Dream House | Foam panel home redefines modern housing

“The human right to adequate housing is more than just four walls and a roof. It is the right of every woman, man, youth and child to gain and sustain a safe and secure home and community in which to live in peace and dignity,” says the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

This weekly column, over the many years, has revealed a diverse number of affordable housing solutions that have been quite eye-opening. From houses constructed literally from dirt, rocks, shipping containers, underground spaces, tree tops, and so on.

Let us examine a transformational house, that is not your traditional lumber or concrete block and steel dwelling space – a house made from polystyrene foam panels, sprayed with concrete over galvanised mesh.

Its features include: being insulated and generating a 10 to 15-degree cooler interior than block and steel buildings. It is also fire retardant (slows down the spread of fire), as well as soundproof, and strong.

Other characteristics constitute being resistant to catastrophic, category four hurricanes, and severe, magnitude five earthquakes.

This construction system, built on your own land, affords faster construction, is energy efficiency, and a much more affordable price in comparison to block and steel erection, 25 per cent less, in fact.

The 505 square-foot unit is a one-bedroom, with living, dining and kitchen, all together in one, with a price tag estimate of $7 million. It is also available in a studio form and larger compositions.

We have effusively experimented by adding architectural and landscaping aesthetic qualities to this basic living entity, to bring out more of its potential appeal. So, the existing picture of the house stands in stark contrast to the proposed picture in three-dimensional form.

A house offers for families not only shelter but also security and dignity of living.

A house that allows one to lead a more stable and peaceful life will allow a country to exist in calm and security.

Barry Rattray is a dream house designer and builder. Email feedback to barryrattray1@hotmail.com and lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.