Adapt-1

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Last summer HabiTek assembled components for its newest resilient home, which has been designed to resist the extraordinary forces present near the southern end of the Baja Peninsula, Mexico. The Adapt-1 is a first for HabiTek: it is all galvanized STEEL AND CONCRETE construction. This was a customer requirement primarily due to the threat of hurricanes and termites, but also because of the impact a tropical marine environment has on wood construction.

All components have been delivered to the owner’s site and assembly is now underway. A home constructed of non-combustible materials, such as the Adapt-1, would also make sense in areas prone to wildfires such as those that tragically unfolded last year in California.

The above rendering is an approximation of how the Adapt-1 will appear when completed. The beige colored galvanized steel components were powder coated at a plant in North Idaho. The red-brown exterior walls represent a stucco finish to be applied in the field on sandwich panels composed of fiber-cement board adhered to a continuous layer of rigid insulation. The exterior wall panels were included in the container shipment from Deer Park, WA to the site.

The Adapt-1 is being assembled in a remote subdivision north of San Josẻ del Cabo, overlooking the Sea of Cortez (aka Gulf of California). The site is well off-the-grid, so the owner will rely on roof mounted solar PV panels and a back-up generator for electricity.

The floor plan for the Adapt-1, illustrated above, encompasses 848 gross square feet. This area does not include the three decks, an option requested by the owner. In this instance, the steel studs and track used for exterior and interior framing was sourced in Spokane, and delivered to Mexico, along with HabiTek’s components, in the owner’s 20 foot container. Construction of the walls will take place on site in a largely conventional manner. All other elements, such as doors, windows, cabinetry, plumbing fixtures and electrical components, will be sourced by the owner locally in Mexico.

The orientation of this Adapt-1 on the owner’s site is, or course, determined by several elements, such as site access, contours and views. The plan shown can be mirrored in both directions, or two identical plans can be combined to form a duplex unit.