BoxPod

[Rich O Brien]

While your concept is related to emergency housing. They do have other uses. And offer lots of advertising space. Festivals would be ideal if properly policed from shenanigans.

I just can't stomach the size. Must be a Texan thing

[solo]

@unknownuser said:

While your concept is related to emergency housing. They do have other uses. And offer lots of advertising space. Festivals would be ideal if properly policed from shenanigans.

I just can't stomach the size. Must be a Texan thing

The size? too small or too big? in Texas everything is too big.

There are hundreds of uses for this, from construction site accomodation, to hikers refuge.

Here are some images of loading and storage.

[mukul.ar]

Pete its a nice concept but there is a very fundamental flaw IMHO. The purpose for these is to be portable. You have provided plumbing concealed in the design itself. But from where do you take the water supply to run that plumbing system, more importantly where does the sewage that you flush down the toilet go to? It would need some sort of Sewage treatment plant and some sort of water supply to get those bathrooms to work. Which would mean setting them up at some place and connecting all the housing units to them. Which would mean higher costs and no portability.

The renders are fantastic though and so are those trucks!

[baz]

Boxpod is a bit of a mouthful, what about 'BodPod'.
baz

[bytor]

Pete,

I like the concept and idea - the example of the London Olympics is relevant to me as my son found out @ his college orientation this past month that the marching band (he plays the tuba) will be marching and performing @ the olympics next summer. They are being housed in the dorms @ one of the uni's there - can't remember which one.

The other commercial uses mentiond really start to give this life, but the issues raised can be roadblocks. A couple that stand out are;
Utility connections- this would be expensive if they are done on a singular basis, and can be an impediment for location as well.
Fork-lift capability - you images show the fork lift approach @ door side. Not sure that would be good as that is the likely side (and the opposite) to take the most beating druing that movement. Also - the bottom "feet" would likely to be best not to be solid in either direction to allow for surf water drainage underneith in either direction - no matter if it is in place or in storage.
size - 80 sf is large for the functionality you are describing. You may be able to tighten that up a little.

I like Bruce's idea of the insulation being injection molded, as well a the shell and plug-in core being seperate components. The durability / abuse issue is valid for container like units. Look at the images of the metal shipping containers again or even (as silly as it sounds) some sci-fi storage boxes - the sides are not flat for a reason.

Lastly - the singular concept may not be economically viable. How many instances do you think there would be a need for single units? It may make sense to develop them as doubles or quads. With the materials, etc. you are looking at I would imagine a smaller big-box hardware store type delivery truck with the small hoist could carry one or two multi-units and easily lift-drop them in place wherever you want. We have a lot of 24-7 Gas (shale fracking) work going on in my state right now and lodging for the workers is @ a premium. I could see small developments of these multi-units set on a quick pad to accomodate the transient workforce!

Dean

[Richard]

Pete

Mate I love the idea though like other comments I see so many issues with the idea that they are constructed as one piece. One being the risk of damage to one area of the shell means replacement of the whole. I'm feeling mate your desire there is out weighing a better option and one that may produce a product with more options!

One big issue I see to overcome is just how the inner is moulded within the outer - as the inner would obviously need to be surfaced (non slip etc) the mould would need to be constructed each time and pulled down and out the door, for me this may negate any benefits of the one piece construction.

[castromann]

have you seen these already?

S l e e p b o x - Novidade no Aeroporto de Paris

Depois dos banheiros químicos, os franceses aparecem com esta...  Chegou a Sleepbox, no Aeroporto Charles de Gaulle em Paris  Como o nome i...

(iabuberlandia.blogspot.com)

[greenbelt]

I love this idea. I think this idea could be broken down into separate units.

One type of pod for sleeping and personal storage only (security and rest). The most basic and cheapest unit. Like the sleep boxes mentioned.

A slightly more upscale unit would include a porta-potty (chemical toilet) and very small fresh water storage tank (sponge baths only). Mostly for eco-tourists.

