What you’re looking at is the prefabricated modular block of apartments that has been opened in London and provides accommodation to the homeless. It has been named as the Y:Cube. The concept was announced earlier this week and owing to its construction method, the rent can be kept on the low side. Residents will only have to pay the 65% of the local market rate.
It was developed for the international YMCS youth charity that along with its other activities, offers accommodation for young homeless people living in UK. It was designed by architecture firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and is conceived as ‘move-on accommodation’ for folks leaving homeless hostels.
It has been based in the Mitcham area of South West London while the first deployment of the concept features 36 one-bed studios with each one sporting an area of 26 sq. meters. The units have been created from ‘high quality, eco-efficient materials’ such as renewable timber, and are claimed to be insulated to such levels that it requires very little or no heating during the winter.
The accommodation’s affordability has been made possible thanks to the low-cost construction method. The units are prefabricated in a factory where the utilities are already incorporated into them. This means that these modules can be simply transported to the site and stacked together to form the structure where water, electricity and heating can be connected easily.
The plug and play approach renders the Y:Cube concept being quite suitable for the brownfield sites. They can be used, as an interim solution for sites that are not being used as of now, however, will be made use of in future. The Y:Cube in Mitcham began operation on 8th September and shall be used for the housing of those who have been referred by the London Borough of Merton or those who were previously residents of the YMCLA London South West. The YMCA stated that it has plans of starting other Y:Cube developments in London and across UK.