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Thursday, 28 August 2014

13 AMAZING TRANSFORMING HOUSES


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Transforming Houses: 13 Homes Slide, Unfold, Spin & Expand
By Steph,
Web Urbanist, 25 August 2014.

Rooms rotate, roofs open to the sky, facades slide away to reveal glass walls and interiors literally turn inside out in these 13 transforming, highly customizable home designs. Some close up into impenetrable fortresses for maximum security while others unfold to blur the boundaries between indoors and out.

1. The Sliding House by DRMM

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The outer walls and roof of this house in Suffolk, England by DRMM slide back and forth on rails to reveal a glassed-in static structure, opening the house to the outside world to a highly customizable degree.

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Deceptively simple-looking when it’s all closed up, the house practically transforms into a greenhouse when the 50-ton mobile roof and wall enclosure is pulled back via electric motors charged by solar panels.

2. Bedrooms That Can Be Wheeled Outside

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Ever wish you could move your bed outside on a particularly nice day? The lucky residents of this house in Sazeau, France by Raum can go one step further.

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They can wheel their entire bedrooms out of the house and onto a wooden terrace to interact with the surrounding landscape. A large doorway makes it easy to move the lightweight wooden cubes outside.

3. Push a Button, Change Your House Layout

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Three wooden boxes within a fixed volume rotate and extend outward with the push of a button at the Sharifi-Ha house in Tehran by nextoffice.

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The volumes contain a guest room, home office and dining room that can either be aligned flush against the static parts of the home or rotated so the glassed-in ends face a variety of angles.

4. M-Velope Transformer House

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A 230-square-foot mobile living space expands in surprising ways with slatted wood panels that bend and angle in surprising ways.

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Extending out from a steel frame, the walls fold to reveal interior benches, sleeping platforms, work surfaces and small shaded rooms.

5. Shed-to-Beach-House

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What looks like no more than a wooden shed at first glance is actually a mobile beach house - the ‘hut on a sled’ by Crosson Clarke Carnachan - that can be towed off the sand before severe storms.

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Located on the northern coast of New Zealand, it features a large wooden shutter facade that opens to reveal a two-story glazed wall facing the sea. The glass is operable, as well, opening the entire interior up to the ocean breezes.

6. Deserted House Upcycled into Theatre

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An abandoned conventional A-frame home, which had turned into an eyesore in York, Alabama, is now a convertible stage and seating for over 100 people, thanks to a creative conversion by Matthew Mazzotta.

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‘Open House’ took all the pieces of the original home and used them to create a theatre space that opens like a child’s toy.

7. Rotating D*Haus Turns Inside Out for Summer

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Taking cues from a mathematical problem, the D*Haus can fold itself into eight different configurations to alter the amount of heat and sunlight that enters the interior, and change the views.


Thick, insulating walls protect the occupants from cold in the winter and then change place with glazed panels during the summer to increase the exposed surface area.

8. Solar SLIDES House

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A perforated facade alters the amount of sunlight that enters an interior in the SLIDES house, the American University in Cairo’s entry for 2012′s European Solar Decathlon.

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Aiming to maximize solar power efficiency and sustainability, the house features a double-layered facade of interlocking perforated pieces, the outer panels sliding to adjust the sunlight exposure. Each side of the house can slide out in a matchbox-like motion.

9. Expandable Mobile Mini House

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If a tent or camper just isn’t roomy or modern enough for you while on the road, perhaps the Mobile Mini House by Stephanie Bellanger is more up your alley.

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Walls and floors run on rails upon a semi-circular platform, pressing flat against each other when not in use or opening to expand various rooms. It can be opened to the air, or closed up with a sliding screen when it’s raining.

10. Convertible Do-It-Yourself Japanese Camper

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A metallic truck that doesn’t stand out much from any other vehicle on the road becomes a two-story residence at the push of a button.


A crew of friends used a hydraulic lift system to create a mobile home with a zen loft space that offers plenty of room to relax while still being compact enough for travel on the highways.

11. The Safe House by KWK Promes

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If there’s ever a serious emergency - like, say, the fabled zombie apocalypse - this house would be a pretty comforting place to be. The Safe House by KWK Promes has movable walls and only one entrance when all closed up, located on the second floor and accessible only via drawbridge.

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The clients wanted a “feeling of maximum security,” and they certainly can get that, but the house is still highly comfortable and liveable when its guard is down.

12. Shape-Shifting Shadowboxx by Olson Kundig Architects

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The shape-shifting Shadowboxx House by Olson Kundig Architects features an operable roof that opens to expose the entire interior to the elements.


The slatted wood facade, along with the inner glazed walls, can be opened as well to blur the boundaries between outdoors and in.

13. Dumpster Transforms into a Home

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A dumpster sounds like the worst possible place you could end up living, yet one designer imagined how it could actually offer safe and comfortable lodging with all the comforts you’d need in a tiny home.

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Gregory Kloehn transformed an ordinary dumpster into a living space complete with a working kitchen and toilet, storage and sleeping areas, and even modular components on the exterior that offer a rooftop deck, outdoor shower, flower bed, grill and bar.

[Source: Web Urbanist. Edited. Some links added.]


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