What differentiates a space from a home? We’re not referring to the smell of baked bread or the pencil marks on the door sill marking your child’s growth. We’re talking about the most basic constituents that push a space over the threshold into being a home. As far as we see it, there are three things. First, there must be a structure to protect you from the elements. But sheds and warehouses and myriad other spaces have structures, so that’s not all you need. It must have a bathroom. Yes, some dwellings have outhouses or bathrooms down the hall, but those are more likely to be considered dorms, boarding houses or yurts. Finally, houses need kitchens because, well, people need to eat. Rotterdam design studio Kraaijvanger recently created Hub, a modular unit that quickly and easily turns a space into a home. From Dezeen:
Each module contains a kitchen, bathroom and toilet, as well as facilities including heating, a sound system and a Wi-Fi connection – providing residents with almost everything they need to live comfortably.
The 15 sq m boxes are designed to transform any space with electricity, water and sewage, such as a vacant office, into a livable home (we suspect the first two requirements are far easier to handle than the last one).
Kraaijvangerto also created BedHub, which is a modular bedroom. Both modules act as room partitions, chopping up open spaces into discrete rooms.
One of the most edited things you can do is use the stuff you already have. Hub is an innovative way of putting to use unused spaces that are not otherwise set up for habitation. Now just tell that to the building inspector.
Photo credit: Ronald Tilleman.