Unique 'bubble home' popping up in Esquimalt

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CTV Vancouver Island

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A one-of-a-kind home has popped up in Esquimalt, largely created out of thin air.

The home's main structure, in fact, went up in just three hours. It's a giant white balloon that serves as a mould for the finished home.

Once inflated, the bubble is sprayed with a polyurethane sealant, reinforced with rebar, and then sprayed with concrete and covered with a stucco exterior.

The balloon is then removed to be reused for another project.

The developers, Nouvel Housing, say it's an affordable and energy-efficient alternative to traditional building materials.

"The options are pretty vast," says Nouvel vice-president Brittany Olney. "This allows us to build in half the time, which cuts down on cost."

A 3,800-square-foot duplex home like this one in Esquimalt will set customers back about $675,000 for both units, according to the company.

Aside from shortened construction times, the bubble home design also saves buyers in the long run as there are no shingles, gutters or additional roofing materials required.

"We’ve been building the same way for so long," Olney says. "To get a better result in the same prices, we have to do something different."

Metchosin resident Kim White is next on Nouvel's list for a bubble home. She tells CTV News she was sold on the idea due to the price and the energy savings implied in the developer's design.

"I really think it's the way the future is going to go," White says. "We are going to quit building wood houses."

RELATED IMAGES 1 / 2 An artist's rendering of the finished home, now under construction in Esquimalt. (Nouvel Housing) The Esquimalt home's balloon being inflated June 26, 2019. (CTV Vancouver Island)