A UK modular housebuilder, founded by Joseph Daniels, that makes factory-built homes designed to produce more energy than they use.
Project Etopia, also written Etopia, is a UK company that builds homes in a factory and finishes them on site. Its homes use lightweight panel systems and are designed to a very high energy standard, which the company describes as double Passivhaus. Passivhaus is a standard for homes that need very little heating. Etopia's homes add solar tiles and hidden batteries, plus an in-house control system called E-Smart that links heating, lighting and other technology. The company says each home exports spare energy to the grid, and a 2020 trade article reported that its first homes were rated better than zero carbon. These performance figures are Etopia's own.
Joseph Daniels started the company when he was 23. He is self-taught with no formal qualifications and has said that experiencing homelessness as a teenager drives his wish to make good homes affordable. He has described the aim as building a global energy, construction and intelligent technology company, comparing it to the way Tesla moved from cars to technology. In 2020 he said the company wanted to "smash through" national and international eco targets. Etopia also said it wanted to focus on environmental, social and governance real estate.
In the UK, Etopia's head office was reported at Millbank Tower in Westminster, London. A March 2019 article described a 50,000 square foot factory in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, made with the panel specialist 4wall and able to produce up to 2,000 homes a year. Its first development was a 47-home scheme in Corby, Northamptonshire, called The Avenue at Priors Hall Park, where the first homes were completed and lived in. A prototype home was also shown at the Building Research Establishment's Innovation Park. It also worked with Samsung on smart home technology. Overseas, it trained local workers to assemble a home in Namibia.
The sources describe a company that values self-directed learning, mixing architecture, smart technology and energy, and a strong social purpose. Those statements come from Mr Daniels in media interviews, and we have not seen staff accounts of life at the company. Because it is a small, fast-moving business, people probably take on broad responsibilities, but that is our reading, not a published claim.
A modular housebuilder employs factory production staff, engineers and technicians, designers and energy specialists, site teams who put modules together, and sales and planning staff. If you like physics, design, technology or the idea of building homes that cost little to run, this kind of company puts them together. Our newest source is from the early 2020s, so look at the company's website to see what it is doing now.
Website: www.projectetopia.com
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