The Homeshell project was implemented as part of the exhibition "From the Inside Out", timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the world famous architect and held until mid-October at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The house was built right in the courtyard of the academy - according to Rogers' idea, it will not only organically complement the exhibition dedicated to his work, but also initiate a discussion about what modern architecture can do to address the housing shortage. Actually, Homeshell is the answer to this question, convincingly proving that modern housing can be fast-built, cheap, energy efficient and at the same time high-quality and expressive in appearance.
The three and a half storey house was built in just 24 hours from prefabricated Insulshell modules, which are delivered to the site of the future construction in compact flat packs. Developed by the Sheffield Insulations Group (SIG) and Coxbench, they are a modern, innovative building material with low weight and high strength (structures built with Insulshell can withstand hurricanes and earthquakes). And the patented panel mounting system provides excellent sound and thermal insulation of buildings, significantly reducing their energy consumption. The versatility of Insulshell is also important: these panels can be used to build both housing and social infrastructure, including large-scale factories and hospitals. By the way, it was with the use of such a system in London that
Olympic Velodrome.
This constructive scheme allows you to make windows of various shapes and configurations, including panoramic and corner ones. Architects willingly use this opportunity, thus giving individuality to each facade of the house and making its interior spaces as bright as possible. At the same time, the principle of maximum flexibility is put in the basis of the plan of living quarters: none of the inner walls of the house is load-bearing, so residents can make almost any redevelopment, adapting the house to their own needs.
For the first time the idea of such a pre-fabricated and easily "adaptable" housing was implemented by Richard Rogers in 2007 in the project
Oxley Woods is a social housing district of typical residential buildings in the South East of England. In 2008, Oxley Woods was awarded the RIBA (Manser Medal) medal, and six years of active operation have shown that these houses really have almost impeccable consumer characteristics.
Compared to its predecessor, the first Homeshell received a more expressive silhouette and a bright palette of fronts. Also, due to the improved Insulshell panels, it has become more energy efficient, and in comparison with traditional housing construction, it is also very cheap. All this gives the architects reason to believe that Homeshell in the coming years can become an important help in solving the housing problem in the UK, including in those areas where capital construction is impossible for some reason (for example, over tunnels or within the framework of "infill "In very small areas). As mentioned, such a single-family home can be built in just 24 hours, and a six-story block of 24 apartments, formed by several Homeshell units, can be assembled and ready to be connected to utilities in a month.
