Cardboard boxes aren’t exactly associated with luxury – quite the opposite, in fact. But one innovative group of designers from the Netherlands are putting a brand new spin on the phrase ‘living in a cardboard box’, with a range of kit houses made entirely from cardboard.
The ‘Wikkelhouse’ is a cardboard home that can be fully assembled in just a day. Built using high-strength cardboard, which is bonded together using sustainable and eco-friendly glue, these amazing shelters are believed to last for up to 100 years, and could make owning a home a reality – for those who don’t mind living under cardboard shelter, anyway.
Designed by The Fiction Factory, the Wikkelhouse has been designed to be modular. Each house is made up of sections, which can be slotted together in a multitude of different configurations and arrangements. This gives Wikkelhouse residents the ability to customise their living space completely, as well as adding extensions to their homes with ease. The basic plywood cabin comes with a prefabricated kitchenette and bathroom module, which means it’s ready to live in from day one.
The structures have been a hit with buyers across Europe so far – and the fact that they don’t need a concrete foundation mean they can be placed almost anywhere. A hostel chain in the Netherlands has snapped up a selection of the cardboard homes for a new site overlooking a Dutch national park. Amber Lakes, a nature reserve close to London, also boasts a Wikkelhouse. The cabins can also work well in urban settings, with one currently serving as a classroom in Amsterdam, and another being used as a ‘creative hub’ in the trendy Hoxton area of London.
Despite being made from readily available materials and appearing to be relatively straight-forward to construct, The Fiction Factory has restricted its output to just twenty Wikkelhouses per year, purely to keep standards at a very high level. The lucky individuals that manage to get their hands on a Wikkelhouse can theoretically enjoy the building for as many as 100 years.
Perhaps the biggest selling point of the Wikkelhouse is that it’s all sustainably built. For those who are looking to reduce their own carbon footprint and have less of an impact on the world around them, the Wikkelhouse is the perfect residence. Its relatively lightweight construction also means it can be transported from place to place easily, making it the ideal space for offices, pop-up retail locations, classrooms, festivals and even disaster relief.
