Modular Kit Houses, PreFab Construction, Panelized, Manufactured Housing and Commercial Buildings
Prefab, modular, manufactured and panelized housing are
terms that are used pretty loosely to describe various types of home building options that
are preassembled to some degree before they are delivered to the site. There is overlap
between very low end 'tornado-magnet' trailer housing and very top drawer architecture
delivered in modules.
Newer "housetrailers or mobile homes", are much more likely to be called the
better sounding term: "manufactured housing". A manufactured home is constructed
in a controlled environment. It is built to the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety
Standards (also known as HUD Code). Mobile home is the term used for factory built
manufactured housing made prior to the introduction of the HUD Code. Around here in
the South, everyday folk still refer to them as "house trailers"--code or
no code !
Prefab, panelized, and modular are terms that usually refer to upscale housing that can be
any combination of pre-engineered home parts that re delivered to the building site ready
to be assembled in a quick manner. There is some very creative and high style architecture
in some of the latest introductions into the prefab and modular housing arena. A home of
this type, when properly installed and maintained, will appreciate the same as the
surrounding site-built homes in it's area. If you are buying the home and land together or
plan to place the home on land that you already own, financial institutions offer
traditional real estate mortgages with similar interest rates.
Manufactured housing is built on a trailer chassis and is considered portable or temporary in nature. Typically constructed from light-weight metal framing, manufactured housing is less durable and versatile than modular structures. Modular houses are comprised of all the same materials, techniques and standards as site construction, except that the units are assembled in less than a day.
WIRED magazine has an interesting article on modular and prefab houses.
Listed below are some of the sources for manufactured and modular homes in various locations.
MetroCabin, MaximoCabin, from Andrew
Kelly, are both cool small kit cabins from the Cabin Fever website. They
call them "Transportable Architecture". They offer a distinctive
pre-fab structure whose parts are built in a factory, it is delivered and
built on your site. You can use it for a livable getaway cabin, a studio, an
extra room, a cabana, or a mountain retreat. The simple and sophisticated
design allows it to look appropriate in an urban setting while the quiet
strength and sturdy attitude allow it to also be used in a more rugged environment.
The Metro Cabin is not a low quality kit, this unique space comes with its
walls pre-assembled and all other parts
are already precision cut for you. The
Metro and Maximo Cabins are built with the highest quality
materials. www.cabinfever.us.com
In Italy the Illy Company has brought forth
the push-button house. illy’s innovative Push Button House, designed by noted artist/architect Adam Kalkin, is on display at New York City’s Time Warner Center from November 29 – December 29, 2007.
Originally it was unveiled at the 52nd Venice Biennale in June, 2007, the illy Push Button House is a fully functional and sustainable home built within an industrial shipping container. At the push of a button, the shipping container transforms into a five-room home with kitchen, dining room, bedroom, living room and library.
illy invites coffee lovers, design enthusiasts and shoppers to visit the Push Button House and enjoy a complimentary cup of coffee while learning more about illy’s commitment to sustainability.
(illy is a coffee company) Illy
Push-Button House
Tumbleweed Tiny House
Company--Since 1997 Jay Shafer has been living in houses smaller
than some people's bathrooms. He called the first of his little hand built houses
Tumbleweed. Jay's decision to inhabit just 100 square feet came from some concerns he had
about the impact a larger house would have on the environment, and because he just did not
want to maintain a lot of unused space. In 2004 he sold Tumbleweed and built the 70 square
foot structure he lives in today. He call my new place Weebee or XS House (as in
"extra small") and he is offering all of us several models of small homes that
the will deliver to us from California for about $2 a mile. If you need more space, you
can attach several small modular models together. www.tumbleweedhouses.com
Cusato Cottages from New Urban Guild member Marianne
Cusato--- has an adorable mini cottage in a New Orleans style. The Katrina Cottage
was developed at the Mississippi Renewal Forum, a design get together held in Biloxi, MS and sponsored by the Governor's Commission on Recovery, rebuilding, and renewal. Katrina Cottage I, designed by New Urban Guild member Marianne Cusato, was on display in Orlando January 11-14 at the International Builders' Show. This particular cottage is one of four that Cusato has designed and is one of about forty that will be in the upcoming Katrina Cottages plan book that the Guild is publishing. The Katrina Cottages were originally designed as "FEMA trailers with dignity," intended to be used as temporary housing that is good enough to remain in place as a granny cottage or a home office or workshop after the main house is rebuilt. This housing unit and others like it should sell for around $30,000, and sleeps four. www.cusatocottages.com
www.newurbanguild.com www.cnu.org
A second Katrina Cottage concept is a 610-square-foot
home designed by architects Bruce Tolar and Michael LeBatard for Home Front Panalized Construction System. It takes the idea of storm survivability to the next level.
