LAIR Cottages makes waves as it brings innovative, hand-crafted homes made from sustainably harvested wood
Leading company LAIR Cottages has unveiled its innovative 100% sustainable tropical timber, hand-crafted, and healthy-to-live-in small houses bent on redefining the industry.
Victor Barrett, CEO of LAIR Cottages, lamented that container homes, flat-pack, and ultra-modern minimalist steel and glass modular homes are generally unwelcoming, harsh, badly proportioned, and at worst, plain ugly.
“They are mass-produced and machine-made from high-tech materials that include plastics, vinyl, laminates, foam insulation, and other not-so-healthy or environmentally unfriendly stuff,” he adds.
Constructed using sustainably harvested timber
Barrett says this is where LAIR Cottage comes into the picture. The cottage, including all the floors, windows, doors, cabinets, and furnishings, is made using tropical timber and local Belize craftmanship. There are no plastics, laminates, or hidden toxic artificial materials.
All wood is from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified sustainable managed forests. FSC certification assures that products come from responsibly managed forests that provide social, environmental, and economic benefits.
LAIR Cottages are also “carbon negative,” explains Barrett, because the timber used to make one cottage has removed over 22 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
“The new trees planted to replace the ones we use absorb even more carbon as they grow,” he adds.
The unique design of the LAIR Cottage allows it to be shipped in standard shipping containers to anywhere on the planet.
Solves the biggest problem in the prefab and tiny home market
LAIR is ingeniously engineered to be fit into a standard 40-foot shipping container and still be fully complete, including cabinetry, furnishings, appliances, fixtures, and even electrical wiring and plumbing installed.
He adds that modified containers cannot be certified to ship ocean freight. So, anything that does not fit into a container needs special wrapping and protection while shipping on trucks over highways or as special and expensive “roll-on” cargo for ocean freight.
The first LAIR Cottage features over 580 square feet of living space, is 18 feet wide, 36 feet long, has 11-foot-high ceilings, and can still be shipped complete in a standard 40 ft shipping container anywhere in the world.
“That’s why we are being called the IKEA of the Tiny House market,” describes Barrett.
Solar ready option
For complete off-grid living, the LAIR Cottage can also be fitted with a flat roof that has space for 28 solar panels that can produce over 10kW of peak power.
Barrett said this is more than enough to power the cottage, even with the air conditioning, lighting, water heater, and washer/dryer all running simultaneously.
During the day, the excess energy is stored in a 36kWh battery system, which allows the cottage to run for a couple of days without any sun.
“We believe that solar power and the independence it offers is critical. That’s why we will be partnering with the most innovative solar companies, with some interesting announcements coming soon,” said Barrett.
Own the home, not the land
LAIR, the company’s name, means a secret, hidden, or private place – a hideaway, refuge, haven, or sanctuary.
“Because our cottage homes have a very light footprint and can be disassembled, packed back into a container, and 100% reused and relocated, we can be part of a 100% reversible development,” says Barrett.
In practice, Barrett says this means that the owner of a LAIR does not need to own the land upon which the cottage is placed.
It can be on leased property in the most beautiful, remote, and desired places on earth, whether it be tropical wonderlands, savannahs, mountain meadows, cliffsides, stunning beaches, or islands.
Since LAIR Cottages are a “light touch” and do not require extensive earthworks or foundations, the LAIR is seen as a perfect choice for environmentally sensitive and remote locations.
The company announced it is looking for partners to develop a global network of LAIR Resorts and Communities, with a focus on health & wellness, remote working in nature, and sustainability in all respects.
LAIR Cottages is a division of True Design, Ltd. of Mauritius. For ten years, True Design has provided quality architecture and urban planning worldwide, focusing on sustainability.
Individuals and homeowners can learn more by visiting LAIR Cottages’ website.
Media Contact
Company Name: LAIR Cottages
Contact Person: Victor Barrett
Email: Send Email
Phone: +4367762903781
Country: Belize
Website: https://laircottages.com
