Are these tube homes the answer to Hong Kong’s housing problem?

Imagine life inside a concrete water pipe, complete with all the mod-cons of a cozy home and plenty of natural light to boot. This type of micro home is exactly what Hong Kong-based architectural firm James Law Cybertecture has invented.

The tube homes are 16 feet (5 meters) long, and have a 7-foot (2.1-meter) diameter on the inside. Covering between 100 and 120 square feet (9 to 11 square meters) of floorspace, they each feature a fold-out bed, a fridge and microwave, and a bathroom. Access to the structures is controlled by smartphones.

The OPod was unveiled in Hong Kong last month at the city’s DesignInspire exhibition.

The OPod on display.

“I came up with the idea behind the OPod when I was on a construction site,” says James Law, chairman and CEO of the firm. “I walked into one of them (a concrete water pipe), and I was surprised by how big they were.”

Law decided to create starter homes inside these structures.

“I thought: wouldn’t it be a really great idea to utilize these leftover concrete water tubes to create vast, micro architecture – that could be at very low cost, and also quite interesting for young people in Hong Kong?”

It took the firm one month to develop the idea.

“We need to live small in the city, because we can’t afford the space – however, it doesn’t mean that we have to live in a squalid, or inhuman environment like subdivided flats or cage homes.”

Low-cost housing

Law says the challenges presented by Hong Kong’s unaffordable housing market was one of the factors that drove him to design the OPod.

In Hong Kong, the average property price per square foot costs $1,592, as of December 2017. With space at a premium, “nano flats” are not uncommon in the city. In 2017, newly built apartments of 180 square feet (17 square meters) went on sale for between $203,400 and $211,100.

Then there are Hong Kong’s notorious cage homes: a small apartment sectioned into multiple tiny dwellings made of wooden planks and wire mesh.

A rendering of OPods stacked together in Hong Kong.

The OPods cost $15,350 each to build, and Law says he was able to keep costs low thanks to the water pipes themselves being inexpensive. The transportable nature of these structures, and the fact the homes inside them are easy to assemble, were a bonus. “Each water pipe can be put on the back of a long truck by crane, and moved from place to place. They’re quite heavy – each pipe is about 20 tonnes – but it’s manageable.”

The pipes can be installed in small spaces between existing buildings, under flyovers and on rooftops in Hong Kong.

“We basically did it as a very bare shell,” he adds. “Even inside the tube, we’re using a concrete finish. It’s very, very low-cost.”

The homes were designed for two people, although might be more comfortable for one.

“Small is not really the issue,” says Law. “A well-designed small space can still be quite a hospitable, very warm, very cozy home.”

Each OPod would be rented out at a cost of $383 per month – primarily to the city’s youth, as a temporarily housing solution.

“Younger people need some kind of period in their lives in the city where they’ll be able to afford to live (while) building up their resources,” he explains. “They can rent it for six months, one year … and during that time they can build up their resources and get educated, and get training.”

Hong Kong is known for its high living costs and small living spaces. According to Mercer's 22nd annual Cost of Living Survey, Hong Kong is now the world's most expensive city for expats. The global consulting firm's findings, released this week, cover 209 cities across five continents and compare factors such as housing costs.

Andy Knight and Michelle Tenant are new homeowners in Hong Kong. They recently purchased a 309-sqft apartment in the Asian metropolis.

The pair purchased a small one bedroom apartment in one of the city's most expensive districts, Central.

"When Michelle and I decided to buy a place, we were looking for a convenient location," Knight explains.

They hoped to convert the "cramped" space into a transforming apartment -- one that could fit multiple amenities.

They commissioned Hong Kong-based LAAB architects to convert the tiny living space into a tech-savvy new home. "We told them what we wanted, and they walked away in shock because they didn't think it was possible. But they made it work, and we stepped back and watched the magic happen," says Knight.

"In expensive cities like Hong Kong, every square foot is that much more costly," says Knight. "So we thought, we're better off investing in an efficient transforming refurbishment that could make a small space more liveable."

The new design now includes a big kitchen, home cinema, a bathroom fitted with a bathtub, a guest room and also has pet-friendly amenities for the couple's three cats.

The convertible living room space fits eight people comfortably. The couch transforms into a two-tiered seating area, turning the living room into a home cinema.

"There's no one thing that stands on its own, it all works together," Tennant says. "I can't believe they turned a crummy space into somewhere that is this comfortable. It's not big, but it feels big."

The space features a large kitchen, which was one of the most important inclusions in the renovated space for Michelle Tennant. "I cook often, so I wanted to have the space for a full-size oven."

The architects created furnishings in the house that served multiple purposes. "The idea behind the design is that we divided the space by introducing elements with different functions," says Otto Ng, the design director at LAAB Architects. Here, a wall division doubles as a personal vanity.

"Space is a luxury for Hong Kong people, so we thought, let's maximize it," explains Ng.

Several functions in the home, like lighting and locks, can be controlled from phone apps.

"We can decide whether we want to have warm natural light to wake up to or disco lights when we have friends over," says Knight.

Inside the 309-sqft transformer home

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Better future

Law has bigger plans than simply helping young people find an affordable space to live. He wants the tube homes to be a kind of social housing project.

He envisions a system where means-tested tennants are selected. Then two-thirds of the rent is invested for the young tenants, and given back to them with interest after their tenure.

The architect says he’s already had interest locally and around the world from NGOs and youth hostels, as well as local governments and charities in South Africa considering the OPod as a redevelopment vehicle for shanty towns.

Another rendering showing a group of OPods.

While the project doesn’t necessarily have to cater to the youth exclusively, ultimately Law hopes this will provide assistance to them.

“For me personally, as the creator of this project, my passion is somehow to help these young people, to nurture them, to protect them, to give them a decent step up in life.”