Solar-powered mini-cottage is LG’s house of the future

At IFA 2023 in Berlin, visitors of the LG stand could walk into the company’s first housing solution, a small cottage filled with all of LG's energy-efficient appliances and powered by solar panels on the roof and terrace. The Smart Cottage, as LG calls it, is a compact prefab home that the company uses to showcase its advanced HVAC and energy solutions, designed and built with Korean and European partners as Danwood, a company specializing in prefabricated houses.  The cottage also aims to redefine modern residential living with a state-of-the-art modular design. The new house, which could be built anywhere, without the need to connect to a grid, is made with sustainability in mind and plays a role as a flagship application of LG’s "Better Life for All" vision. The Smart Cottage is divided into a two-story studio layout that optimizes spaces. Moreover, despite its small footprint, it’s fully equipped and easy to transport and build on any terrain.  Inside, it is small but comfortable, with a sleeping area on the second floor characterized by the use of wood.

So far, the Cottage is but an interesting concept, but LG plans to develop a full commercial strategy thanks to partnerships with prefabricated home builders. The Korean company’s vision for a minimal home taps into a growing demand for smart prefabricated housing solutions. According to research by ReportLinker, the global prefabricated housing market is expected to reach a market size of 22.9 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.8 percent in the next five years.