COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Nov. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --Family Promise, national non-profit, and Clayton, one of the nation's off-site and on-site home builders, have announced their partnership called A Future Begins at Home. This partnership represents a robust and innovative initiative to create a prevention and stabilization housing program, which Family Promise affiliates can use nationwide when assisting local families in need.

Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8481356-clayton-homes-and-family-promise-announce-partnership-2019/

Both organizations believe that by addressing the underlying causes of homelessness and the affordable housing crisis together, communities take one step toward becoming a nation in which every family has a home, a livelihood and the chance to build a better future.

"Family Promise's holistic approach to the crisis of family homelessness includes three key areas of focus: prevention, shelter and stabilization,"said Claas Ehlers,CEO of Family Promise. "And with this partnership with Clayton, we are moving families from being homeless to homeowners and helping them to create sustainable independence."

The partnership supports Family Promise's approach to not just care for families actively experiencing homelessness, but to also support families facing housing instability. A Future Begins at Homeintegrates:

Another element of the partnership is that Clayton has periodically gifted off-site built homes to formerly homeless Family Promise families as a permanent housing solution. Since the partnership was first announced in 2018, the latest family to receive a home was in October 2019. After leaving a negative relationship, Sara Warren, a Colorado Springs single-mom of two young children struggled to find employment and shelter for her family. With the support of her local Family Promise affiliate, she was able to secure a fulfilling job and provide stability for her kids. She achieved the dream of homeownership when she was gifted a Clayton Built home located in Rocky Mountain Homeowners Co-Op, a resident-owned community, part of the national ROC USA network.

"ROC USA Network and its Colorado affiliate Thistle Communities were thrilled to be able to participate with Family Promise and Clayton in the effort to deliver the Warren family a new home," said Paul Bradley, president of ROC USA. "By joining the Rocky Mountain resident-owned community, Sara and her children are receiving the gift of sustainable homeownership in a supportive community."

"We are so passionate about the mission to end family homelessness, and it's an honor to join Family Promise in this important partnership and further Clayton's commitment to opening doors to a better life through attainable homeownership," said Susan Brown, director of philanthropy for Clayton. "We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to achieve homeownership and have a safe, secure home of their own."

With family homelessness showing no signs of lessening, A Future Begins at Home is critical to Family Promise's next phase of work. Together with Clayton, the organization can reach its goal to serve an additional 10,000 children by 2021, and work toward its aspiration to serve 1 million children by 2030 so that every family has a home, a livelihood and the chance to build a better future.

ABOUT CLAYTONFounded in 1956, Clayton is committed to opening doors to a better life and building happyness through homeownership. As a diverse home builder committed to quality and durability, Clayton offers traditional site-built homes and off-site built housing, including modular homes, manufactured homes, tiny homes, college dormitories, military barracks and apartments. In 2018, Clayton delivered 47,570 homes to families across America. Clayton is a Berkshire Hathaway company. For more information, visit claytonhomes.com.

ABOUT FAMILY PROMISEFamily Promise envisions a nation in which every family has a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future. What began as a local initiative in Summit, NJ, has become a national movement that involves 200,000 volunteers and served more than 125,000 family members in 2018. Family Promise will change the future for 1 million children by 2030. For more information about Family Promise, please visit FamilyPromise.org

ABOUT ROC USAROC USA, headquartered in Concord, NH, has a mission of preserving affordable communities by making resident ownership of manufactured home communities (or, "mobile home parks") viable and successful nationwide. ROC USA and its two subsidiaries, ROC USA Network and ROC USA Capital was launched May of 2008 and today serves 248 co-op communities and 17,000 homeowner/Members in 17 states. ROCUSA.org

Media ContactKelly Andrewskelly@hlstrategy.com

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Family Promise and Clayton Announce 'A Future Begins at Home' Partnership to Help Prevent and End Family Homelessness - The Grand Junction Daily...

