Cassette introduces stackable apartment pods that assemble into full apartment buildings in half the time of a typical construction project. Pop-up showroom opens for tours. Pod peek launch event.
Woman-owned Cassette launches its first product line in collaboration with California modernist design luminaries, Hodgetts + Fung.
A new approach to modular construction, Cassette’s business model is inspired by great process-oriented brands that successfully transformed complex industries like air travel, food distribution and now construction. On a mission to prove that great design doesn’t have to be expensive, Cassette aims to reduce the cost of multifamily housing construction by 30% in three years, while doubling the speed of housing production when it is most needed.
Courtesy of the Covenant House California, a breakout young LA artist has designed customized art for the Cassette pod. The pod will be auctioned off to benefit the organization that builds a bridge to hope for young people facing homelessness and survivors of trafficking.
Cassette Founder / CEO Dafna Kaplan, a no-nonsense construction tech expert who hails from the consumer product sector, will announce a new streamlined path forward for modular construction.
Cassette COO, Nick Butcher, global construction cost and risk management expert will address the foundational belief that catalyzed Cassette’s plan to reduce the cost of housing construction by 30% in 3 years.
The acclaimed modernist designers, Craig Hodgetts, and Ming Fung; two celebrated designers known for their forward-thinking innovations across industrial design, art, and architecture (the new Hollywood Bowl bandshell and other iconic modernist structures).
Los Angeles break out graphic artist, Asia, has designed customized art for the Cassette pod.
There is a national shortage of homes, record low interest rates during the pandemic coupled with more than a decade of under building created a supply and demand mismatch that pushed home prices higher. (CNN)
The U.S. has fallen behind by about 5.5M housing units over the past 20 years as builders failed to keep up with historical building trends. The gap is so deep it would take more than a decade to catch up. (CNN)
Home sales have boomed, active housing listings have dropped, and the median home sale price has surged. The number of active housing listings in the U.S. was at its lowest in at least 5 years in January 2022; that’s a 60% drop from 2020, just before COVID hit the U.S. (Federal Reserve).
In 2020, 46% of American renters spent 30% or more of income on housing, including 23% who spent at least 50% of their income on it. This met the Department of Housing and Urban Development’ definition of being “cost burdened.”
U.S. rents hit a record high for the 17th month in a row, bad news for anyone who doesn’t own.
Monthly payments on a typical mortgage are more than 75% higher than in 2019 (Zillow).
Deploying a process model of ‘doing one thing exceptionally well’ used by world-changing brands like In-n-Out Burger, Inc. and Southwest Airlines, Cassette was developed to transform the construction industry and more quickly address housing quality, availability, and affordability. Kaplan uses modular construction to impact the housing shortage by paralleling the production of housing in a factory with land preparation, which together can shave 30-50% off the construction schedule. Also, by converting 50% of building design toward a fixed product / fixed price model, Cassette plans to bring more predictability to construction.
“Cassette’s entire apartment units are manufactured in a factory then stacked quickly like LEGOs®,” said Founder/CEO Dafna Kaplan. “We are focused on standardizing the multifamily building process and making sure it works for every developer, every time, and that it is easy for any architect or contractor to use.”
Cassette’s first one-bedroom apartment pods are just under 600-square feet, and each includes an impeccably detailed bathroom, bedroom, laundry cabinet, double wardrobe, and chef’s kitchen. The interiors, designed by Hodgetts + Fung, feature a bedroom with a large clerestory window to draw in natural light and a sliding wall panel.
*Featured Image Courtesy: Cassette
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