Plugin Housing Turns Empty Shopping Mall Into Co-Living Space
Vivahouse is a prefabricated housing system designed by Dara Huang and Radjeep Gahir that allows flexible housing to be quickly made available in empty buildings within 24 hours.
With their easy-to-construct and ready-to-use housing units, Vivahouse wants to put empty commercial spaces to good use by providing housing in a crowded city and revitalise dwindling high streets. Vivahouse occupied Whiteleys Shopping Centre in Bayswater, London with pop-up housing units for a month showing how unused spaces could easily be adapted with their prefabricated system.
The housing system consists of small, identical housing units with a double bed, desk, storage and bespoke light fixtures. Vivahouse aims to provide a living experience that extends beyond the singular units with shared living areas and community spaces where habitants can socialise.
With flexible rental periods from one week to a year, Vivahouse offers a new housing alternative to urban nomads and young professionals and freelancers where they can socialise and network with their Vivahouse community. It also offers a new opportunity to quickly put empty urban space to use and maximise its potential by offering housing and building a local community.
