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$8,000 lockable building-in-a-box assembles in 11 minutes, sleeps 8
You could view it as a solid-floored uber-tent or an easily relocatable temporary building – but you could also call it a super-minimal tiny home for US$8,000. This remarkable building-in-a-box was designed for housing refugees, but it's now on sale.
CMAX Systems' building-in-a-box before it becomes a building (image widened using AI)
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CMAX Systems' portable building can be assembled by two people in 11 minutes without tools
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The CMAX System weighs just 330 lb (150 kg) – the same as a dirt bike. It can hence be towed behind a small car such as this Honda Prius
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The CMAX can do duty as a low-cost easily-repurposed building for almost any need: site office, laboratory, hospital ward, 8-cot-bedroom, cubby house, storage shed, trade show HQ, weddings, parties … anything
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An $8000 habitable building ... 11 minutes to build ... relocatable almost anywhere
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Equipped with bunks, the CMAX can can sleep eight comfortably, but the CMAX can also be perfect for two.
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The interior: big enough to sleep eight
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The stackable nature of these units makes them ideal for bulk deployment in emergency scenarios
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A rigid-floored, lockable tent sitting some 10 cm (3.9 inches) off the ground
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Adjustable feet can be accessed before the side folds down
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Nico Garcia Mayor, founder of the CMAX Foundation and designer of the CMAX system
CMAX System
CMAX Systems' building-in-a-box seems almost too good to be true. It offers a solid-floored, robust, habitable structure, 19 ft long by 7.4 ft wide (5.8 x 2.25 m) with a ceiling height of 7.2 ft (2.2 m), so only a handful of pro basketball players would brush their heads on the ceiling.
The CMAX System's most transformative super power though, is its ability to fold into a manageable 330-lb (150-kg) unit that can easily be transported on the back of a pickup or a trailer, then set down more or less anywhere, raised off the ground and leveled out with its adjustable legs and ready to go within about 10 minutes, using two people and no special tools. You could look at it as a super-robust, solid-floor, eight-person tent that won't blow away in a storm, or as an easily relocatable temporary building.
The rigid central structure of the unit enables the CMAX (at additional cost) to mount solar panels, air-conditioning and/or a water treatment unit. It also gives it a lockable door – although to be fair, security-wise it's only really locked until somebody wanders up with a knife and makes a new door of their own.
https://newatlas.com/outdoors/cmax-system-building-in-a-box/#gallery:4
The CMAX can do duty as a low-cost easily-repurposed building for almost any need: site office, laboratory, hospital ward, 8-cot-bedroom, cubby house, storage shed, trade show HQ, weddings, parties … anything
CMAX System
The unit is designed to take advantage of natural ventilation, with numerous retractable surfaces, yet it can be closed up for complete privacy – and it can be made airtight enough to operate as a mobile medical unit or laboratory.
The potential uses for CMAX's portable fold-up buildings are almost limitless – temporary storage, shelter, living or working quarters for everyone at an affordable price. Many a race team would have one or more, as would construction companies, mining companies, party, events and outdoor hire companies.
The CMAX System was originally designed as an emergency shelter for humanitarian aid, but the design appears so broadly useful and durable in a range of different climates that it appears an ideal solution for a lot of American problems – not the least of which is affordable emergency housing, given the wave of homelessness sweeping the country.
$8,000 lockable building-in-a-box assembles in 11 minutes, sleeps 8