Earlier this year, the mayors task force on homelessness released a report identifying costs to construct a 15-unit building for permanent supportive housing. Construction costs were estimated at $4.5 million, or $300,000 per unit.

The proposed modular homes on the other hand, are much more affordable. One tiny homes builder in Puslinch priced a fully-furnished 160 sq/ft home at around $26,000 per unit. At this price, the units would be affordable to someone receiving the monthly housing allowance provided by Ontario Works ($390 for one person).

The property staff were asked to investigate as a potential site for the harm reduction housing project.

Bryan McPherson, a homeowner near Beaumont, said he likes the concept of using tiny homes to address homelessness, but just not at this site. In other cities, like Vancouver or in Europe, these projects work well, but the approach is so different, he said.

They integrate containers into mixed-income neighbourhoods with amenities, so it provides them with more of a chance for social cohesion and rehabilitation.

The site on Beaumont has no access to medical services, he said. Theres no community kitchen for skills upgrading. There are no grocery stores nearby, or sidewalks for pedestrians. The bus comes every 30 minutes, and there are children in the area that actively use the green space as a park.

He said the focus of this housing project should be integration, not segregation, noting the neighbourhood around Beaumont is already made up of people living in rent-geared-to-income (at 780 York Road) and affordable housing (Habitat for Humanitys Cityview Village).

So youre putting people on the fringe with people on the fringe.

When asked about a better suited site, he suggested the recently completed Market Parkade.

We paid $22 million for a parking garage that is empty If they really want to address this situation now, thats how you do it.

Other nearby residents voiced opposition to the proposal, highlighting concerns of theft and a potential decrease in property values if the project were to go ahead at this site.

This is a peek inside a modular home built at a property in Puslinch. The harm reduction housing team toured the site earlier this fall. | Chris Seto/Torstar

Mayor Cam Guthrie said he plans on proposing some tweaks to the motion that identifies Beaumont as a site to be looked at when the issue comes to council on Monday. Most notably, this would include removing the specificity of naming Beaumont and expand the search to other city-owned properties.

I think my amendments are really needed to be able to broaden the discussion on sites across the city, but also to make sure that the right wraparound social services would be available for wherever this may be, he said.

While this change would only explore city-owned properties, Guthrie said it would also send up the signal to private partners who may want to take part in the project.

The other major change is around timing. The committee resolution requested staff report back by January. Guthries new motion would extend that to the early spring.

Despite the delay, Guthrie said this would be enough time to have the project up and running in time for next winter.

Adrienne Crowder, manager of the Guelph Wellington Drug Strategy, leads the harm reduction housing team. She said the mayors suggestion to seek out other viable properties was welcome the more options for potential sites, the better.

The site at 106 Beaumont was identified because it was the only empty parcel of land found in a recent city report on municipal assets. She said it was regrettable that neighbours had to learn about the city's potential investigation through media reports.

Balancing the needs of communities while finding ways to bring forward new social housing initiatives is part of a national conversation, she said.

The intact community around Beaumont Crescent has needs that would need to be incorporated into how something would move forward.

READ MORE:

On the move, sleeping rough in Guelph

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She said the project team is exploring all options to find a site for this project. Its even open to considering other models of harm reduction housing and not using retrofitted shipping containers.

The biggest challenge in Guelph is theres no available housing stock, she said. By turning shipping containers into modular homes, new housing stock is created quickly and at a relatively low cost.

Looking at lines on the municipal budget, the $600,000 requested to build 10 units is relatively small compared to other items, she said. By housing the citys most vulnerable, this may also have an impact on improving community safety.

If community safety is a big concern for our community, this is a way that tries to get to some of the root causes of what is creating the lack of safety.

The issue will be discussed at the city council meeting on Monday Nov. 25 and anyone is welcome to attend.

