Photo: Podform (composite)
Adaptability is key to surviving in a highly competitive market, whether you sell music, ice cream, cars, or prefabricated homes. Ask Podform.
Podform is one of a recent crop of startups promising a new era of tiny, sustainable, and more-or-less mobile living solutions. It has yet to ship units to customers, but it’s already upping the game on adaptability: Less than a year after its flagship model debuted virtually and construction was only scheduled to begin on one presentation unit, Podform is doing a 180 and overhauling its entire lineup.
Forget the Pod Studio as we knew it. Say hello to the new Ps, ranging from the P’5 mobile office to the P’11 spaceship-like home of the future. They’re still prefabricated and decidedly more mobile than brick-and-mortar homes, and they’re still high-tech smart homes with improved off-grid capabilities, but they’re designed to be even more amazing than the models that came before.
The Pod Studio was introduced in 2023, with two variants planned: a standard model and an off-grid one. Essentially a container-like home, it could be transported to any destination of your choice on a flatbed trailer, where each side would open up to extend the available living space. In fact, it promised to triple that.
Photo: Podform
Features included 454 square feet (42 square meters) of living space, solar cells on the roof, and smart features that let you control everything inside the home through a dedicated app. You could also request your pod to be relocated with a single click through the app. The Pod Studio also came with Pod Glass, which transformed one of the floor-to-ceiling windows into a massive TV screen whenever you wanted to binge watch your favorite Netflix shows.
Promotional materials for the Pod Studio showed it paired with the Cybertruck, which was a very close match. The instantly recognizable Tesla e-truck wasn’t part of the $500,000 package, though. That price tag also made the Pod Studio more than just the smartest prefab — it made it the smartest and most expensive prefab.
The new P range is relatively cheaper, but still smart and mobile. The P'11, which is the largest of the bunch and sleeps a whopping four in two equally sized bedrooms, starts at $398,000. Not much cheaper, but still.
Photo: Podform
“Crafted to offer a unique mix of functionality, style and versatility,” The P'11 is described as “a large spaceship.” The play on words is intended to emphasize the fact that the total living area is 84 square meters, including the two terraces.
When installed in the preferred position, the P'11 is a circular house with a diameter of 11 meters (36 feet). The smaller entries in the range offer 8 and 5 meters (26 and 16.5 feet) in diameter, respectively. The former is a one-bedroom home for a couple, while the latter is a dedicated workspace.
The P'11 is designed to combine luxury living with sustainability in equal measure. The walls and roof are made of stainless steel, while the interior is elegantly furnished with a combination of wood, steel and glass, but the blood that flows through the veins of the house is smart technology.
Photo: Podform
Podform promises keyless access to all units (touch ID, code or app), real-time monitoring of utility connections and the 15 kWh energy system, a 360-degree surveillance system and smart appliances from the fridge to the oven and dishwasher. The dedicated app still includes the one-click relocation request option and you still have the Pod Glass wall in the living room.
The P'11 features high-speed Internet and optional StarLink.
Sustainability is further enhanced with a wastewater system, heat recovery, and reversible air conditioning. While the solar-lined roof and high-capacity battery will allow you to run appliances on solar power, the P'11 is designed to run on the grid for electricity, as well as water and waste. There's no mention of plans for extended range either.
Photo: Podform
The layout features two bedrooms side by side, with the bathroom and kitchen acting as a divider between the sleeping area and the living area, which is the large living room. The kitchen is open plan, but the bedrooms are designed as “private sanctuaries.” Despite its circular design, the P'11 makes the most of its space, although we think furnishing it will be a challenge.
Podform also offers an add-on called SkyBridge, which can be used to connect two such prefab homes (regardless of the size you choose) into one larger construction.
Photo: Podform
“Designed in California. Engineered in Switzerland. Built for Earth,” Podform says of its new line of prefabs. Indeed, these tiny homes look like something out of a space sci-fi movie, and in a way, they are. Because they're not real. Like the now-defunct Pod Studio, Ps's new line exists only in the virtual realm for now, as renderings.
Podform promises a Q2 2025 delivery date, and pre-orders are open now. If you’re ready to take a leap, a P’11 pre-order carries a refundable deposit of $11,000.