By Nyo Me   |   Friday, 17 February 2017 Myanmar Times

With property at a premium, and house prices on the rise, is there a gap in the market for easily-assembled and -disassembled structures? Perhaps so – Kyaw Htoo Aung is banking on it.

“I named it a foldable house. When people hear ‘shipping container’, they don’t [think of it as somewhere they would] like to stay,” the director of import firm Treasure Triangle told The Myanmar Times at his company’s Yangon showroom.

The Chinese-made structure is basic: it has steel walls, a slab of concrete for the floor, and the windows come fitted with security bars.

Retailing for 50 lakh (around US$5000, plus five percent tax), Kyaw Htoo Aung is hoping the price will be amenable.

While it’s unlikely to become the solution of choice for those looking to create a family abode, it does have one very obvious appeal: housing for construction sites and labourers.

At present, Kyaw Htoo Aung concedes, the lack of regulation and international standard means uptake could be slow.

“When constructing in this country, there is no consideration for labourers. They just pitch a tent and let them stay,” he said.

However, he’s hopeful that change is on the horizon.

“When the construction code is changed, labourers will have rights to be put up in better places,” he said.

There is also another practical use for the demountable structures.

“It can be used as emergency rescue camps and housing projects,” he said.

Each structure comes with a 20-year guarantee. It is built to weather massive downpours. It can withstand winds of up to 74 miles per hour.

The building’s foundations of concrete are sunk into the ground, rooting them in place.

The walls, roof and main doors are made from fireproof panelling.

One obvious downside is that the units retain heat in a fairly major way – something the company has sought to counter by installing extractor fans and showing how they can easily be attached to an air-conditioning unit.

The units weigh 1.3 tonne apiece and can house four to eight people.

As demonstrated by the chic camouflage shell in the image on the right, the look of the units is entirely customisable.

Since commencing sales in Thakheta in December 2016, demand has shown no sign of slowing down.

“We had no more in stock in January,” said Kyaw Htoo Aung, explaining that the units are already use at the Thilawa Special Economic Zone for site offices.

The structures can be erected and dismantled at least ten times within the 20-year guarantee period.

This, Kyaw Htoo Aung, is where they have more traditional structures beat.

“The price of the foldable house is higher, however, structures which are roughly built will only be turned to firewood and destroyed after work finishes at a construction site. Moveable house can be used at least ten years if maintained well,” he said.