Company wants to build boxes for houses in North Las Vegas

The goal is to revolutionize homebuilding and create what could become one of Nevada’s largest exports.

The product is a box.

Paolo Tiramani, CEO of Boxabl, insists that his company isn’t a homebuilding or modular home company, though.

“We’re none of those things,” he said. “We’re supporting those people with a building material and doing the heavy lifting for them.”

Boxabl wants to mass-produce rectangular boxes that unfold into large rooms. Homebuilders can then configure them however they choose when constructing a house.

It’s something the company says will shave months of labor off housing projects and save construction companies thousands, which can then be passed on to homebuyers. Kyle Denman, senior engineer for the company, said homebuyers could save about 30 percent on a house built with Boxabl.

Denman said the rooms can be unpacked and set up in just a couple of hours.

Boxabl has no plans to sell directly to homebuyers because the boxes are a blank slate that require construction knowledge to turn into a home.

The walls of the rooms are made from laminated expanded foam and cement board. The goal is to make construction simpler than that for a standard wall.

“With this product, we get a much stronger building structurally,” said Galiano Tiramani, head of business development for the company.

The foam also offers better energy ratings for the home, he said, and the laminated construction makes the walls impact-resistant and capable of withstanding hurricane-force winds.

Boxabl started in mid-2017 but recently got a boost after receiving an invitation to the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas in February, when the company debuted its prototype.

Paolo Tiramani said the idea sprang up about five years ago when he considered what products he could improve to serve a purpose, and one of them was housing.

“Nobody’s cracked it,” he said. “Nobody’s figured out how to bring construction into a modern age and give consumers what they expect of everything else they buy.”

The rooms come in three sizes ranging from 400 square feet to 800 square feet, all with tall ceilings. When fully compact, the boxes are just 8½ feet wide. They can be shipped on trains and barges and are light enough to be hauled by a pickup truck.

Boxabl has multiple patents, and Paolo Tiramani said he thinks the product can become the state’s largest export behind gold.

He said North Las Vegas is “100 percent” his first choice of location to set up shop.

The company is trying to raise $30 million to set up its first factory. Ideally, Boxabl wants to establish a plant on 40 to 50 acres of land.

Gina Gavan, head of economic development for North Las Vegas, said officials want to see innovative companies like Boxabl grow in the city. Officials are ready to move forward with Boxabl whenever the company finalizes factory plans and funding, she said.

The company plans to begin production at some point next year.

“We don’t want to hang around,” Tiramani said. “We’re entrepreneurs. We want to get up and out of the ground and we want to get a revenue (stream) as soon as possible.”

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.