The TrailerWrap project is an effort to create a solution to the problems associated with the design of mobile homes (inefficiency, lack of comfort, poor aesthetics and temperature control). An accessible renovation "kit" of parts and a simple demolition/construction plan was dreamt up by the University of Colorado College of Architecture. The priorities were that the plan be affordable and easy to assemble by a small group of people.
I rode by this a few months ago (it's right on a bike path in Boulder) and got stopped in my tracks. It looks beautiful in person, and had me wishing I lived there...in the middle of a trailer park. Quite a feat.
shanabanana, I know what you mean. Never, before today, did I ever wish that I lived in a trailer park. This made me want to move out of my loft, but a wooded lot and plop down a trailer.
Beautiful, but I wonder if there's much of a market for an item like this. Its real-world appeal seems very limited and niched. True, the current hype/buzz surrounding contemporary pre-fab constructions is ubiquitous; but trailers? I think the manufacturers will be faced a formidable marketing challenge.
So you're just building a new structure on an existing footprint?
What will those clever architecture students think of next?
The only contender in this category for commercial viability is the MiniHome at http://www.sustain.ca/
-B
In our neck of the woods there is a notable rural migration trend. Hours from the city however, properties are still quite expensive. I can see this being a very viable option for those seeking a way into the market and possessing a strong reluctance to live in a trailer. It is beautiful. Although I guess that depends on the definition of "affordable".
eeks,
There is no resemblance between this and a trailer / mobile home (except as I noted above size)
I went and looked over their information and discovered this project is pretty much useless, along with the concept in it's current form.
From what I'm guess-timating, to recreate this on a "commerical" level, it would probably run 50% more than a conventional "stick-built" structure of a similar design/size.
And eeks It's not a viable option at all unless you like wasting $$$.
Bobby
Wow, quite beautiful!
What an interesting solution. I think there's definitely a market for this.
Fiona,
Interested in your view...why do you think there is a market for this?
Do you mean homes of this size/design or homes built on this "concept"?
-B
Hello Everyone,
I'm the Professor who worked with the students on this project...
It is great to see this project getting some interest around the web! Always fun to see the diverse reactions posted... beautiful, useless, marketable... all probably true in one way or another.
As you might imagine there were some pretty interesting variables discovered during the design and construction that affected the specific outcome of this first experiment.
If anyone is interested in more info please feel free to email me or give me a call...
awolhughes@yahoo.com
479 422-0133
Best,
Michael Hughes
i certainly hope you find a way to pull this off!
My high school guidance counselor always said you couldn't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear...I guess she was wrong.
Michael Huhges,
Glad you showed up! I'm curious as to how the finished product goes along with the missioin statement you guys posted.
As I said before, I don't get it. Don't you think you would have been better off sending the original trailer to a recycler and starting from scratch?
-B
People have been building sturdy structures around trailers in my area of the country for years, even around RVs, ranging from built on roofs with pole sides so you can see the trailer sides within, to full enclosures, and everything in between. They do this because they can not erect a permanent structure on their lot for some reason or to avoid building from scratch with all the electrical/plumbing issues that involves. I've always wondered if you could do that and then slowly dismantle all but the infrastructure of the trailer, until what is left is a totally new house. So I see where this is coming from and am intrigued by it, while I also can see the impracticality of such efforts on several levels, once it becomes as expensive as building a standard house. One thing I would like to see would be a core kit that one could purchase, like a trailer, that would house all plumbing and electrical, to then build a structure around. I think that would be particularly helpful to me in my cabin aspirations, as I can build a structure, but would have to hire out the other tasks.