Bjarke Ingels’ Nabr aims to disrupt the housing market
Nabr, the new company co-founded by Bjarke Ingels, real estate entrepreneur Roni Bahar and tech veteran Nick Chim, is planning a housing market shake-up
![Render of exterior of first apartment building by Nabr in San Jose](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nUaMKUrtVyw7pxkXpykiGC-415-80.jpg)
If there’s any industry that’s in dire need of disruption, the housing market is it. With home purchase feeling increasingly out of reach for many living in cities these days, companies like Nabr are making it easier to own apartments. The real estate tech start-up, co-founded by Bjarke Ingels, real estate entrepreneur Roni Bahar and tech veteran Nick Chim, recently unveiled its first apartment building, located in San Jose, California, in the art and culture district South of First Area (SoFA).
Focused on putting consumers first, Nabr’s proposal enables residents to customise their apartment’s design and financing package – all via its software platform. Whether one decides to purchase upfront or build equity while leasing a unit through Nabr’s leasing programme, residents are given a roadmap towards home ownership, at a high quality and sustainable architecture standard no less.
‘We believe that the real estate industry is fragmented, inefficient, and lacking transparency. Additionally, urban areas across the country are continuing to grow at an unprecedented rate, yet less than 2 per cent of new housing [projects] are apartments for sale,’ says Bahar. ‘This ongoing problem led us to create Nabr – a brand that’s radically rethinking not just home buying but living in a market dominated by luxury rentals and affordable suburban residential with nothing in between, until now.’
With Ingels at the creative helm, each Nabr apartment suitably demonstrates a high-design, yet low impact approach that he’s known for. Ingels says, ‘Much of our previous work at BIG centres around leveraging sustainability to enhance the living experience. It was important that we kept this philosophy a core focus at Nabr. Each apartment is carbon neutral in operations, with an all-electric design and energy-efficient façade that leverages the latest technology, including View electrochromic glass. We also used healthy and sustainable materials such as laminated timber on the exterior and designed numerous spaces meant for vertical vegetation (both indoor and outdoor) to help provide cleaner air to the city.’
Despite being situated in the heart of the city, a connection to nature is maintained, not only through the use of sustainably sourced North American timber in the homes, but also an abundance of light and air, made possible through high ceilings and panoramic windows. Green spaces are easily cultivated indoors with the residences and outdoors on large private balconies.
Ingels continues: ‘[All] these qualities create a warm yet modern aesthetic that reflects the best of Scandinavian sensibilities. We’re also incredibly excited to grow our roster of design packages which will provide consumers with the opportunity to choose from a variety of interior designers.’
Nabr’s incorporation of technology is intended to take the pain out of designing a home. Particularly in line with supply chain issues plaguing the building industry, being able to visualise a space streamlines the process and avoids as many unforeseen hiccups along the way.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
‘The conventional development process for multi-family housing is entirely bespoke, with the design process taking about a year and construction taking another two years. Housing demand in the US has been outstripping supply for several decades now, with no relief in sight. Nabr is developing virtual showroom technology that enables consumers to design, price, and visualise their Nabr home before it is built,’ explains Chim. ‘This direct to consumer approach enables Nabr to significantly reduce the market risk associated with conventional speculative development. Over time, lower risk translates to better consumer value.’
He continues: ‘Our goal is to achieve a level of scale beyond conventional development practices. Instead of delivering one building per year, we’re developing a system in the hopes of delivering hundreds of projects per year at a lower cost due to economies of scale, while offering a better customer experience. The scalable housing model can facilitate the delivery of 100,000-plus units a year, making it the first truly national multi-family brand in real estate. Our long-term vision is to deliver projects in less than half the time and at price points affordable to middle-income households nationally.’
NFORMATION
Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
IM Pei's Everson Museum of Art gets a modern makeover
The East Wing of the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY has been given a contemporary refresh by emerging Los Angeles studio MILLIØNS
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Black Modernism’s lesser-known, at-risk architecture gems gain a lifeline
Conserving Black Modernism announces vital funding to save and preserve overlooked and endangered buildings by African American architects and designers
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Step into the Blanton Museum of Art's reimagined public realm by Snøhetta in Austin
Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas is completed and reveals its reimagined public realm and plaza designed by Snøhetta
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This New York Townhouse renovation is a lesson in contemporary minimalism
TenBerke’s carefully considered New York townhouse is the reimagining of a century-old Manhattan structure that reframes vertical living
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Visit The Frost House, a lesser-known modernist architecture marvel in Michigan City
The Frost House is a lesser-known midcentury architecture gem in Michigan City, Indiana; we took the tour as the property goes on the market
By Audrey Henderson Published
-
Broadway designer Scott Pask’s Arizona retreat is a scene-stealing discovery
Scott Pask invites us inside his Arizona retreat, nestled in the foothills overlooking Tucson – a place to reboot, recharge and commune with nature
By Michael Webb Published
-
Upstate New York retreat Ridge House evokes land art
Ridge House in upstate New York, the work of Brooklyn-based studio Worrell Yeung, is at one with the surrounding countryside
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Rafael de Cárdenas’ first ground-up project is a forever home with waterfront views and hidden treasures
Rafael de Cárdenas reveals his latest completed project in the Pacific Northwest, a family home of calming spaces that bleed the outside in, and ten years in the making
By Ellie Stathaki Published