A much larger and expensive pod would provide facilities for showering/laundry including facilities for fresh water storage and waste water disposal. To be economical this would have to provide services for several clients. Kinda like some of the campsites found in the US and Canada that have showers and laundry facilities. These can be semi-permanent structures hooked up to local water and sewer or completely self sufficient. The cost would be prohibitive for the individual user and more likely to appeal to a corporate or government client.

I recently moved to India from the US and I've been noticing the horrid living conditions of the highway construction workers near my apartment complex. (new elevated toll freeway to the new Bangaluru International Airport.) Anyways the 'shelters' vary from corrugated tin shacks to some tattered tarpaulin/cardboard leaning against an existing structure. I've seen the men bathing (with their clothes on of course) from a hose that must be attached (illegally) to a well or the city water lines. The women are cooking over burning rubbish/vegetation that they have collected nearby. I can see all this from the car as I drive to the shops.

1. The government or corporate authority involved is not going to spend much on these poor souls unless legislated to do so.
2. There is a real problem here with plastic/paper/glass in the landfill. Plastic has been banned in the stores here recently. So recycling plastic/glass/paper would be a very appealing argument.
3. very real problem of air quality - equally from these rubbish cooking fires as from automobiles. A country of nearly a billion people generates a lot of smoky cooking fires.
4. India has a lot of money in the hands of a very few people who are eager to make more. Ideas like yours will really take off and can be immensely profitable in a country that is experiencing an economic boom at the moment.

[chippwalters]

Hi Pete. Very nice concept, but IMO the manufacturing technique is a bit over the top. Injection molding would not create such a structure for a number of reasons (I think I mentioned before my background is in Industrial design). You are showing more of a blow molded solution, and while somewhat cheaper than injection molding, it also would be extremely ineffective cost wise. Injection mold tooling would be ridiculously expensive, and I'm not aware of any injection molded object that large. There are some blow molded and rotation molded canoes out there- so perhaps blow molding may be an option, but the tooling and setup also would be prohibitively expensive unless one owned a facility or had some very serious backing.

Still, the idea has great merit. I would suggest creating inexpensive reusable plastic, epoxy, or wooden tooling, like used in plastic forming, where you would vacuum form or pressure form parts to create your product. Or use the same tooling for a fiberglass or composite layup. Careful attention would have to be paid to how the mold goes together and collapses for removal, but with a pressure form technique, you could create zero degree draft angle walls and floors. There would still need to be multiple parts, but designed correctly, they could interlock to form a structural connect.

Another idea would be a foam formed structure in place (think non structural blue polystyrene foam) for the walls atop a structural laminate floor. The foam walls can be created easily with a minimum of soft tooling and once built are easily modified for custom window / door placement and plumbing / wiring with nothing more than a large exacto knife or hot wire cutter. When finished, you spray a structural sealer on it both inside and outside, like a concrete type substance (sipcrete) which laminates the foam creating a solid, albeit heavy, structure. This type of manufacturing is common in some third world low cost housing builders-- sorta like a hi-tech version of straw bale houses.

I concur with your decision to build, then deploy. If you wanted to create a knock down version, then consider centralizing all utilities on one wall, and make that your base module which is then added to in the field.

I do applaud your creativity. The next step is to be equally creative designing for specific manufacturing!

[guy]

Hi came across these, they are getting away from your idea but is a little food for thought.

http://microcompacthome.com/company/[/url] http://www.archilab.org/public/2000/catalog/gregoi/gregoien.htm[/url]

[Daniel]

Great concept, Pete. You might want to consider adding some built in towel bars, and storage above the toilet for towels, toilet paper.

[Ollo81]

I found this today and reminded me of your BoxPod
http://www.dasparkhotel.net/rooms/index.php?lang=EN

[d12dozr]

Something similar named Sleepbox that a Russian firm is proposing to use in airports. I think you're onto something, Pete