Building blocks inspire dream home at the 2010 National Home Show

See the show's first re-usable, eco-friendly, modular home designed by celebrity designers

TORONTO, Feb. 19 /CNW/ - Get new ideas to kick start that 'little' project and come out to see how new building techniques are revolutionizing home construction at the 2010 National Home Show presented by RE/MAX. Designed by Richard Librach Architect Inc., built by Eurodale Developments and decorated by celebrity designers from Citytv's CityLine, this year's Dream Home is an eco-friendly structure made of building blocks that can be moved, re-used and easily expanded to accommodate growing needs.

"What makes the Dream Home really unique is the way it is being constructed," said Brendan Charters of Eurodale Developments. "By building the house in blocks, we are giving the home owner the flexibility to change their living spaces at will thus creating a truly customizable home environment that can grow and shrink to fit the lifestyle of its occupants."

The house's design is based on 12 guiding principles that include water, food, waste, construction, air, energy, finance, mobility, communication, social, special and identity. Taking these principles into account, and facing the reality of growing urban sprawl, the Dream Home team wanted to create something that could move with a home owner and be easily modified to fit their changing lifestyle needs. Modular building techniques were deemed to be the most effective solution and allowed the team to find creative ways to achieve their vision. To learn more about the features of the 2010 Dream Home, visit www.nationalhomeshow.com.

"We knew during the design process that we wanted to create something that was innovative and exciting and I think we were able to accomplish that," said Richard Librach, Architect for the 2010 Dream Home. "This home is based on simplicity, sustainability, smart technology and convenience and I feel we were really able to create something that will get people excited about the potential of modular building practices."

The interior of the blocks were designed by CityLine designers; Janette Ewen, Karen Sealy, Sharon Grech and Ramsin Khach. The designers approached the house with a mid size family in mind and relied on this year's hottest trends to steer the look and feel. The house has a large kitchen, family room, mudroom, garage, playroom, washrooms and enough bedrooms to comfortably house a family of four.

Each building block is built as a separate asset that is then attached to the other units to create the complete living space with large viewing windows that allow the home owner to stay connected with nature. The entire house is being built offsite in London, Ontario and will travel to Toronto on February 11th and assembled the week prior to the opening of the National Home Show on February 19th, 2010.

The 2010 National Home Show which runs from Friday, February 19th to Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto. Consumers will save $3.00 off all tickets when purchasing online at www.nationalhomeshow.com.

ABOUT MARKETPLACE EVENTS

The National Home Show is produced by Marketplace Events, in partnerships with the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and presented by RE/MAX, Canada's leading real estate organization. This year's corporate sponsors are: Toyota, HGTV, Rogers, Lowes, Benjamin Moore, Purex, CityLine, Toronto Star, P&G, Home Renovation Guide, Enbridge, Toshiba, Intelligent Interiors, Right Guard, Dial for Men and Pizza Pizza.

Marketplace Events, formerly a dmg world media company, produces 27 consumer home shows across North America that collectively attract 14,000 exhibitors, 1 million attendees and nearly another 1 million unique web visitors annually. The National Home Show in Toronto is one of 10 shows produced by Marketplace Events in cities across Canada including Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver.

For further information: Media Contact: Nicole McKnight, GCI Canada, [phone], [email protected]; Johanna VanderMaas, GCI Canada, [email protected], [phone]