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Is this an answer to UK's housing crisis? Tiny apartment built inside a concrete water pipe

Mark Dorman
Architect James Law poses inside an OPod water pipe apartment (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)
Architect James Law poses inside an OPod water pipe apartment (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)

Could this be the answer to Britain’s housing crisis – slices of concrete water pipe adapted into snug, affordable apartments.

The OPod Tube Housing system is the brainchild of architect James Law who designed the build as a possible solution to the chronic overcrowding and lack of space in Hong Kong.

MORE: House prices rose £28 a day in 2017 despite London slowdown, says Zoopla

He believes the pipes – some measuring 2.5 metres in diameter – can be converted into an 9sq m (100sq ft) mini-apartment for two, complete with a shower and a toilet as home solution for the future.

The sofa becomes a bed by pulling out the base (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)
The sofa becomes a bed by pulling out the base (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)

Each tube house is equipped with smartphone locks for online access and space saving micro-living furniture.

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MORE: Judy Murray sells Scottish country home

Law says the pipes could be stacked between Hong Kong’s high rise buildings and utilise space otherwise going to waste.

James Law sits inside the neat, functional apartment of the future (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)
James Law sits inside the neat, functional apartment of the future (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)

His design firm, James Law Cybertecture, has also developed a twist on the old shipping container-style conversions.

MORE: Britain’s hottest of property hotspots of 2017 revealed

Its AlPod, made from lightweight aluminium, is a 450sq ft luxury apartment which can be easily transported from city to city and stacked into a high rise structure.

Visitors look at the inside the OPod Tube House on display during the Design Inspire exhibition in Hong Kong (EFE/EPA/JEROME FAVRE)
Visitors look at the inside the OPod Tube House on display during the Design Inspire exhibition in Hong Kong (EFE/EPA/JEROME FAVRE)

The pressure on countries to find homes for the world’s ballooning populations is immense. In the UK, the government has pledged to build 300,000 new homes a year – while estimates for homeless numbers various between an ‘official’ 59,000 families and 250,000 people, according to some charities.

OPod Tube Housing designed by James Law Cybertecture architects is made out of left over large diameter concrete water pipes commonly used in city water infrastructure and convert them into mobile pod housing that can be stacked to form fast and cheap and innovative housing. This non profit project is designed to help alleviate the affordable housing crisis for young people in Hong Kong and other parts of the world. #OPod #JamesLawCybertecture

Posted by OPod Tube Housing by James Law Cybertecture on Thursday, December 7, 2017