The Mod Pod

By Felicity Divers

In the face of increasing population, what is one of the biggest challenges London and the rest of the UK are facing? Being environmentally and economically friendly while ensuring the population is housed efficiently, quickly, and safely. Modulab has a solution targeted towards helping London cope with its yearly cohorts of workers and students that move in through modular housing. We are calling this the Mod Pod project.

The Mod Pods are single person homes made within a 2400x4600x3000mm space. The homes are stackable and contain all the necessities, but still have enough space for the occupant to live comfortably. Mod Pods can fit in unused warehouses and factories, so that old space can be reused in a cost-effective way and there is no need to clear land since there is already space available. They can be constructed in a more eco-friendly manner since Mod Pods do not require a lot of heavy machinery to assemble them.

Since modular homes are built piece by piece in a factory before shipping to the building site, they can be packaged and shipped with everything they need to be built with in one shipment. A small team of 8-12 people can put together the structures by hand using only tools and at most the structures will take about a week to construct.

Mod Pods will be constructed using metal reinforced timber, which uses ecologically sourced materials and / or recycled materials, so that they are eco-friendly while being strong, durable, and sustainable. A Mod Pod will cost from about £10,000 to £15,000 including salaries for the workers. Therefore with the £25,000,000 Sadiq Khan invested to build 1,000 pocket homes, you can produce about 2,000 Mod Pods.

What is special about the Mod Pods?

The rectangular pods with customisable features such as doors, furniture, colours, flooring and tiling, etc. This means that The Mod Pod can be designed to be tailored to an individual's needs or a specified style that a client wants. Additionally, the Mod Pods have different floor-plan layouts that include designs that tailor to the needs of those with wheelchairs and physical disabilities. With each pod, you'll have all the necessities (such as a washing machine and boiler/ heating system), ample storage and smart/ transformable furniture without the space feeling cramped.

Mod Pod concept design

This is the original concept design tailored to a university student or a single adult. The seat becomes an extra pull out bed for guests and there is a desk and wardrobe underneath the loft bed so that that the space used is maximised. Depending on weather the pods are indoors or outdoors there is a window option displayed in this design.