A British architect believes he may have developed a lower-cost housing solution for Hong Kong.
Tony Kettle, group director of British-based RMJM Architects, has designed a prefabricated housing unit that he claims is not only relatively cheap and quick to build but also inexpensive to run.
Mr Kettle has created MiLoft, a modular home built from steel and timber that can have one, two, three or four bedrooms. A one-bedroom unit costs about GBP55,000 (HK$635,200) to build.
Needing only shallow foundations, a MiLoft block takes five months to build, twice as fast as conventional housing, and can be built to a maximum of 18 storeys.
'It is all about minimum cost, minimum assembly time and minimum energy use,' he said. 'This is about quality as well. It is about creating the type of environment that you would like to live in.'
A conventionally built, six-storey apartment building in Britain or Hong Kong costs between GBP1,000 and GBP1,100 per square metre to build, according to Mr Kettle. That compares with a cost of GBP900 to GBP1,000 per square metre for a MiLoft building because of the savings in construction time and standardisation of components.
Units would be manufactured so that walls, doors and windows can be made sufficiently tight-fitting to give high levels of insulation, according to Mr Kettle.