Even if it's completely submerged in a flood, you simply remove any furnishings that have absorbed water, hose down the interior, and replace the electrical switches.
The panelized cottage is built with panels sandwiching cement boards
and polystyrene foam that withstand 140 MPH wind and can be built in seven
days. . www.homefronthomes.com
Lowes Katrina Cottage--Lowe's is offering 11 blueprints of "Katrina Cottages," the small homes originally created last year to replace Federal Emergency Management Agency housing in the aftermath of the big storm. Each set of plans costs $700 and building kits for the homes, ranging from 544 to 1,807 square feet, start at $17,000, with all materials delivered on site. Lowe's began offering the plans nationwide on June 28, 2007, when its color circular advertised three plans in artistic renderings. customers in the Gulf Coast have used them as weekend cottages and some developers are making them lakeshore vacation homes. Others are being used as guest houses, or casitas, behind the main house. The small homes are designed to withstand 140 mph wind gusts, include a porch and are reminiscent of early 1900s Gulf Coast cottages. While some say the plans can be made a reality in six weeks, waiting for permits and inspections usually boosts the time into several months. The homes are not weekend projects. These are not designed for a do-it-yourselfer, these are made for a licensed contractor. Although the base materials packages cost anywhere from $17,000 to $36,000, they do not include the foundation, piers, heating and cooling systems, septic or sewer systems, cost of labor, or permits. www.lowes.com
IKEA, the innovative Swedish design company, is now
making homes in boxes for large scale developments in Europe. They are built in a quality-controlled factory, delivered and assembled in a day. The BoKlok (pronounced Boo Clook) housing concept, a partnership between property company Live Smart @ Home and Swedish furniture giant IKEA.
It will offer UK familes a stylish, efficient and affordable housing option.
The first BoKlok site in the UK will be in Gateshead.
IKEA BoKlok - first pioneered in Scandinavia by furniture giant Ikea and construction firm Skanska - provides space-saving, functional homes offering good quality at a price which enables as many people as possible to afford a comfortable home.
The BoKlok flats have a flexible open-plan layout, high ceilings and large windows, giving the apartments a light, airy and contemporary feel.
Ikea and Skanska started BoKlok, pronounced ‘Boo Clook’, in the mid-1990s to address the need for affordable properties in Sweden and to provide people with high quality properties at a low price. www.boklok.com
Versadome--the Versadome is a versatile
and affordable prefabricated modular building system, It combines the
grace of arches and domes found in ancient architecture with the smooth
clean forms and details of a yacht. Versadome is modern and sophisticated.
It is energy efficient and low-maintenance. www.versadome.com
Living Homes offers a line of homes featuring modern design and green materials. Founded by CEO Steve Glenn, LivingHomes is a premier developer of modern, prefab homes that combine world-class architecture with a commitment to health and sustainable construction. Watch a fun, fun speeded up video of an entire home's
installation. First residence in the USA to attain highest rating possible from the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) new pilot, LEED® for Homes...making it the first residential project in the country to attain a Platinum rating and setting a new national standard in sustainable construction. LivingHomes is the first company to make LEED certified, prefab homes available to consumers nationwide. The first line of homes, designed by Ray Kappe, is available for purchase now. LivingHomes include movable walls, modular millwork, and a structural system that allows for the easy addition and reconfiguration of space.
www.livinghomes.us
Modern Cabana-- Founded in 2004 in San Francisco, California, Modern Cabana is a private, family-owned business that provides its clients with designer, pre-fabricated accessory structures. Founder Nick Damner is a Contractor, tinkerer and avid cyclist who hopes to be the first man to carry his home on the back of his bike. A respected Bay Area Carpenter, Nick has been managing complex commercial and residential building projects for many years. A graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder, Nick is a licensed contractor in the State of California. Its flagship solution, The Cabana is designed by Casper Mork-Ulnes, an award-winning San Francisco Designer whose work has been published widely. An avid outdoorsman, it has been rumored that the concept for The Cabana originated from Casper’s quest for the ideal fishing cabin. Norwegian born, Casper was raised in Norway, Italy, Scotland, and the US.
