A Modular Home Made From Cardboard With Unlimited Footprint Possibilities
The concept of living in a cardboard box got a whole new meaning when design studio Fiction Factory completed their first Wikkelhouse a few years ago. The creative Amsterdam-based studio has been working of this for a long time and actually manage to design and to manufacture a house made from cardboard.
It’s a micro home with a simple and classic design and a modular structure. There’s been over 60 such houses installed in both rural and urban areas so far. Each one is made of segments and each segment is 4.6 meters long and 3.5 meters high and weighs 500 kg. This modular structure allows each house to have a customizable footprint. More segments can be added as needed and the house can grow over time.
You’re probably curios how this prefab house is made. In simple terms, 24 layers of high-strength cardboard are wrapped around a mold and then glued together. The mold is shaped like a gable roof house. The cardboard layers are then topped with waterproof coating and wood paneling in order to offer protection against the elements. The Wikkelhouses are 100% recyclable and expected to last 100 years. A complete one which includes a prefab kitchenette and bathroom module starts from $41.000 and the price doesn’t include the transportation and installation costs. Many aspects of the house are customizable, starting with the total footprint. The interior cladding, window placement and finishing are also customizable. The houses are built in a workshop located in Amsterdam and have also become available in several other countries including The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, United Kingdom and Denmark. Considering all the unique characteristics of a Wikkelhouse, would you live in a cardboard home?