TWOA Transportable House
The Project
This transportable house has been built by students of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa through a vocational program that is overseen and conducted by a licensed builder. In this instance, the house was built at a building yard on the institution’s premises and then transported in one go on the back of a truck to its final destination.
One enters the house through a sliding glass door into a large room which is an open plan kitchen/dining/living area. This room faces north and gets all day sun. There are two bedrooms on the south facing side of the house with a bathroom in between them.
This is a timber framed home which uses materials and building methods that are common practice in the New Zealand building code (in this way the students are getting practical experience with the work that is likely to be most common to them after they graduate). That said, some of the materials are of a higher quality than those that you would find in most homes around the country.
The main features of the house include double glazed aluminium framed windows, cedar weatherboards with copper details, colour-steel corrugated iron roofing, and stainless steel fixings. The home is fully insulated and is built to withstand heavy winds and be positioned anywhere, including on the coast. This is thanks to the stainless steel fixings and the strong plywood that is found throughout the house. All the wiring and plumbing is complete (and connecting it to the town supply is said to be easy).
Other than this, the kitchen is set up, but the standard home does not come equipped with appliances, floor finishes or a final interior paint finish.
The price noted above does not include delivery to site which in this case was a little over $10,000.
Low Cost
There are two main factors that keep the cost of this transportable home low: size and reduced labour costs. Though the materials used are of a good quality and can be expensive in large quantities, the small size of the home kept material costs down.
The home is built by students as part of their training, so no labour costs from outside contractors are involved. Further, the homes are not being made to turn a profit, so there is no markup to drive the price up.
About Te Wananga o Aotearoa’s Carpentry Courses
‘Transformation through education’ is a philosophy which Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is putting into practice through its hands-on vocational programmes. The carpentry programmes they offer aim to assist students to gain valuable building experience that can help them in gaining future employment. They also aim to assist “first home buyers or people in need” (Gisborne Herald) by providing them with an affordable home (and this is who most of the homes are sold to).
The students who built this house were part of a 36-week training program worth 120 credits. There were about 15 students who took part in the class. The target student age for this program is between 17-40 years. Students begin by learning about the tools and safety measures to take while using them, practice with smaller projects, and then work up to building a transportable home.
Plans for the future include modifications to the current program, where the homes being built are more sustainable, reducing the carbon footprint wherever possible. Introducing an array of self-sustaining options into their builds, and teaching students how to incorporate these ideas, will one day play an important role in bolstering Te Wānanga’s philosophy.
Contact
You can contact Te Wānanga o Aotearoa through their website to enquire about their courses or their transportable houses at twoa.ac.nz