In addition to his responsibilities at Modern Cabana, Casper is also Principal of Mork-Ulnes Design, a San Francisco Design firm known for its novel use of materials and designs that are adapted to their environment.
www.moderncabana.com
Marmol Radziner Prefab --- combines the efficiency of factory-built homes with the benefits of custom residential design. The company is headed up by the design team of Ron Radziner and Leo Marmol. Their green homes are not a kit of parts – they build the prefab modules in their own factory and ship them complete with pre-installed interior and exterior finishes, flooring,
appliances, etc. Marmol Radziner Prefab can oversee the entire building process, from design to delivery and installation, so no additional contractor is required. Many of their homes go to difficult but very picturesque sites. Their prefab homes have achieved LEED certification. For long-term sustainability, the module structures are made from recycled steel. The homes use other green materials, including Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), FSC-certified wood, low VOC Green Seal paint, solar
panels, etc. Floor-to-ceiling windows capture natural light, while expansive decks provide shade for passive cooling. Marmol Radziner Prefab specializes in custom floor plans and details to match your site and needs. Five standard models are also available.
www.marmolradzinerprefab.com
Modern Modular--Some very innovative
architects have partnered with Modern Modular to bring well thought out design and energy
efficient, prefabricated construction to a wide audience. Their architecture reflects
contemporary tastes, environmental sensitivity and modern technology. The website is well
designed and fun to see but designed for a broadband connection. The architects listed
include Cartwright Pickard Architects, Collins & Turner, Jones Partners, Adam Kalkin,
Glama Kim, Linesync Architecture, and Nottoscale. The Adam Kalkin small pavilion home
called the Collector's House located at Shelbourne Museum in Vermont with its very high
ceilings has a wonderful indoor-outdoor look to it. A prefab home takes less time to
build. This is just one of the many good reason listed on the 'Why' tab on the website. www.modern-modular.com
Living Box Design Competition---A design competition based in Italy for modular house concepts. A good deal of information is available on this site as well as the opportunity to order a DVD with large numbers of modular construction illustrations. http://www.edilportale.com/livingbox/eng/suggestions.asp
The
Micro Compact Home [m-ch] is a lightweight compact dwelling for one or two people. Its small dimensions of 2.6m cube has functioning spaces for sleeping, working / dining, cooking and bathroom make it suitable for everyday use.
Manufactured at the micro compact home production centre in Austria, the m-ch can be delivered throughout Europe with project individual graphics and interior finishes. The micro compact home [m-ch] was first launched in Munich in November 2005 with the development of a case study village sponsored by O2 Germany, which is currently occupied by students of TU Munich. The team of researchers and designers based in London and at the Technical University in Munich developed the m-ch as an answer to an increasing demand for short stay living for students, business people, sports and leisure use and for weekend getaways. The m-ch, now in use and available throughout Europe. Its design has been styled after the classic scale and order of a Japanese tea-house, combined with advanced concepts and technologies.
www.microcompacthome.com
EcoCottages provide instant "off-grid" housing & shelter solutions that are designed to easily ship and assemble just about anywhere. EcoCottages begin with an all steel insulated design, utilizing pre-engineered, pre-cut, pre-drilled & pre-marked pieces by the EcoCottage factory. This allows users to quickly and efficiently assemble the prefab system on-site. Solar power, wind generator, rainwater harvesting, and biolet off-grid toilets are available. At the moment you can get free shipping from 13 U.S. locations. www.ecocottages.com
Muji + Kazuhiko Namba----Minimalist Muji House.
