Is the world's seemingly increasing violence getting to you? Are you worried about a zombie apocalypse? Looking for a place to hide out during the rapture? If so, this may be the home for you!
When I saw KWK Promes' Safe House over at Home DSGN, my first thought was that it was a little extreme. And then, with sirens blaring outside my window and reports of roving mobs of unruly teenagers threatening the streets of Chicago, I started to reconsider my initial reaction. Maybe the Safe House isn't such a bad idea after all.
As you can see in the first photo, the house can be completely closed up inside its concrete shell, protecting you from unruly teenagers and zombies alike. With its movable walls and drawbridge (black cat not included), you can also open the house up to the outside when you're feeling a little less threatened.
So theoretically you could open the big shutters and movable walls during the day and enjoy the great outdoors and then at night you can close the house back up and feel safe and secure in your little cocoon. My reticence about this is that, with the house closed, I might feel like I'm living in a prison. Then again, if I shifted my thinking to imagine this as a modern day castle, minus the moat, it might be doable. And if a zombie was narrowing in on me and my brain, I could definitely do it!
So what do you think? Would you be able to live in the Safe House?
Images: Home DSGN
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Looks like a Mausoleum, a Nuclear Bunker or the place in Pakistan where Bin Laden hung out the past few years...
...either way, its a blight to the landscape - No thanks.
Well, what's it like inside?
Yep, absolutely. Particularly after seeing the photos of the house entirely opened up. It has a very modern energy to me and seems to have good light and flow.
With the recent spate of tornadoes we've seen, I wonder how wind-safe it is?
Surely black cats go with something a little more neo-Victorian, and this is a moment for your police-trained Malinois?
(My kitten does have a nice tactical matte black finish, though.)
I don't hate security as a concern, but I think its better, and more effective, used subtly. This all but screams "rob me for my Class III firearms!"
With a side of Unhappy Hipster.
I'll take a cuter, less obvious well-armed bungalow. :)
GreenKey - it's pretty sweet: http://www.homedsgn.com/2011/04/10/safe-house-by-kwk-promes/
I especially like the site's animated GIFs of the house... it's like the animated story of "The Family Who Didn't Like the World."
Love the house when it's opened up.
When it's opened up it looks very nice - modern and airy. When it's closed - well, I bet it's great for sleeping! I would live there.
I would live there for sure. I like the simple shape and look. It says, "don't bother me with your kirby vacuum, magazine subscriptions, or whatever else you want." Also, draw bridges are awesome.
We have big shutters like that (as do 99% of houses in France). They're great for keeping the house cool in Summer, and for controlling the amount of light in a room. When it's very hot at night, it's nice to have the shutters down for security, and the windows left open.
I'll take it! I would love to live in this house through the zombie invasion. I was going to go for an underground fall out shelter, but now I don't have to sacrafice style for safety! Woo hoo! :P
Actually quite nice when it's open. Probably quite energy efficient when closed. A moat would be funny -- especially if it were occupied by black cats. The best part is absolutely the closed-back-door-as-movie-screen.
What I like about this idea is being able shut the house tightly against intruders for extended absences.
I like it. And I don't even believe in zombies.
"All the movable elements are based on built-in electronic engines, that guarantee safe operation."
It's not clear from the notes on DSGN if the house is off the grid, or if doors can be opened if the power goes out. It kind of defeats the purpose if the house depends on electricity from an outside source. Maybe I read it wrong?
When the zombies show up, y'all are gonna wish you had that house. :)
I would totally live in a house like that after the recent tornadoes in my area. I think it would be a lot safe in case of natural disaster than some of the other buildings in the area. It's pretty when it's opened up.
Uh uh, no thank you. On the other hand if it were given to me I'd have all the enclosures up and out of the way and enjoy the sunshine as well as the stars and the moon or the storms or anything else nature brings my way. I couldn't stand to be away from natural light, even at night. (Yes, I have great night vision and appreciate the ambient light on many nights.) How would I get to wake up with the sun with a set up like that!
If it had a nice atrium or courtyard, I would totally live there.
It's a beautiful modern house when open. So, yes, I'd live there. However, I would need to turn it into a "closed system", capable of withstanding long sieges & self-sustainable, in case of the Apocalypse (regular or zombie flavored).
Really don't see the need for such extreme security measures. Seems like paranoia gone overboard. Plus, if the mechanisms that open the house up ever failed in a major way, it really would be a prison.
The future of America, the rich living in armored compounds and the rest of us beating on the gates?? There are plenty of places in the world where that's how it works. I hope we can prevent it from happening here, but this house looks move-in ready if we continue current trends in income distribution.
I think its pretty epic, but I'm an admitted doomer who already has supply and plan for a potential long term hardship. From just the exterior we've seen its basically my dream home.
Anybody feeling vibes of the house from Forbidden Planet?
http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Posters/F/Poster%20-%20Forbidden%20Planet_19.jpg
Open & airy by day with lush gardens and lovely landscape views, but can be instantly shuttered with impermeable materials in case of Id attacks.
A house is both a design statement and and a financial investment. Can you imagine the cost of designing and building it and how few buyers there are out for there for this sort of thing? I see a huge financial blunder...
Is it tornado proof?
I love it and the plant cycle anology.
