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July 22, 2014

The Future Of Low-Cost Housing – Turn Them Into Billboards?

An ingenious design could help homeless people find housing through the use of cleverly-designed billboards.

There are some incredible innovations that are helping the underprivileged, and architecture firm DesignDevelop has revealed a seriously ingenious idea to help the homeless in Slovakia.

Project Gregory is the new concept to provide low-cost housing from billboards, which turns the giant advertising boards into “livable” domains – with running water and electricity.

DesignDevelop is planning to put the homes close to developed areas so they can be connected to utility systems. But the organisation is considering using technology such as solar panels to keep the homes functioning off the grid.

The costs of the home are expected to be paid for by the income that the billboard receives for advertising.

That said, the developers estimate that that the billboard homes will cost R58 185 per year to maintain, with the billboards themselves only making R38 550 from advertising, so the residents would have to fit the rest of the bill.

Check out the full story on the City Press.