A 96-unit apartment complex built with Lego-style, snap-together blocks has opened its doors to residents in Palm Springs, Florida.
It was put up by a small crew of unskilled workers armed only with mallets and glue guns. Renco USA is the company behind the Lego-style blocks.
Executive Patrick Murphy tells this month’s 21CC Podcast how the firm did it, and why it’s not like Katerra.
[The story starts at 9 minutes, 51 seconds – ed.]
The blocks are made from recycled plastic and glass fibre. Glued together, they form a monolithic structure that is impervious to water, mould and termites, and can withstand 250mph winds.
The material is lighter and stronger than concrete, and making the blocks produces a tiny fraction of the emissions from concrete.
Renco USA spent 10 years in testing, research and development.
In October, it raised $18m in its first funding round to build a US factory with a view to making the system available across the country.
Catch up with previous episodes of the 21CC podcast.
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These things look like prisons and the exterior finish is horrible. Are we just trying to create housing for those that don’t have it, ok but this will never take the place of every day living for the majority of Americans.