To register as a delegate for this meeting, contact the city clerks office no later that 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 22 by going online to guelph.ca/delegate, calling the clerks office at 519-837-5603, TTY at 519-826-9771, or sending an email to clerks@guelph.ca.

with files from Graeme McNaughton

See original here:

East Guelph residents push back against proposed harm reduction housing site - GuelphMercury.com

WITH RENTS AND HOUSE prices still climbing, Irelands housing crisis isnt going away anytime soon. To find some answers, the country might need some new perspectives.

We believe that there is a tendency to assume that everybodys ideal house is a three-bedroom semi (detached) with a front garden and back garden. Where actually preferences and demographics are shifting to the point where people want very different things, Stephen Bell, the chief executive of development financing firm Cullaun Capital, said.

Bell spoke to Fora as his firm released a report with recommendations made by panellists at a conference held by Cullaun and highlighted a need to change policy to create a variety of accommodation options.

We wanted to open up a dialogue where people talk about those different things, whether that be co-living, private rented sector, nursing homes and all sorts of different things that still constitutes a place that somebody might call home, he said.

Recommendations

Mike Flannery, chief executive of Bartra Capital, said that new categories of houses were needed on the market to accommodate a younger generation that lives on their own into their thirties and can fit into smaller spaces with better facilities.

Both Flannery andArthur OBrien, the managing director at C+W OBrien Architects, noted that new housing configurations are badly needed to meet changing demographic needs.

According to the panel, younger people dont want a long commute to work in urban centres, for both personal and environmental reasons, and also dont necessarily buy into the culture of ownership that once dominated Ireland.

Ireland is only at about 60% urbanisation, compared with a likely typical average of 80%elsewhere. We are going to have to change the whole range of typology. It is not possible with all the willin the world to give everyone a front garden, a back garden and three bedrooms, Flannery said.

According to property website Daft.ies latest rental figures, the average monthly rent has risen to 1,403 per month in the third quarter of this year. Figures from the Central Statistics Office indicate house prices have risen nationally by 85.2% and in Dublin by 95% since 2013.

To help alleviate demand, Ireland could copy New Zealand and introduced bonds to incentivise smaller housebuilders, according to Brian McEnery, a partner and head of healthcare at accountancy firm BDO Dublin and a former director at Nama.

Housing is very, very complex. Its behavioural, its economic, its developmental and its governmental. And it takes time. When the pipeline stopped during the crisis, as it did very abruptly, it is slow to rebuild, McEnery said.

In 2018, there were more than18,000 units built in Ireland and around 21,000 are estimated to be completed by the end of the year.

New Zealand has also rezoned land to have seven years of supply in the pipeline, which is similar to Irelands need, he said.

Derek Poppinga, the managing director at real estate investment and development firm Mm Capital, said the cost of inflation was one of the biggest challenges facing the sector and added that modular housing should be a serious consideration.

He said this cant be achieved at the moment because of a skills gap and added that more resources need to go toward training to attract more people and innovation into the industry.

Fidelma McManus, partner at law firm Beauchamps, said there was a need for affordable public rental houses and pointed to Viennas model, where the city keeps rent low by owning 220,000 homes, with a further 200,000 provided by limited-profit housing associations.

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Note: Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Daft.ie publisher Distilled Media Group.

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To solve the housing crisis, Ireland needs to think beyond the three-bedroom house - Fora.ie

After weeks of work, a team of elementary school students will put a wide-range of skills on display this weekend when they take their city shaping, affordable housing and interpersonal skills with hopes of advancing past the first round of the annual First Lego League competition.

The UCode Lego team, which has been meeting for two months at UCodes Ithaca Mall location and working on the project, includes four students from two local schools. Avital Sagan, Shaan Jena and Eafan Chen all go to Elizabeth Ann Clune Montessori School, while Robert Kong attends Northeast Elementary School. They are coached by David Sagan, a Cornell physicist and senior research associate. The competition is being held this weekend in Corning, with 17 teams competing from around the region. If the UCode team is able to place in the top 40 percent of participants, they move onto the next round of competitors. UCode is a learning program that teaches kids coding and computer programming, among other tech-centric skills.

