needs without the hassle and expense of moving or extensive renovations traditionally costing lots of time and money while the work is done.
He said the process of simply adding another room that is already built off-site is faster and far more cost-effective.
According to Mr Bambridge, post-build additions are also far easier to implement.
“For instance, imagine you have two modules and decide to add another,” he said.
“You can easily remove a wall and set it aside.
“By adding a room and reusing that wall on one side of the new room, you only need three more walls to complete the exterior for weatherproofing.
He said this streamlined process is remarkably swift and requires only service connections at the junction points.
“This synergy of elements ensures not only ease of assembly but also a highly efficient and effective housing solution,” he said.
