T-Fold wooden home blends design & disaster-proof tech

After the 2009 earthquake in Central Italy left 40,000 people homeless, Nico D’Incecco and the team at A-Fold began thinking of how they could help provide quickly deployable shelters. In 2019, they released a house that unfolds in hours and provides anti-seismic security.

The wooden houses are prefabricated, loaded onto trucks for transport, and unfolded on-site in hours (adding the windows, drywall, and interior finishings takes about two weeks).

The first design was the Model A (an A-frame), but the company soon released the Model-T (for “trapezoid”) to gain more space on the second floor. There is no need for a concrete foundation since the homes can be placed on screw piles.

The homes begin around 51 (550 square feet) and can grow depending on how many modules one purchases. The only limitation is the modules need to be placed inline, so the company suggests stopping at the “villa” size of 127 square meters (1367 square feet). The units are prefabbed with a selection of cladding, roofing, and flooring.

The homes can also be folded back up and moved, as easily as they unfold, making it possible to reuse them at a new location. The hinge system construction also provides flexibility in the home during an earthquake, allowing it to “disperse the energy of earth tremors” and weather seismic phenomena.

[Spartans]

Your channel is a never ending stream of interesting, educational, beautiful, and motivating ideas. So many talented and clever people in the world - thank you for the chance to see things I would never have dreamed of! Your skills in finding these people is incredible.

[marianbrittain]

I love this new T-fold. I remember the A-fold when it was shown and love that too. Wish it was available in the US. Thanks from Minnesota.

[HyperHorse]

The world can always count on Italian innovation. Great job!!!

[lashesfordaze]

Of the prefab houses you’ve featured over the past couple of years, I think I like this one the best. Good combination of high percentage pre-built, speed of installation, ease of site prep, and functional design.

[paranoidhumanoid]

Beautiful form and function! Solar would be perfect on this! Hope A-Fold expands into the US!

[HLRth]

I loved the juxtaposition between the very old home and the modern ADU. The use of natural cladding harmonises the two, as well as relatable shapes. I've always loved origami- love the folding geometry of the engineering!

[boromirofmiddleearth]

Beautiful Italian design and creativity! Haiti needs this! So many people need this! Graci!

[andreamarasca]

Hi Kirsten love to see u in my village! I hope you had a nice time while there! Thanks for sharing your videos! They are enlightening as always!

[SandiRose]

I love that it's not the perfect A-frame. I love the way that the roof is off-set!!! Thank you for the video!

[aloevera]

I feel so blessed to be part of an ever-expanding ascendant community of ideas, culture and action.

[YvonneRaphaelWriter]

A leave no trace house?! This is fabulous!

[fotomagrol]

This is by far a very good design house, the structure, the materials, and eficiency, really amazing.

[sashastarshanti]

So cool! I love modern design innovation. I could imagine this technology used to build single level homes too. I could see this design technique in almost any environment, would love to see something like this in a desert setting.

[Viking]

Thank you Kirsten for putting this guy on your you tube channel I STAND FOR FREEDOM ALSO!!!

[StarlaSky]

I have been working on marketing a foldable house for the past five years. The house in the video is a creative and thoughtful design and should be three times larger.

[no_rubbernecking]

Wow, this seems very impressive and thanks for covering this.

[barbarawelch]

I appreciate the innovative and modern design! Beautiful!

[NathanConkey]

The world is a better place because of this channel, and they work done to make it all happen.

[thinkplanetearth]

Hi Kirsten, another interesting video and concept. I'm curious, is it a conscious decision on your part to not ask how much things cost to build? Over the years you have filmed numerous videos of people either renovating or newly constructing homes, but there's never been a discussion about costs. Curious if there is a reason why. In this day and age there are so many renovations shows where the viewer not only gets to watch the process of the renovation, but also know what the costs involved are.

[hallymariah]

Beautiful!! I love the old home, too!! It works!!! Out side of Boston, MA USA