The team has been working to construct a course and program a robot since the summer. The robot is controlled by a computer that the kids have pre-programmed, mapping out its movements around a city that they have constructed using Legos. The course includes several tasks that the robot, which is also made of Legos, should accomplish, including releasing a swingset and dropping an anvil, among others. The students have 90 seconds to complete all this, meaning they cant waste much time with mistakes or missed tasks.

It all depends how efficient we are, Jena said at a recent practice.

The number of tasks they are able to accomplish are worth certain amounts of points that are added together to compile a final score, along with points picked up from other competition criteria. The robotics aspect makes up one of the three total portions of the competition. The other two are called Core Values, which measures how the teammates interact with each other and the way they handle respecting the other teams while in competition with them, and Innovation Project.

The Innovation Project requires teams to identify a societal problem and then create a solution for it, quite separate from the robot competition. Ithacans ought to be familiar with the problem the team chose to tackle: affordable housing. With so much discussion about that, though, the team wanted to choose a new potential approach to the problem, which led them to settle on a new kind of construction, modular housing, instead of the more conventionally discussed options. The team prepared a PowerPoint presentation, with each member researching and making a different slide, to explain their solution.

Modular housing is made off-site in a factory, then transported to its site and placed on a permanent foundation. This is what separates it from mobile homes, as once they are set in place the intention is for them to stay there long-term. Modular housing is noted for its affordability, since their production is cheaper than on-site home construction, and also its energy-efficiency advantages that are usually included during its factory construction. The team said they felt that modular housing isnt as discussed as other affordable housing solutions, and so, to keep with their intention of thinking outside the box, they chose it as their solution.

We wanted to help the homeless, but we already have a homeless shelter here, Avital Sagan said. So we did research, and modular housing seems kind of underrated.

Confidence is important as well. So, does the team think they will be able to win? When asked, the answer is a resounding no. Then a small pause. As they test the robot, theyre right, sometimes it doesnt work; twice in a row its motions are not strong enough to set the chain of events in motion that will drop the anvil as it is supposed to do. On the third attempt, it works, drawing small cheers from Kong and Jena as they watch.

Its important to have positive expectations, Avital Sagan said.

The rest is here:

UCode youth team takes aim at robotics and affordable housing - ithaca.com

Could modular, pre-fabricated homes be the answer toNew Zealand's housing shortage?

Nautilus Modular'shome that can be builtin a week debutedthis week, sparking several hundred inquiries from potential buyers over 24 hours.

General manager Jason Watkins said the interest had been "extraordinary".

The company had been contacted by families looking for their first home,product designers and large-scale developers and was already having discussions with "a number of parties", he said.

READ MORE:*Home sweet home in under a week, says new modular house builder*Construction headwinds ahead despite falling interest rates*More than $1 billion of shops, restaurants and bars got the green light last year

Founder Peter Marshall hoped the products would get the support of Kiwis who werestruggling to find affordable, comfortable homes.

The prefabricated, standardised modules are not limited to residential dwellings but could also be used asschool rooms, hiking huts and commercial buildings.

SUPPLIED

A peek inside a Nautilus Modular home.

But it's not clear yet how much of a disruption - if any - they couldcreate in the stretched construction sector.

Principal economist at theNew Zealand Institute of Economic Research Eilya Torshizian said modular homes offered a valuable addition to the property market.

"It's providing choices and helping people to construct in a short timeframe. At a larger scale we still don't know what are the preferences of New Zealandhouseholds for modular building," he said.

Nautilus Modular

These pavilion-style homes can be installed in less than a week.

Kiwis might enjoy the option to customise the design, but larger-scale developments using modular homes would probably resultin them looking very similar.

