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FutureHAUS

Virginia Tech · Design + Assemble

FutureHAUS

FutureHAUS is a student-led design-build initiative exploring innovative, adaptable, and sustainable housing for real-world communities. Through research, design, and industrialized offsite construction, FutureHAUS advances scalable solutions to housing challenges while providing hands-on learning opportunities for Virginia Tech students.

Our next chapter: Charlotte
Virginia Tech Team Intro · Housing Innovation Challenge Watch on YouTube ↗
Our next chapter / Charlotte 2027

One of 10 teams
A new way to build

Housing Innovation Challenge

FutureHAUS has been selected as one of ten finalist teams to compete in the inaugural Housing Innovation Challenge in Charlotte, North Carolina.

University teams and industry partners gathered at the 2026 Housing Innovation Challenge announcement
The people building what’s next. Housing Innovation Challenge · May 2026
Updated FutureHAUS rendering showing a timber-framed porch, sage exterior panels, and landscaped front yard
FutureHAUS · Charlotte, North Carolina · Design in development
From the classroom to the community

Research becomes a real home

Students and industry partners are developing a home for Charlotte that puts our cartridge system and assembly strategies to the test. The completed home will be part of the Challenge’s public showcase in October 2027. This home is being developed for Habitat for Humanity.

Explore the Challenge
The parts / Cartridge catalog

Small parts
Big possibilities

A home made from a coordinated family of components. Build the complex parts in a controlled setting. Bring them together on site.

Cartridge design studies showing kitchen and island, bathroom panels and fixtures, laundry and mechanical, media wall, and storage modules Component studies / Design in development
01 Bathroom cartridge Fixtures, finishes, and services in a coordinated module.
Developed as a prefabricated assembly, the bathroom cartridge brings the most service-intensive room into the factory. Our next full-scale prototype will be exhibited at IBS in February 2027.
02 Kitchen cartridge Cooking, storage, and services as a kit of parts.
A coordinated kitchen wall and island bring cabinetry, appliances, countertops, and services together in a prefabricated system. Configure the components to support everyday use and future change.
03 Laundry + mechanical Consolidate the home’s working systems.
Coordinating laundry and mechanical services in a repeatable assembly makes connections easier to plan, access, and maintain as the home evolves.
04 Living + storage Adaptable elements for everyday life.
Media walls and storage components extend the kit of parts into living spaces, allowing different configurations around a shared system.
Design philosophy

Design the connections
Change the way we build

Four principles guide our research, prototypes, and Charlotte home.

01 / Connect

Plug and play

Coordinate standardized interfaces so cartridges, services, and the shell can come together as one system.

02 / Assemble

48-hour build

Target a 48-hour on-site home assembly through advance fabrication, coordinated logistics, and tested connections.

03 / Simplify

Toolless jobsite

With fewer connections, tools are used only to assemble a precise kit of parts, not to construct the project onsite.

04 / Evolve

Design for disassembly

The home can grow with you. Accessible components and reversible connections allow it to be expanded, repaired, reconfigured, and reused over time.

The journey / 2026–2027

From Idea To Assembly

  1. May 2026

    Selected As A Finalist

    FutureHAUS announced as one of ten teams in the inaugural Housing Innovation Challenge.

  2. Summer 2026

    Feasibility Study

    Evaluate the site, budget, building systems, and delivery strategy.

  3. Fall 2026 Current phase

    Design + Prototype Development

    Advance the home design and test cartridge and shell connections through physical prototypes.

  4. January 2027

    Permit Set Submitted

    Submit the coordinated home and site documentation for review.

  5. February 2027

    International Builders’ Show Exhibit

    Exhibit the full-scale bathroom cartridge in Las Vegas.

  6. Spring 2027

    Cartridge + Shell Fabrication

    Manufacture and coordinate the components for the Charlotte home.

  7. Summer 2027

    Site Preparation + Home Assembly

    Prepare the Charlotte site and bring the home’s systems together.

  8. October 2027

    Housing Innovation Summit + Challenge Showcase

    Share the completed home, research, and lessons with the public and industry.

Our team / Learning by making

Students At The Center

Architecture, industrial design, and engineering come together through models, reviews, and full-scale testing.

FutureHAUS students and faculty reviewing physical cartridge models together
Test ideas together. Refine the details.
An interdisciplinary student team presenting their FutureHAUS research to faculty
Share the research. Coordinate the systems.
Earlier orange FutureHAUS cartridge prototype under development
Built through collaboration

Our partners

Industry expertise, materials, and support help move ideas from the studio into the world.

Help make what’s next

Get Involved

Collaborate on materials, systems, fabrication, and research, or support hands-on student learning. Virginia Tech’s LINK: Center for Advancing Partnerships can help shape a partnership for FutureHAUS.

Karin Clark Associate Director · LINK, Office of Innovation & Partnerships

Support the Project

Help turn student research into prototypes and a home.

Support the Project Give through Virginia Tech Advancement. Contact Karin for FutureHAUS gift designation guidance.
What’s Coming Next / February 2027

IBS Bathroom
Cartridge Exhibit

See our next full-scale bathroom cartridge at the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas.

Bathroom component design study showing shower walls, toilets, and vanity configurations
Bathroom cartridge / Component design studies for the upcoming exhibit
February 2–4, 2027 Las Vegas, Nevada
Explore IBS