Adaptahaus: Grand Designs and a prototype house

I've just been watching an old Grand Designs episode about Alan Dawson's prototype house, Adaptahaus. It was built in Cumbria in a few weeks, back in 2009.

Presumably named for the super-ecological Passivhaus concept from Germany, it is an ingenious way of building efficient houses in high volume. This is what the finished product looked like: it cost about half a million pounds although that included prototype work.

The idea was that the floors would be built on a grid basis to make things quicker and easier -- rather as in Japan rooms are measured by the number of tatami mats needed to cover the floors. Hence wooden spans were noticeable at set intervals in big rooms. Personally I found it a pleasing pattern.

Alan also applied for a patent, in May 2010 (odd if the episode was shown in 2009, as patent applications are made for new concepts, not those disclosed in TV programmes). An international patent application was published as Pre-fabricated building structure. Here's one of the drawings from it.

It was, however, withdrawn in 2012 as a European patent application and doesn't seem to have been granted elsewhere. This was presumably because three patent documents, two French and one Dutch (but in English), were found to have anticipated what Dawson's application was claiming protection for, as listed in this list, which also includes patent documents he was aware of. It shows how hard it is to look for prior art even though Dawson used a patent attorney. The French documents were more than 20 years old and hence could not be used to take legal action against Dawson, while the more recent Dutch application turned out to also be deemed withdrawn as they had not replied in time -- perhaps the list of documents in the European Patent Office correspondence offers hints. This was the sort of thing I was looking up for people all the time when I worked in the British Library.

Adaptahaus has its own website.

i-hut®: the seriously cool caravan

i-hut® is the trade mark of what the company calls a "seriously cool caravan". It is made of wood which to me gives a Scandinavian look, and is designed so that it can function as a second home. 

UK law allows certain designs to be classed as temporary so that they can be sited in, for example, your garden without the need to ask for planning permission. Although really a structure, the i-hut® has wheels and a towbar so it can go anywhere with planning permission for a caravan. The website gives lots of details including photographs. 

The brochure I have in my hand, most of which is reproduced on the website, states that

The i-hut name and logo is a registered Trade Mark and the i-hut design is registered at the Patents Office. If you try to pinch it, we'll set the dogs on you !

It is commendable that a company takes so much interest in its intellectual property. Maybe the dogs are a bit much. It is in fact the Patent Office, not the Patents Office, and I would have preferred to have seen the familiar ® logo attached to each use of the trade mark, which is indeed registered for the UK for caravans and other classes, in the brochure and the website. I also prefer to see specific design or patent numbers listed. 

I found two relevant UK registered designs for the distinctive look. Below is the drawing page sent in for UK Design 4021158.

Below is the drawing page sent in for UK Design 4021159. 

They were by Charteroak Estates, who also registered the trade mark. 

There are two models, with each available as a road legal or non road legal version. Full use is made of space above head level, in the apex of the roof, for storage or sleeping. The longer version is 36 feet long and the shorter 18 feet. The costs run from just under £30,000 to £45,000 plus optional extras. 

The need for space is of course paramount in cramped spaces such as caravans or small yachts. This is why the idea of a room that slides out when the caravan is at rest has become popular. An example, given below, is taken from US2006117673. 

Here is a list of some US patent specifications for slide-out provision in "recreational vehicles". 

The Hivehaus® modular house

The Hivehaus® is a modular housing concept where hexagonal cells are built by using identically-sized panels, with additional cells being added as required or wanted. Like a honeycomb, hence the hive. "Haus" is I suppose a reference to Passivhaus, the highly ecological housing standard.

Each cell is the same size, and has a skylight (and so, even if surrounded by other cells, has natural lighting). The walls can vary, so some can contain windows or doors. Each cell is 100 square feet in size. Each wall panel is put together out of four connecting equilateral triangles.

Barry Jackson, who lives near Wigan, England, thought it up. He applied for the UK trade mark on 2 October 2012 but I have not found a patent application in his name or that of his company, ipothosis ltd., who have an interesting website. The company was formed a week later, on 10 October 2012. Below is what it looks like, complete in this case with decking.

There are at least four UK registered designs, such as this one:

These are hard to find (I intend to post soon on the limits placed on the searcher by the official UK designs database, where I was forced to search just for Jackson as a proprietor, though I knew his first name). I don't regard designs as a very effective tool in his case as it is the concept rather than the exact look that is important.

I first came across Hivehaus® in George Clarke's Amazing spaces TV programme. I love architecture, and I love sustainable, low-cost solutions. Although the company website does not seem to mention costs or prices (and the product won't be launched until 2014), it is clearly meant to be an economical and flexible way to self-assemble a well-insulated home. The TV episode suggested £10,000 per cell. Flexible jacks mean that it can be built on an uneven surface. Presumably it saves money (and ensures each cell has natural lighting) not to build above a ground floor level, though that does limit the concept to areas where there is some space to expand (unless you surrender the ability to do so in the future). You are also limited to rooms of the same size and configuration (and colours, though perhaps other colours than black and white will be offered). I'd like one with an interior courtyard. That's one of the points -- you can to a degree design it to your own needs and wishes.

Is the idea so radically new ? There is a patent classification for hexagonal-shaped housing construction, indexing patent specifications such as the Pre-cast polygonal shelter by Lane Lythgoe of Heber, Utah as illustrated below. That's the point: Jackson's is more flexible in putting the cells together, and can easily be added to, not pre-cast.

At present there are 492 patent specifications listed for that class, many in German. More manageable are the 143 published in the USA or in the UK.

Below is a fun time-lapse video showing the building of a Hivehaus® cell.

Underwater hotels: a patent application

The BBC website has an article, Underwater hotel rooms: is down becoming the new up ? about a proposal for, indeed, an underwater hotel by Polish company Deep Ocean Technology.

In March 2012 a World patent application, An underwater-above water accomodation, especially for residential purposes by the company was published. Here is the main drawing.

The patent document describes how the rooms are built on legs, but the article gives extra details. The rooms would be at a depth of 10 metres. If they are too deep, the colours in the sea are lost (this saves on construction costs, too). To prevent scaring the fish with loud noises, the lavatories and air conditioning would be placed away from the windows.

There's a rather cool video showcasing the technology: