Compact units offer housing solutions
ALOFT’S MODULAR HOMES DESIGNED FOR CREATIVE USE OF SPACE IN URBAN SETTINGS
In centres like Niagara, Ont., the lack of affordable housing comes down to a lack of land and rising construction costs, says Keith Gowans, who was the chief operating officer for the Niagara affiliate of Habitat for Humanity for 14 years.
Gowans and two of his former Habitat colleagues (one of them his brotherin-law) have founded Aloft Housing to provide compact housing for modern lifestyles.
Big believers in urban intensification, the team at Aloft is looking upward for inspiration.
“I kind of looked in and looked around the city and said, ‘boy, there are a lot of parking lots everywhere,’ and that’s where we started,” says Gowans.
After sussing the typical parking space to be nine feet by 18 feet, the team spent three years designing a single-person module that isn’t much bigger than 10 feet by 22 feet.
These modules are designed to be installed in the ground using ground screws developed in-house (that require less than a foot of depth to fasten to the ground) and are raised several feet, allowing the space beneath to be used for other functions such as parking.
The land beneath these units isn’t really changed, so the parking lots can still function as such, making this design practical and an attractive option for budget-conscious developers.
Gowans says that developing a highrise in a municipality like Toronto or Vancouver can easily take five to 10 years from the planning stage to putting shovels in the ground.
So this design provides usable housing during that transition period and maximizes profitability for developers and builders alike while providing practical solutions to people’s housing needs.
The modules are stackable, like bread, says Gowans: “You can have a single slice or a whole loaf.”
He envisions developers being able to relocate these units to where they’re needed next when permanent developments, like highrises, are completed.
What about esthetics? The modules are visually attractive. They have German-engineered doors and windows featuring smart-glass tint technology that, with a flick of a switch, go from frosted to clear, providing privacy on demand. Other features include a full kitchen, skylights in the bathroom, a washer/ dryer combo, heated floors throughout and a loft bed system.
There’s no drywall used in the interior construction. The walls are PVCU wallboard, so they’re highly durable and easy to wash, modify and replace. The living space is 10 feet by 10 feet.
Alongside being visually pleasing and aiming to enhance the area in which the modules are installed, Gowans says: “We tried to think of everything from durability to ease of use and ease of installation for every end-user.”
How much do they cost? Around $175,000 per module, not including installation, as that is site-specific and can vary based on several factors.
While not meant for a family to live in, Gowans points out that the greatest demand for housing is for single residency.
He cites a stat from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation that calls for 3.5 million homes to be added within less than a decade to keep up with demand.
Aloft Housing hasn’t made its inaugural sale yet, but Gowans says he’s pleased every time people come back, as a little more definition is added to the conversation.
He admits its solution is different, and municipal representatives from councillors and mayors to building inspectors who have shown interest in what Aloft Housing is proposing need to confer with their teams in an iterative process.
The buzz is building though; with the demand for housing being as perennial as the trees and the design of the modules as versatile and detailed as they could be, Gowans is optimistic about Aloft Housing’s future.
“We’re a well-rounded team. We feel we’re going to be very successful,” he says.