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Space can come at a premium in Japanese cities. Depending on the area, apartments can get incredibly expensive. One company thinks it has a solution: Aluminum boxes.


Dubbed "T2", the interior of this housing unit measures seven feet by 12 feet across. The ceiling is over seven and a half feet high. The dwellings look cozy, and probably are not exactly ideal for claustrophobes.


The T2 units, especially that above cluster, do seem like today's answer to the Metabolist Movement of the Post War, which gave the world capsule hotels.

Your Guide to Japanese Capsule Hotels Maybe you are going to Japan. Maybe you're not, but one day, you hope to. There is an array of… Read more

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"T2" is short for "Transfer Technology Unit". Each T2 is built in a factory and then delivered to the residence site via flatbed. T2 is the brainchild of the SUS Corporation, an aluminum parts manufacturer.

Inside, there are modern conveniences: A unit comes with a bed, a toilet, a shower, a sink, a kitchenette (with a fridge, a microwave, and a portable stove, etc.), a TV, and air conditioning as standard. And yes, most of the interior fixtures are made of, you guessed it, aluminum.


As NHK recently pointed out, aluminum easily conducts heat. To combat that and for added insulation, SUS puts urethane foam between the aluminum sheets. The walls are insulated to keep the inside of the T2 unit quiet. And the a/c supposedly also helps keep things cool.



SUS is currently taking orders for its T2 living units. Each is priced at the equivalent of US$29,000. That is incredibly cheap for a home, but very expensive for a large aluminum box.


SUS [Official Site via NHK]