This open plan house, designed by Kazuhiko Namba and sponsored by Muji, was recently chosen for publication in the prestigious GA Houses 80. Muji has worked with architects and designers before to create new spaces, most recently with Tokujin Yoshioka for the ultimate minimalist apartment renovation.
http://www.muji.net/eng/
Toma House----prefabricated hightech buildings. Toma Houses are shipped and installed world wide. In many instances, a building permit is not required as a Toma House has its own foundation system and can be disassembled and moved quickly. This is a very elaborate and all Flash website. www.world-a-rama.com
HIVE Modular Housing--HIVE sells several models of contemporary modular homes with an emphasis on architectural design. Hive homes use a modular construction system, which provides a high level of quality control, minimizes exposure of building materials to the elements, and shortens construction time. Hive has currently two product lines that include a small, medium and large version of the basic model, any of which can be ordered with a flat or pitched roof, with modern or traditional siding and windows and with or without an attached garage. The on-staff architects can work with you to further customize your project for an additional fee. HIVE architects will also work with you to produce a completely custom, one-off design, based on their modular system for a standard architectural fee, usually 15% of construction costs.
www.hivemodular.com
LoftCube--- Fully contained German
modular homes designed to be air-lifted by helicoptr4 and placed on
the rooftops of urban buildings. This site is all Flash and Quicktime, music
and has good illustrations. www.loftcube.net
LEK Shelter--the LEK Shelter is an Igloo type structure,20 ft in diameter, made from LEK-Crete and patterned after the original domes that were used in Dome Village in California to house homeless people. This version is insulated up to the equivalent of a R40 conventional home. The original Dome Village structures were made from Craig Chamberlain's Omni-Sphere of polyester-fiberglass. www.lekShelters.com
The TK iT House California architect
Alan Kock calls this the 'Mini Cooper of Homes" which can be put together in about 8
weeks of Bosch aluminum framing and insulated, double paned glass. Tallman Kock had
different designers come up with patterned vinyl skins that they call 'outFITs' to put
over some of the glass for a bit of privacy in fab this modular kit home. Wired Magazine
called it the "Peel-a-Boo House" . You can actually buy this $175,000 kit home
online. www.tkithouse.com
Glide House is one of the forerunners in contemporary, sleek modular
housing. Their Clean Living, Green Living website shows you many examples and plans of what
they offer. The Glide house is designed around a system that includes a organized storage
system that runs along one side or thru the center of all or part of the home. Gliding
wood doors in front of the storage allow for easy access and the look of a streamlined
wood wall. Glide prefab houses include a lot of glass for views of nature and light. The
modular manufactured house is designed so that breezes and light are maximized. The
modular homes can have either solar panels or wind generators added. The exterior walls
are made of cor-ten steel to be maintenance free. There are many plan options available
depending on where you want to build a modular home and how you live. The manufacturer is
Michelle Kaufmann Designs in Los Angeles, California. www.glidehouse.com
or http://www.mkd-arc.com/homes/glidehouse/
Colorado House by Forsythe-Macallen
---Off-grid homes like the Colorado House promise to keep its inhabitants safe and comfortable even after a major storm. A tiny solar-powered house was custom designed. The second floor is an open kitchen, dining and living space. A sleeping loft of recycled and narrowly spaced
Douglas fir slats creates a canopy over the dining table/woodstove - a massive, cast-in-place, concrete element which stores passive solar heat and heat radiated from the wood stove which is positioned underneath. The truncated roof peak has a wide glass strip running its length. The sky light goes directly into the main space. The first floor contains a bedroom, a bath and a utility space.
http://www.forsythe-macallen.com/ColoradoHouseDiscription.htm
Clever Homes is both a design and
materials supply company for residential building projects, and a full service
architectural firm. They use digital design technology and robotics driven manufacturing
to create prefab homes that out perform traditionally built houses. Clever Homes uses
special building materials, finishes and fixtures to make the most of existing technology.
