Science

The Boring Company’s ‘Brick Store’ Revealed in New Images

New bricks on the block.

The Boring Company, Elon Musk’s tunnel-digging company, is opening a retail outlet with a similarly straightforward name. “The Brick Store” is expected to sell building materials made from the leftover dirt from the company’s tunnels, as an eco-friendly way of saving the waste from its projects.

The plans, submitted to Hawthorne Planning Commission in California on October 17, show a new store at 12003 Prairie Avenue, just a four-minute drive away from the SpaceX campus. Images show The Boring Company would take over a custom kitchen cabinet store with a beige exterior. Elon Musk’s venture would follow a more striking design of white, gray and black, which the application notes would “avoid monotony throughout the project site and blend well together.”

The document’s discovery comes as Musk is ramping up his plans for the firm, established in December 2016 to alleviate Los Angeles traffic by digging under cities. Musk said in September that the company will sell bricks at 10 cents each, below the rough estimate given by RemodelingCalculator.com for 34 to 85 cents per brick.

Images of the exterior.

Hawthorne Planning Commission

The bricks have been used once before, to craft a podium for Musk at the SpaceX hyperloop speed competition on July 22. This month, Musk announced that the company would build a watchtower in Los Angeles out of the dirt bricks, sharing a job ad for a knight to yell insults in a French accent Monty Python-style. He also explained that the company would sell “DIY watchtowers” complete with “bricks and a picture.”

Images of the exterior.

Hawthorne Planning Commission

Musk has touted the interlocking nature of the bricks as a big benefit, declaring that two people can build the outer walls of a house in just one day. The bricks are rated for California seismic load, while being bored in the middle like an aircraft wing spar to reduce weight. Musk has promised worldwide shipping for the first set, themed around Ancient Egypt.

Images of the exterior.

Hawthorne Planning Commission

Just a mile’s drive away, The Boring Company is completing work on its main venture. The company is nearing completion of a tunnel at the SpaceX campus, which is scheduled to be completed December 10. The two-mile test tunnel will be followed by planned routes to the Los Angeles baseball stadium, a Chicago airport connection, and more ambitious projects like a potential hyperloop between Washington, D.C. and New York.

All these projects will pave the way for a well-stocked brick store.

Related video: Elon Musk Shows Boring Company Tunnel Ahead of Launch

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