Prefab Living Space for Car-Dwellers

An affordable temporary home for people living out of their cars.

With the growing cost of living in dense cities, more and more people - from families who lost their homes to young professionals who are trying to save some money - are opting to live out of their cars. These people will often wash and relieve themselves in public restrooms including those in gas stations, churches, and malls. Others with a little more cash to spare may pay for a gym membership and use the facilities there. In the evenings, they drive around searching for a place to park and sleep. Even if they find a spot, they are always running the risk of getting ticketed or towed. Paid overnight parking is also an option but that can quickly add up to be nearly as costly as renting a small apartment. However, the majority of these paid lots remain vastly empty during the nighttime. So, how can we fill up these parking spaces for the lot owners and give car-dwellers a temporary space to return to each night? Here, I did some ideation on a prefabricated, portable, parking-space home that can still be used as parking spaces during the day and minimal tiny homes at night.

(This is not meant to be a solution for the chronically homeless. It is a low-budget option for working families or individuals who are temporarily living out of their vehicles.)

Ideal location: Roof of parking structures close to the attached building so solar panels can collect energy during the day and plumbing can be connected with minimal construction.

Cost:

Target Users:

Host: Lot-owners in dense cities

Lessee: Working car-dwellers in dense cities

Additional potential beneficiaries

Host: People with access space in their yard or driveway who are considering an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) but are finding it out of their budget.
Lessee: Tourist traveling by car (their own or rental), working car-dwellers

Host: Rural Land Owners with Excess Yard Space
Lessee: Long Distance Road-trippers

Features

PreFabricated & Portable

Space Saving Features

Building this model helped me realize some problems in the design. I decided to make the following revisions.

Wet-Head

Bathrooms in South Korea (and I’m sure in some other countries too) are a bit different from those here in the United States in that the shower is not isolated from the rest of the space. The shower head hangs from a wall with no barriers around it and the rest of the room is designed so the entire space can get wet and drain out. Although, these bathrooms are not much smaller by comparison, they have the potential to cut back on space if necessary. This is often seen on sailboats and yachts, on which this type of restroom is called a “wet-head.” This design is also advantageous in that the entire room including the toilet can be cleaned off as quickly and easily as hosing down a small patio.

The shower and toilet room can be combined into one wet-head to save space and make cleaning faster and more efficient. It will also lower the cost on installing the plumbing system and thus lower the cost of eventually rental.

Closet/storage

Most car-dwellers carry all their belongings in their cars wherever they go. This takes away comfortable space to sleep in and also weighs down the car using up more gas. With the wet-head opening up more space in the unit, a lockable storage space can be added to hang up clothes or store other belongings that are heavy or take up a lot of space.

SEctioned electric and plumbing

sdfdgfdf

EMbedded Sink with COUNTER TOP Lid

sfgdhfghdfd

Cabinets for storage

erthfyg

RolL Up WALLS

kljjkhjv

Two Lot Spaces?

1 motorcycle spot and 1 car spot duirng the day.

Additional Use Scenarios

Road Trippers Sleeping in their cars.