Clever Homes' technology allows each home to be partially built in advance, and then
constructed on a custom foundation. The major components of Clever Homes, like walls, roof
systems, floors, doors and windows are delivered to your site ready for construction. This
modular, prefab manufactured housing earned an EPA Energy Star rating, and their
construction technologies allow energy savings of up to 50% over traditional residential
home building constructions. The Clever Homes team is made up of experienced and respected
architects, engineers, builders, technology experts, and construction specialists. The
website shows many nice designs in both contemporary and traditional looking styles. The original,
world-renown green, sustainable NowHouse show home. NowHouse showcases a new type of design
and building system by Clever Homes, featuring a digital integration showcase by CNET
Digital Living. The project is presented by the Affordable Green Development Corporation,
a non-profit, dedicated to promoting positive, efficient home building in the community.
If you have Land, Financing, Builders Education and a Near-Term intent to build, you can
buy a NowHouse of your own. www.CleverHomes.net
Field House, Pre-cast concrete vacation home developed in cooperation with AC Miller concrete. The front side of field house is composed of sliding glass doors which fit into the prefab concrete structure in a fashion identical to the prefab rear wall .The only customized piece of the house is the central core. Conceived as a sculpture inside a pre-fab box , the core divides the living area from the bedrooms and houses all functional components. The house is assembled like a contemporary kit of parts, resulting in substantial cost savings. Arts.Corporation: Design team: Mike Latham, Paul Ochs, Viet Nguyen, Brooklyn, NY, USA. www.artscorporation.com
fabprefab -is a web resource dedicated to tracking developments in the realm of ‘modernist prefab dwellings’. They say that modernist prefab is still more of a futuristic idea than a easy to purchase item. Most projects are “in development” and relatively few prefabs are available for immediate purchase. This website has links to many worldwide prefab innovators, architects and designers. They have pulled together a lot of interesting information on prefab modular construction. www.fabprefab.com
Custom Modular Homes from Resolution 4 Architecture.
By using existing construction methodologies of prefabrication, they are designing custom
modern homes based on a system of
Modules. This is not cut-rate housing, they provide quite upscale modular homes. Each
design incorporates off-the-shelf materials, techniques, and organizational strategies
that they have employed in their previous residential work as a small architectural
firm in New York City. You can see many examples of their projects online as well as the
standard modules that are combined to create the custom look and size home you need. www.re4a.com
LiveModern is all about making modernism affordable. Their website has a lot of info about prefab modern housing. It also has forums, links to blogs, resources and chats. It is a whole community. They are featuring a modern modular home designed for casual indoor-outdoor living that will open to the public in May 2005 at Sunset Magazine's Celebration Weekend in Menlo Park, CA. You can purchase this Sunset Breezehouse Show Home now and move in this summer! www.livemodern.com
WeeHouse is a company that designs and
delivers very small but well thought out prefab modular manufactured houses. Many of these
small homes are weekend places or get-away second homes. Studios and small units are
available both with and without bathrooms. See their site for illustrations of the modular
components. These houses are expanded with additional modules. The prefab modular
components come prewired and pre-plumbed so that it is ready to be hooked up and plugged
in. Wee House modules can be stacked or attached to create homes of various heights and
widths. All modular units may be ordered both with and without overhanging roofs. The
manufacturer is Alchemy Architects of St. Paul. www.weehouses.com
Rocio Romero is a designer of modern
design and prefab architecture
He is the developer and designer of the LV Home, which uses prefabricated
techniques to deliver
high-end modern architecture and furniture. Prefab construction is more efficient, cost
effective and environmentally friendly than traditional construction methods. Basic
exterior shell is available from Rocio Romero for LV Home and Fish Camp, and upgrades and
added rooms are available for an additional cost. www.rocioromero.com
Colani Rotorhaus--a very clever rectangular
shaped modular self contained home with a revolving circular inner unit that contains most of the expected functionality of a real home.
www.hanse-haus.de
Quik House Kit includes 5 modified
containers (3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths) and all the glass necessary to enclose a
2,000-square-foot building. The QUIK HOUSE is a prefabricated kit house designed by Adam
Kalkin from recycled shipping containers. It has three bedrooms and two and one-half baths
in its 2,000 square foot plan. The basic kit costs $76,000 plus shipping. The shell
assembles by the end of the week, you will have a fully enclosed building. From start to
finish, it should take no longer than three months to complete your house. The Premium
House Kit includes the Quik House, stainless steel kitchen, plumbing, HVAC, insulation,
wall and electrical packages, dining nook and more. Weird web name ! Adam Kalkin offers
many options such as a stainless steel kitchen with appliances and fireplace, a mahogany
door package & custom designed carpets. www.architectureandhygiene.com
Also
from Adam Kalkin, the Kalkin House, aka The Collector's House. A 20' x 80' metal building of a type normally used for warehouses is the outer shell of the house.
