Stackable, Portable Apartments Are Tiny Homes for the Homeless

A new kind of “pop-up” apartment building, made of prefab tiny-home cubes, can be stacked into place – and later dismantled and rebuilt – in just a few months.

The new design is being used for good reason: to fight homelessness in increasingly expensive London. The first development opened last month, with the YMCA London South West offering 36 of the so-called Y:Cube apartments at 65 percent the average rent of the surrounding area.

Each 280-square-foot unit has an open-plan living area/kitchen plus one bedroom, one bath and a deck.

The units are built in a factory, with all the services–gas, plumbing, electric–pre-made in the cube, so the unit only has to be plugged in, so to speak. (Watch a video of a demo cube being assembled below.) This allows more units to be added to a development, or the entire development to be taken apart and built somewhere else, according to the architects behind the project, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.

The building is already filled with residents. Wendy Omollo, 24, is one of the first Y:Cube tenants. She was previously homeless and slept rough on the streets, according to the YMCA.

“By having my own space with my own front door, I will regain my independence. But it’s not just that,” she said. “As the rent is affordable and I can stay for up to five years, I’ll also be able to save money for a deposit. Basically, when the time comes to move on from Y:Cube, I will be in a far better situation than today.”

The YMCA has plans to expand the pilot program, according to a press release.

(All photos and video: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners)