Savannah College Arts and Design Students Develop SCADPad for Urban Living

Students of Savannah College of Art and Design came together to design and develop mini-houses as an initiative to help solve shortages of housing in urban settings.

The resulting design is called SCADPad, a micro-house with 18 feet wide and 16 feet long dimensions, making it easy to fit even in parking spaces. The 135-sq ft structure has all the necessary features in a house including a bed, desk, kitchen and a toilet. The mini-houses are also priced reasonably well at $40,000 per unit. Upon purchasing the house module, the users can also avail of customized interior and exterior design and modular systems. The SCADPad is also designed sustainably and features green amenities, interactive control systems, sustainable waste management and multifunctional, multipurpose 3D-printed furniture pieces.

All connected electronics inside the pad can be controlled through an iPad application. The light can also be changed from bright orange to a deep blue while the windows can be frosted or unfrosted, depending on the users’ requirements. The interactive wallpaper has embedded audio which will play music when touched.

Windows are kept close but the mini-houses have integrated airconditioning and ventilation system. Energy consumption for heating can also be reduced as the units heat up quickly.

According to the team, around 50% of the parking spaces within America are vacant, and thus the SCADPads can be used to occupy these empty spaces to solve housing problems. Communities of SCADPads can be built within two months. The team has already developed the first three communities in a parking lot in midtown Atlanta which was constructed within ten months.

Paula Wallace, president and co-founder of SCAD said, “The result is now a solution- a sustainable urban micro-housing community that projects relevance far beyond form and function to the Vitruvian principles of utility, strength and delight. SCADPad creates and environment for inventive and artful living.” Wallace has also recognized that this project is the University’s boldest innovation.