Wider constraints in the sector - the lengthy building consent process, supply chain issues, the size of the market - might not be solved by the introduction of modular homes, he said.

But New Zealand could learn from other countries that had already adopted the modular construction method. They were widely used in Scandinavia, Torshizian said.

SUPPLIED

Peter Marshall, founder of Nautilus Modular, hopes to establish factories across the country to build his modular, prefabricated homes.

"I personally have some doubts about how materialthe role of modular systems in the construction process in New Zealand will be in comparison to other constraints."

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Take a tour of the house that can be built in a week - Stuff.co.nz

SARANAC LAKE Point Positive, an angel investor group based in Saranac Lake, meets with vetted entrepreneurs for pitch sessions twice a year. This October, seven member investors and Point Positive Coordinator Melinda Little met at Workshop in Lake Placid to hear from three entrepreneurs.

Decisions to invest or not are up to the member investors, and the time commitment is tailored to preference. Members can lead, mentor, advise or just monitor, and invest on an individual basis in fully vetted, promising ventures across multiple industry sectors.

The three companies that presented needed various areas of support.

Provider One is a start-up medical scribing business out of Syracuse seeking seed money to develop an app that will allow users to do scribing remotely. The woman-owned, woman-run company is looking to relocate to the North Country and proceed with a beta phase. Provider One became familiar with Point Positive through former entrepreneurs in whom Point Positive has invested previously.

MCM Development, developers from Malone who have already developed apartments in the Richardson building (with a waiting list), are looking to create an Opportunity Zone Fund to help accelerate their second project, the River Building, which is already 55% complete. At the pitch event investors learned about the opportunity to put capital gains in the project so they pay less capital gains or none, depending on the length of time their money is invested.

New Leaf founder and architect Tim McCarthy, who currently operates out of a warehouse in Bombay, New York, attended the pitch event seeking advice to further his business and manufacturing plans. He has produced customized versions of net-zero modular homes and has developed a design for a single-box version. He has a vision of building these homes now in large quantities in an expanded facility in Bombay. He is looking to establish next steps financially as he works to verify the cost to produce and source interest with pre-funding. Point Positive member investors have expressed and shown interest, and Point Positive is facilitating the process whereby interns from Clarksons Shipley Center will assist McCarthy with the financial analyses needed.

Investments committed to entrepreneurs through Point Positive are taxed a modest percentage to support Point Positives overall operations. In addition, potential investors are charged an annual membership fee that allows them to participate in Point Positives research and due diligence, and to attend the semi-annual pitch sessions. Over the past four years, Point Positive has vetted more than 40 ventures from a wide range of industries, committing over $3 million in capital, fueling new jobs and a stronger, diversified economy in the Adirondacks.

The next pitch events are scheduled for next year: Friday, July 31 and Monday, Oct. 5, 2020.

Original post:

Point Positive hears from entrepreneurs at fall pitch event | News, Sports, Jobs - The Adirondack Daily Enterprise

Mart Research new study, Global Manufactured Housing MarketReport cover definite aggressive standpoint including the piece of the overall industry & profiles of the key members working in the worldwide market.

The global Manufactured Housing market will reach Volume Million USD in 2019 and with a CAGR xx% between 2020-2026.

Manufactured Housing Market Segment as follows:

Manufactured Housing Market by Type(Market Size & Forecast, Major Company of Product Type etc.):

Mobile Homes

Modular Homes

Pre-cut Homes

Get a free sample report:https://martresearch.com/contact/request-sample/4/3286

Manufactured Housing Market by Application(Market Size & Forecast, Different Demand Market by Region, Main Consumer Profile etc.):

Residential

Commercial

Others

Manufactured Housing Key Companies(Sales Revenue, Price, Gross Margin, Main Products etc.):

Clayton Homes

Champion Home Builders

Schult Homes

Hammond

Manufactured Housing Enterprises, Inc.

