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by New Zealand. In 1972 Futuro Homes (NZ)
Ltd in Christchurch was granted the licence from
Polykem Ltd to build the architectural novelties in
this country. The business offices were in St Asaph
Street and factory in Wainoni Road, New Brighton.
The first Futuros manufactured in Christchurch were
used initially not as private homes or baches (let
alone after-ski lodges) but as eye-catching features
at the entrance to the Commonwealth Games in
Christchurch in Queen Elizabeth II Park, in early 1974.
One (produced in a colour called Kentucky Blue) was
a fully furnished demonstration home which attracted
a great deal of interest. The other, coloured Golden
Yellow, was used by the Bank of New Zealand, the
Games’ major sponsor, for the spectators’ banking
needs in those pre-Eftpos days. Advertisements for
a pre-Games track and field event on 20 January also
sponsored by the BNZ showed a stylishly clad public
(in flares and mini-skirts) walking past the Futuro
bank and, in one case, make reference to just such
a ‘Futuro Bubble’ having been used at the Munich
Olympics two years earlier.^7
The manufacturers endeavoured to coax the BNZ
into long-term investment in these architectural
curiosities, drawing its attention to a case in New
Jersey where a bank had been helicoptered into the
middle of a shopping centre (‘just a bank deposit’)
and within 30 minutes was in business. Futuro
Homes Ltd pointed out the convenience of such units
for temporary use in remote locations and tried to
negotiate a deal for the bank’s exclusive use of the
Futuros.^8 This was not taken up. Instead the bank
was informed of the forthcoming auction of the two
Futuros that had stood at the entrance to the Games
village. They were each 652 square feet in area and
described in the advertisement as ‘Two Futuro
Holiday Home/Motel Units’;^9 but a separate publicity
leaflet listed an eye-watering range of possible uses
for these constructions.^10 Futuro Homes (NZ) Ltd
issued leaflets which detailed the layout and amenities
of the units. Colour options were white, blue, gold
or red and they came already fitted with fibreglass
shelving plus carpet. The colour range for the latter
was typical of the 1970s: emerald, purple, orange, lime
and turquoise.
The Christchurch concern planned to open a
North Island factory as well. This seems not to have
happened, although there is evidence of interest
in Thames. A Futuro was on display on a builder’s
property (Regent Homes) at Kopu, over Labour
Weekend, 1975. ‘SPACE SHIP? Although this object
has some characteristics of a UFO, in reality it is
only a bach of novel design’ ran the caption under
a photograph in the Thames Star. This engendered
enough interest to warrant a cartoon on the eve of
the general election, riffing on the prospect of Kopu
blossoming as a satellite town to Thames.^11 No
advertising campaign for the baches followed and it is
not clear if their manufacture ever took off in Thames
although it was an abandoned one near the railway
station there that tweaked this author’s interest in this
subject. It was green, and removed sometime after2006.^12
Despite all the fanfare, the Futuro was a short-
lived phenomenon. According to Paul McNeil no
more than a dozen of these houses were built in New
Zealand.^13 The oil crisis of 1973 is the reason given by
most sources for their worldwide failure. The price of
plastics tripled. In July 1974 Futuro Homes (NZ) Ltd
advertised the price of $11,980 for a fully fitted unit; or
shell only with windows and flooring for $9,500. By
March 1976 the cost had risen to $13,275 for a one-
bedroom house with $560 extra for two bedrooms.
Prices did not include cartage or erection; 72 man-
hours were estimated for assembling.^14 From a staff of
20 in the first years, the business in Christchurch was
cut back and production dwindled to nil, probably
before 1980.^15
Cost was not the only problem. From the start
there were severe critics. A colleague of the inventor,
Suuronen, remarked that at best such houses ‘might