A cup of coffee was the very literal inspiration for Exo, a new emergency shelter from Austin, Texas–based startup Reaction Housing.
Led by founder and CEO Michael McDaniel, the company has been working on the design for a year and a half. Modeled after an inverted takeout coffee up—with angled sides that meet a stable floor and a rectangular entry carved out of the wall—each pod measures 10 feet tall by 8.5 feet wide, weighs 725 pounds, and can sleep up to four people. The shells are shipped stacked—much like coffee cups—with detached floors joined on the site.
McDaniel’s is one of a number of organizations that have delved into the construction of better emergency shelters following Hurricane Katrina, though his is among the simplest, Wired reports.
In McDaniel’s view, the Exo is the first emergency shelter to embrace technology and design as fundamental features. ‘A lot of what you see in disaster response is made from the absolute cheapest materials and they’re designed haphazardly,’ he says. ‘They’re not designed with the guests in mind.’
Read more about the project on Wired >>