A quick to construct bamboo house has won top design awards overseas due to its easy and affordable construction.
Earl Patrick Forlales' design can be put together in four hours and costs only NZ$94.50 per square metre, The BBC reports.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Cities for our Future competition awarded Mr Forlales the grand prize for the design, and he's planning to put it to work in his home country of the Philippines.
He's planning to build his "CUBO" communal housing units in Manila to help house workers moving into the city, before eventually rolling it out in the city's slums.
Mr Forlales got the idea for using bamboo in the units while spending time at his grandparents' house in the rural Philippines.
The bamboo used on the CUBO units will be plastic treated to last longer and Mr Forlales plans to raise funds for the project by selling waste plastic to factories.
"CUBO started as nothing more than an idea, conceived while spending time at my grandparent's house - it is incredible to think that it now will become a reality," Mr Forlales told The BBC.
"I would like to thank RICS for the opportunity to develop the idea, and look forward to working with them to put this money to good use in Manila, and then hopefully elsewhere around the world."
Newshub.