Cavco

BonnaVilla

Crest Homes

Titan Homes

Sunshine Homes

River Birch

Pine Grove Homes

Nashua Builders

Moduline Homes

Marlette Homes

Karsten Homes

Kent Homes

Giles Industries

Fleetwood

Design Homes

Franklin Homes

Destiny Home Builders

Commodore Corporation

American Homestar Corporation

Colony Homes

Cappaert Manufactured Housing

Cardinal Homes

Chariot Eagle

Golden West Homes

HALLMARK-SOUTHWEST

Manufactured Housing By Region

Place the Order of Global Manufactured Housing Market Research Report:https://martresearch.com/paymentform/4/3286/Single_User

Some Points from Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 Industry Overview

1.1 Manufactured Housing Industry

1.1.1 Overview

1.1.2 Products of Major Companies

1.2 Market Segment

1.2.1 Industry Chain

1.2.2 Consumer Distribution

1.3 Price & Cost Overview

Chapter 2 Manufactured Housing Market by Type

2.1 By Type

2.1.1 Mobile Homes

2.1.2 Modular Homes

2.1.3 Pre-cut Homes

2.2 Market Size by Type

2.3 Market Forecast by Type

Chapter 3 Global Market Demand

3.1 Segment Overview

3.1.1 Residential

3.1.2 Commercial

3.1.3 Others

3.2 Market Size by Demand

3.3 Market Forecast by Demand

Chapter 4 Major Region Market

4.1 Global Market Overview

4.1.1 Market Size & Growth

4.1.2 Market Forecast

4.2 Major Region

4.2.1 Market Size & Growth

4.2.2 Market Forecast

Chapter 5 Major Companies List

5.1 Clayton Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.2 Champion Home Builders (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.3 Schult Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.4 Hammond (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.5 Manufactured Housing Enterprises, Inc. (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.6 Cavco (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.7 BonnaVilla (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.8 Crest Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.9 Titan Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.10 Sunshine Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.11 River Birch (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.12 Pine Grove Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.13 Nashua Builders (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.14 Moduline Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.15 Marlette Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.16 Karsten Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.17 Kent Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.18 Giles Industries (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.19 Fleetwood (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.20 Design Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.21 Franklin Homes (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.22 Destiny Home Builders (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.23 Commodore Corporation (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

5.24 American Homestar Corporation (Company Profile, Sales Data etc.)

View post:

Global Manufactured Housing Market Size, Share, Growth Rate, Revenue, Applications, Industry Demand & Forecast to 2026 - Eastlake Times

Temporary supportive housing on Terminal Avenue. (File photo)

Supreme Courts ruling a mean-spirited example of establishment versus the people, says letter writer

To the editor,

Re: Temporary supportive housing isnt subject to zoning, says Supreme Court, Nov. 12

After the provincial government overrode zoning bylaws with a community-destroying project, a resident went to the B.C. Supreme Court on behalf of herself and the neighbourhood. The court not only ruled against her, however. On the defendants request, the court ordered she pay the defendants costs. Thats an especially arrogant, mean-spirited expression of the establishment versus the people. Our provincial government, especially our MLA, should be deeply ashamed.

And by the way, the site isnt temporary. The modular homes are temporary the location will later house a permanent building for the same purpose.

Greg Klein, Nanaimo

RELATED: Terminal Ave supportive housing lawsuit goes before B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo

The views and opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of Black Press or the Nanaimo News Bulletin. If you have a different view, we encourage you to write to us or contribute to the discussion below.

Continue reading here:

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Neighbourhood around supportive housing disrespected - Nanaimo News Bulletin

Italian designerLuca Nichetto has created furnishings, including tables, sofas and benches, to be used in workspaces, residences and museum galleries.

Designed in collaboration with American brand Bernhardt Design, the Luca Collection marks Nichetto's US furniture debut. The designer wanted to create "universal" pieces that suit various environments and that can be arranged both collectively and individually.

