A cool new 'underground' trend gives us the iceberg home
As populations keep expanding, more houses are being built to accommodate the growing number of families, and land is becoming more and more scarce, especially in big cities.
For ages, since we learned to master our engineering knowledge and improve our construction technologies, as well as churning out more new construction materials, we have been able to accommodate more families and people on a particular piece of land by going vertical. The sky is the limit as the pace of construction technology speeds on, and we can see the race to claim the skyline in every country.
But we have seen a reversing trend that also comes with more sophisticated technologies and advancement in the construction industry. They call it “the iceberg home”. As the name implies, only its tip protrudes above ground, and what lies beneath is more ample than the tip, just like a real iceberg.
Recent research says the average size of a British home has shrunk to 76 square metres, which is about 10 per cent smaller than 30 years ago. That makes properties in the UK more confined than anywhere in Western Europe. But in London, a city that is home to soccer and show-business celebrities as well as Middle Eastern billionaires, American hedge-fund executives and Russian oligarchs who have flocked there in recent years, digging down is the ever more popular answer.
London
In cities like London where space is very limited and local legislation very intolerant when it comes to obtaining licences to build new homes or even renovate existing properties, everyone who has the means has gone basement-mad. Planning rules are so restrictive above ground that people find it easier to dig down. According to the research, London’s Kensington and Chelsea districts alone have seen 800 planning applications for basements in the past five years, and only 10 per cent are rejected.
Of course, we have heard about outrageous underground palaces. One of the most spectacular and controversial is the one dreamed up by Jon Hunt, the founder of a real-estate agency in Britain who made a fortune by selling his company for more than US$500 million (Bt16 billion) before the last financial crash. He was granted a permit to add to his villas in Kensington Palace Gardens a 22-metre-deep underground compound housing a tennis court, pool and gym, as well as a private museum for his collection of vintage Ferraris. The cavernous chamber would be illuminated from above, through the glass floor of a glistening rooftop infinity pool.
Right now, I believe, he is still in legal battles with the neighbours and has yet to break ground.
Of course, most of the “iceberg” homes are dreams of the super-rich for new toys, but there are others who want to have such cocoons for other purposes when it comes down to adequate space for families in upscale areas. With limitations on expanding upwards or sideways, there is no way a decent family can allocate space for proper children’s playrooms and utility rooms, as all they want is more storage.
Also, our lives have become even more complicated. Home has become more than just a crash pad. We want more space for things like media rooms and wine cellars. Ten years ago, who had even heard of a media room? And who would have thought that wine would become an integral part of our consumption pattern? And what about nanny quarters?
Also, there is the investment perspective. According to a study by an agency in Britain, it is estimated that a basement can add 15-20 per cent to the value of a house. With space at a premium, many more modest townhouses in London are also expanding underground.
Basements used to be just an extension of the home where people used to store things they rarely used. It used to be a stuffy place where you wouldn’t want to go down to. But it seems we are finding new ways of utilising the basement and embarking on new lifestyles that extend the possibility for this particular submerged part of our home.
We are just at the beginning of this trend. With land prices always rising, new construction technologies being explored, and the evolution of our lifestyles, it will be very interesting to see if more people embrace the concept of “iceberg” home in the near future.
