WikiHouse is a collaborative R&D project to bring about a digital revolution in the way we make homes. The first WikiHouse building technology is ‘Wren’ – the first building system designed for open digital manufacturing: a kind of digital ‘Lego’. It can be shared – and written as code. This allows us to eliminate the complexity behind design, by designing within pre-set rules. Parametric design uses open data to instantly calculate cost, time, performance and impact and to produce manufacturing information. The houses are ultimately sustainable, low cost and fulfil the latest design preferences.
WikiHouse is a platform that unites makers, dreamers, manufacturers, and citizens to build houses collaboratively, leveraging the latest tech developments. A unique feature is that WikiHouse components can be digitally manufactured, not just in large centralised prefabrication factories, but by a distributed network of small businesses and makerspaces, using widely available tools & materials. WikiHouse does not want to build houses alone, they operate like an ecosystem coordinator and launch a concept of a ‘full stack’ building system, bringing together low-energy solutions for every component of the home, from structural systems to services & sensors. This allows many companies to combine their innovations together to create the world’s best, most sustainable, low cost building systems, based on interoperable standards and design principles. The main purpose of the WikiHouse project is to build digital tools to resolve the issues around “mass housing” and to unlock a new sustainable and resilient housing industry: the ‘micro’ or ‘citizen’ sectors - increasingly recognized by governments as the next mass-housebuilding industry and an engine for sustainable, affordable, democratic development.
Case study date: October 2016
