When we were at Fieldays in 2022 we had a chance to chat to some great off-grid related businesses, and one of our favourites was Podlife! Their modular pre-fabricated pods are a great option for your off-grid dwelling!
"So I was wandering down the lane here, saw these amazing pods and thought I'll bring you guys in and we'll come and have a closer look because I know how much you guys talk about buildings all the time in our group. So I'm here with Anna at Podlife, tell us a little bit about these pods!"
"Well we're super proud of them firstly, we've been going for about six years now and we have a whole team of experts. We put so much thought into the design and the layout. They're all prefabricated - we work on a production line in Whakatane - and modular, so we have set footprints but within the footprint you can move around kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, whatever you want to make it suit what you need. So then you just put it on truck and take it to site. And we take care of all the logistics as well for our clients - screw pile foundations (they're super compatible with screw piles and we work really closely with Stop Digging), we can manage that all over New Zealand. And if our clients want to get a building consent we actually have an in-house drafting team so we can manage that on their behalf as well."
"And what about if we sold a solar kit to them would you be able to install the solar kit first before it got shipped out?"
"So solar is best to be installed on-site. Just for the logistics - these are right at the width and length limits for transportation. So completely compatible with solar and all off-grid options but best to be fitted on site."
"Yeah that's fantastic, I'd be keen to check one out. Gosh it's quite flash inside."
"Yeah! And it's wonderful being at like a show like the Fieldays because I love seeing people's reaction when they come into the building. Because a lot of people have looked at us online and maybe not had an opportunity to see us so when they actually get into them they're like 'oh my gosh this is amazing'"
"Is it double glazed or triple glazed?"
"It's double glazed and the glazing actually meets though the new insulation standards that were introduced in November 2022. All of our pods as meet the new insulation standards that are getting rolled out in 2023, so we're really proud of being ahead of the game on that one."
"So it comes with the flooring done?"
"Yeah, it's beautiful flooring isn't it? And we actually have colour options as well so we've got a few different colour packages you can mix and match your flooring and your bench tops and things like that yeah just to personalize it."
"And so for this one here how much for this unit?"
"So this pod is $159,990 inclusive of GST."
"Gosh it's flash for that!"
"Yeah the quality, that's one thing that people comment on a lot is the quality is amazing, the finishing is amazing, we're really proud to be able to offer such a great quality building at that price point as well."
"Yeah it's be fantastic for a little bach or something like that, luxurious living."
"Yeah the kind of range of uses for these buildings is just amazing like perfect for a bach, starter home, kids still at home, people wanting to downsize, commercial uses. It's just kind of endless and it's always surprising to see what people come up with."
Podlife | https://podlife.co.nz/ | ahna@podlife.co.nz | 027 239 9613
