Hundreds of thousands of people are still homeless in the Philippines as a result of the devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan last November. <br /><br />Now, a Filipino-American businessman has come up with a solution which he hopes will help solve part of the problem in the Philippines and other disaster-hit areas. <br /><br />The Butterfly House is a low-cost, foldable, steel-framed single unit that takes less than 15 minutes to open up. <br /><br />It is 11.5 metres square and costs about 800 euros. A larger version includes a bathroom, and the top of the range house – the ‘Monarch’ – is 26 square metres and has a 2.6 metre high ceiling. <br /><br />“What makes the butterfly house unique is that it combines the ability to respond quickly to a disaster scenario but at the same time it is also a full steel frame structure which means it is a highly durable structure, it gives the people a sense of stability, a sense of safety when they are in it,” says Rogelio “Vonz” Santos Jr, the inventor of the Butterfly House. <br /><br />The wall panels are a choice of bamboo, cement board and marine plywood, which don’t conduct heat. There are also several windows to ensure cross-ventilation.<br /><br />Although designed for disaster response, the Butterfly House can become a permanent home once concrete is poured on the footprint.<br /><br />“The value of this butterfly house is that it is an instant quality house during a disaster. This is not something that you will receive, just because it is disaster time, you compromise the quality,” says the designer of the house, Royal Pineda. <br /><br />The goal is to mass-produce the butterfly houses for bulk orders. Five thousand units have reportedly already been ordered.