It's pretty cool, though I don't think I could live there a long time. It would get tiring.
Welcome to the apocalypse.
@bepsf - My first thought was of the Bin Laden compound!
@charlotte - I'm totally with you. I think this is really disturbing. No thank you.
I probably would. I constantly worry about a Zombie apocalypse. It can happen! I've already planned my escape route to the the least unpopulated areas.
I don't understand the question. Yes! Yes! Yes! Who wouldn't?
What a nightmare! Can you imagine the landscape being paved with such ugly dark bunkers? At least they could have built this underground. Would be even more safe and we wouldn't see it.
There are no zombies and to deal with 'unruly teenagers' this way? Sorry, this cries for psychological help.
I could never live with this much paranoia surrounding me as a constant reminder.
Wouldn't the apocalypse bring power outages with it? I'm just sayin'. Maybe that tomb would be better than most, cut off from the rest of the planet and not knowing what else is going on out there. Might be a blessing.
YES @Proboscidea - very Forbidden Planet!
And having just sat down to rewatch the first season of The Walking Dead, yes, please, to the safe house! They might really need to rethink that lack of moat, though...
Would I live there?
I'm packing now.
Hell yes! I wouldn't have to ambush an abandoned mall and live on top of the roof for days. Take that, zombies! Im watching the entire season of Roseanne!
This is amazing. I love it!
I think it's really neat that the house opens and closes itself based on the dawn and dusk, and there's a photo on the design site where they have a movie projected on the giant roll-up door.
Very cool.
I also meant to say in my last comment that it is definitely a little creepy too, but practical if you've got the money to burn....
Definitely, I hate when zombies eat my brain but this looks rather hard & cold, does the house come in pink?
My fear of zombies is offset by my hatred of graffiti. This place looks like a magnet.
I've lived in Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Manhattan, London, and now Austin (and never in a building with a doorman). I've never felt insecure enough to need something like that.
As a lover of zombie movies...I like it! I can just picture hiding in there so that the horde of zombies can't get me. I would have loved to see the inside of it.
Totally. Love. It. Only thing that would make it better... a couple of well positioned gun turrets. But I'm sure those could be added to the owners liking.
You can see more of the home here http://all-that-is-interesting.com/page/6
Looks like someone's been watching too much CNN and FoxNews...
Design opinions aside: The real secret to security is making connections in your community, not becoming a target for crime by hoarding comfort.
I've read about this house before. It can sustain itself off the grid. It's in Poland. Zombie apocalypse aside, I feel like with the things that have gone down in that country in the past 100 years, I would totally buy it or build one if I could. And with the amount of press this house has gotten they wouldn't have any trouble selling it, I'm sure.
Totally secure.... Yes, like the Titanic was unsinkable. Anything people can build can be broken into.
Reminds me of that Will Smith movie where he had to lock up his house at night not to be eaten by zombies.
where's the moat?
is there roof access for picking off zombies? I am in!
A panic house, huh? Well I guess if you're a warlord or in a witness program you might enjoy it.
Also, a moat patrolled by sharks with lasers strapped to their heads would be the clincher.
The future of America, the rich living in armored compounds and the rest of us beating on the gates??
A bit Soylent Green, isn't it?
However, instead of beating on the gates, I recommend simply surrounding the house with a moat of gasoline and roasting the inhabitants out.
What if the people trying to get in are coming to save your life because you had heart attack or something like that? I do like the idea of isolation from nuisances, which in my area is constant worry of predators eating my pets.
This is a luxe version of Osama bin Laden's place. Not for me.
It might "look" like a stark block of concrete... but looking closely...so many passages and rails, and hinged opening spots popping up all around the structure, how strong and safe could it actually be. Also considering wall to wall rolling doors outside. And did anyone noticed how flimsy the border of the roof looks.
This looks more like a wanna be minimalist house design than an actual high security structure.
Heck yes, I'd live in this! Even if there weren't a zombie apocalypse.
And ya'll are freakin' hilarious. I had the best giggles of my evening reading them. Concrete can be painted any color you want... Pink it is! Sharks with lasers on their heads and cats in tactical black AND we'll sleep like babies.
hells to the no. I want to enjoy the garden and the outdoors and when I'm inside, even at night, need the outdoor connection. And really, it looks like a car park. I could not happily drive up to my house after work, instead I'd think, "oh that's right, the world is ending"
It has potential. I've seen worse.
Reminds me of a house over on Wrightwood near Clark in Chicago. The outside looks terribly cold, but the inside is fairly warm and organic. Well, as organic as a concrete bunker can be.
I would live here. It would be very easy to personalize the outside with paint, stain, mosaics, landscaping- any number of things!
I wuld also want my family and supplies to be protected from unprepared irresponsible people who want others to take care of them from the cradle to the grave. People in DC and the surrounding areas (politicians, their assistants, lobbyists, attorneys, etc.) are buying these left and right: http://www.bomb-shelter.net/index.php
@Theoretical Shopaholic: God, how rad would it be if you beat them to it and made the whole place a mural?
That said, life itself comes with a certain degree of insecurity/danger, and...no. I'll take my chances living a normal life in a normal house with reasonable, sensible safety precautions.
wow, drawbridge ! now i want a drawbridge !