For those who are trying to avoid paying exorbitant hotel fees in countries they visit, Airbnb is one of the popular alternatives that are offered. For the most part Airbnb acts as a middle person between a host and the guest, where their platform lists the available houses that are available for short-term stay which is generally cheaper than hotels.
However a company cannot stay static for too long which is why it doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that Airbnb wants to expand their offerings. In a report from Fast Company, it seems that Airbnb plans to expand their business into the designing of homes, thanks to a division called Samara that was started by the company’s chief product officer and co-founder, Joe Gebbia, back in 2016.
According to the report, Samara will be launching a new initiative called Backyard which has been described as “an endeavor to design and prototype new ways of building and sharing homes.” However this isn’t necessarily about creating Accessory Dwelling Units which the company might use to rent out to guests themselves.
According to Gebbia, “Backyard investigates how buildings could utilize sophisticated manufacturing techniques, smart-home technologies, and gains vast insight from the Airbnb community to thoughtfully respond to changing owner or occupant needs over time. Backyard isn’t a house, it’s an initiative to rethink the home. Homes are complex, and we’re taking a broad approach–not just designing one thing, but a system that can do many things.” It will be interesting to see what will become of Backyard and how it will fit into Airbnb’s business in the long-run.
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