Distinguished interior designer Albert Hadley collaborated on the building's original design. Features include oversized glass garage doors, metal grid balconies, and a two-story outdoor curtain that creates a patio space.
It is now a rentable public space in Shelburne Gardens in Vermont. Kalkin
house
The N55 SPACEFRAME is a low-cost, movable lightweight construction that can easily be
transformed. It is dimensioned as a living unit for 3-4 persons and demands practically no maintenance. The construction can be erected by anybody in a short time. The N55 SPACEFRAME is configured as a truncated tetrahedron with an indoor ground floor of approx. 20 m˜. According to needs and economy, the size and configuration may be changed, and extra floors and rooms may be included: it is easy to add to the construction in stages. On the outside the construction is covered with plates in acid resistant stainless steel, which need no maintenance.
Inside planes are covered with moisture-absorbing plaster-fibreboard plates. The floor is made of birch plywood and polycarbonate is used for windows.
http://www.n55.dk/MANUALS/SPACEFRAME/spaceframe.html
Portable House--Jennifer Siegel, is the founder of Office of Mobile Design which makes Portable House prefab modular manufactured portable homes. The prefab modular house sections includes steel deck and ramp, appliances and fixtures, bamboo and Lonseal flooring, cabinetry, finishes, lighting and more. 12' x 40' and 12' x 60' available from OMD of California. The Swell House is a trucked in kit house that runs a bit higher per sq ft than the Portable House, but is highly customizable. www.designmobile.com
Glassic by Breckenridge Finer Living---This
unusual mobile home has one whole side made of glass. Coming from a mobile
home company, this is no ordinary house
trailer. The Glassic costs at least 10 grand more than a normal mobile
home, but the customers who buy them say that they would never consider
any of the other models, it definitely
attracts a different crowd. Some building codes will classify the Glassic
as a RV instead of a modular home, so ck first. In some communities, they
will be issued a permit if you live in a rural area or on property that
you own. You can pick from 3 different floorplans. It can cost as much as
6 grand to transport the Breckenridge Glassic to your property but you
just set it on concrete blocks. It looks pretty cool, esp. for a vacation
get-a-way. Breckenridge calls the Glassic "The Perfect
Cottage". It is designed by Christophen Deam for Breckenridge Park
Models. . www.breckenridgefinerliving.com
Casa Container--this modular home design looks more like a tractor trailer than a real home. From AAPA Architetti Associati. http://www.aapa.it/portfolio/13/casa-container
La casa Container - Verona --Click the 2004 link to see the modular home design in a pop-up window designed by Michieli & Visentini Architetti. www.michieliarchitetti.it
Floating Homes---these unique modular homes were designed originally for a Europe wide competition. They are made in Germany. Several styles available for a space age contemporary look. You can arrange any number of these components homes on floating decks for very creative living spaces with terrific views. www.floatinghomes.de
Spacebox USA is a system to provide individual units that stack to form a multi-unit residential structure...apartments or condos. The USA company is based in Nevada. www.spacebox.info
HyBrid Seattle was formed in 2003 as a multi-disciplinary team of creative thinkers in the fields of architecture, art, landscape architecture, history and urban ecology. The team's emphasis is on generating thought-provoking and ecologically sensitive solutions to the present and future urban cultural conditions. The term cargotecture was coined by HyBrid in 2003 to describe any building system built entirely or partially from ISO shipping containers. www.hybridseattle.com www.cargotecture.com
Royal Homes of Ontario Canada is an international, certified, custom home builder. Royal Homes offers more traditional looking homes that some of the modular building system suppliers. Their homes are constructed indoors by professional craftsman under climate controlled conditions and delivered in parts to your location. The Canadian Standards Association inspects and tests to make sure that your modular home is designed to meet the building code requirements of your community. Unlike some modular building systems or prefab houses, as a custom home builder, Royal Homes provides a wide range of options. Royal Homes has many home designs to choose from. You can select or combine any of the model designs and then customize them to suit your specific needs. You will find floorplans, photos, and more about each house on the website as well as prices. Everyone wants to know who much it costs to build a manufactured house, also called modular house or prefab house. www.royalhomes.com