"The brief was to create a modular seating system so I immediately gravitated towards designing something universal, meaning that it works as a collective but also as freestanding pieces," the designer said.

"These days public spaces are becoming more like home, and our homes are becoming more public, so why not do something that can cross over to both worlds?" Nichetto added.

"I wanted to do a project that emphasised the idea of 'connecting by communicating,' designing a classical typology as a modular seat with a little twist, allowing it to fit into any environment."

The 41 pieces in the collection all feature "gentle curves" and were designed for display and use in a range of interiors.

"The collection, with its uniformity and gentle curves, was conceived to anchor open spaces in diverse environments ranging from museum galleries and corporate lounges to modern living rooms," Nichetto continued.

Seating options in Luca include upholstered benches, loveseats, chaises, and sofas, which easily connect to one another either linearly or by their curved corners. All of the pieces come in modular and can be re-configure in a number of ways.

Upholstery on the pieces is also customisable and can include any of Bernhardt Textile's designs, leather, or leather alternatives. Legs are available in a polished aluminium, matte black or satin white.

To make the series adaptable to working environments, the designer has inset a flat, wood board into several of the pieces that can be used as a work surface or end table. Several outlet ports for charging devices or lamps are also included.

Freestanding rectangular and circular benches and poufs are designed to provide colourful accents to the larger furnishings, which feature the same curved forms in their design.

Tables in the collection were designed to meet the various needs of both commercial and domestic settings and come in a variety of shapes and heights. Designs include rounded accent tables, rectangular coffee tables and circular laptop stands.

Finishes for the tabletops include oak, walnut, solid laminate or Corian and cast aluminium or matte on the angled legs.

Luca Nichetto founded Nichetto Studio in 2006. His previous projects include a colourful lighting collection that uses Murano glass and the Canal Chair which pays homage to Venice through its boat like form and pattern.

Bernhardt Design was started in 1980 by the 130-year-old Bernhardt Furniture Company and represents many designers including Ross Lovegrove, No Duchaufour-Lawrance and Yves Behar. In 2015 French designer No Duchaufour-Lawrance created a collection of oval shaped lounges for the brand and to celebrate its 125th anniversary it commissioned several designers to reinterpret a piece of traditional American furniture.

Read the rest here:

Luca Nichetto designs modular furniture to work in public spaces and the home - Dezeen

The future of Kiwi homes may be found in those that look the same and can be put up fast.

Currently around 10 per cent of new homes are flatpack or pre-fabricated, meaning they're built off-site and transported, or put together like Lego blocks from a factory.

But that's expected to expand, with planned Government changes and new tech taking up residency around the country.

Wanaka company Nautilus Modular claims its factory homes can be made the fastest.

Bunnings believes its flatpack homes are among the cheapest.

And Fletcher Building reckons the factory it makes them in is the biggest.

Scott Fisher, Prefab NZ CEO, says its a growing industry.

It's an industry going from strength to strength and there's a lot of great innovation happening in the sector, he says.

Prefabricated homes have been around in New Zealand for a long time.

The 1920's railway housing scheme used pattern books and prefab as did much of the state housing in the 1930's and 50's.

Despite this just 10 per cent of new builds today are constructed off-site.

"In reality there's going to be the market but the issues related to financing of the product in the first instance are significant, planning for the product resource consenting the product, and then residual value, says John Tookey, AUT Engineering Professor.

Another problem, New Zealanders want big, traditional houses.

But a series of changes are tipped to make prefabricated homes a lot more attractive such as streamlining consent processes.

You can strip out a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of hurdles put in the way of getting rapid consents in place, says Mr Tookey.

Up to 90 per cent of homes already have at least some prefabricated parts - like roof or wall trusses, or whole bathroom modules for apartments thats expected to increase too.

Read the original here:

Watch: Flatpack homes touted as future of Kiwi housing industry - TVNZ