5 Star Homes--Complete Home Packages or
"Shell" Packages Available
You can be your own General Contractor (they show you how, they say), build it
yourself, or, have your builder use their package. Use one of their over 50 pre-packaged
home plans featuring designs by Donald A. Gardner Architects. Five Star Homes' Energy Star
rated structural insulated panel (SIPs) complete home packages include nearly everything
you need to build and finish your home. In addition to wall, roof and floor systems to
complete the "shell" of the house, their packages include an interior framing
package, high-quality Pella brand insulated windows and exterior doors, energy efficient
"tankless" hot water heater, roofing with 50-year architectural shingles,
solid-wood interior doors, trim and paint packages, sheetrock and more -- such as on-site
support and a guaranteed monthly energy bill
amount.www.5-star-homes.com-opps!- site down at the moment
Country Heritage Homes offers pre-engineered designs, full construction blueprints, and all quality materials required to build your home to the lock up stage. Country Heritage Homes is a member of the Dream Homes of America group of companies which has delivered many thousands of homes to satisfied customers in the US, Canada and overseas. Country Heritage Homes home package system offers three Build Options. You choose the Build Option best suited to your situation, depending on your level of involvement and desire to save money:Self build, Assisted Build, or Full Build Various upgrades are available. Cottage style homes and log homes are available. www.countryheritagehomes.com
PoleHouses.com is introducing a new
product: Prefabricated Modular Pole House Kits, to be priced from as low as $5,000 per
Module, FOB. The 'P' POD modules will include all materials necessary to assemble a
complete exterior finished Pole House, with 400 square feet of interior space (including a
sleeping loft). 'P' PODS are designed to be a quality solution for quick re-housing after
natural disasters. Tim Cornell, founder of polehouses.com, has been designing and building
pole houses since 1988. Pole house structures use less material than conventional building
methods and are faster to erect, thus more cost effective. PoleHouses design is one of the
lowest home costs per square foot in the construction industry as well as one of the most
energy efficient. According to PoleHouse.com, in their designs, large diameter vertical
wood poles are firmly bolted atop reinforced concrete footings to carry the load of the
floor and roof. This strong flexible skeletal structure permits all interior and exterior
walls to be non-load bearing. Then, girder beams, floor joists and tension ring beams are
bolted directly into the notched vertical wood poles to create a structural grid. They
design and engineer their pole houses on a modular grid system which lends itself to the
efficiencies of post and beam and timber frame construction techniques which they utilize.
Due to the notched and bolted interlocking system, exposed structural elements move
together as a unit and are better able to resist the adverse effects of hurricanes,
typhoons, earthquakes and flooding. The website has extensive photos and ordering
information. www.polehouses.com
Acorn Conversion Project is a function of KVA, Kennedy & Violich Architecture. They supposedly offer two sizes of prefab manufactured housing, but the confusing website doesn't make it clear how to obtain information on the subject of their modular housing. www.kvarch.net
Anderson Anderson Architects has designed and built numerous research prototypes and prefabrication systems creatively exploring new construction technologies and affordable building methods. They are not manufacturers or suppliers of modular or prefabricated buildings, although Anderson Anderson does have certain companies that they have worked with in the past and can recommend or work with in developing building solutions for particular project. www.andersonanderson.com
PA Homes Direct--Pennsylvania Homes helps you save thousands of dollars on modular home construction. Offering weather tight modular homes in PA, NJ, MD, VA, DE and NY. www.pahomesdirect.com
MODABODE of Australia has
designed the ABODE, a stunning new housing product for the 21st century. An ABODE is
modernist, stylish and flexible. Looks like a cool beach house or beach cottage. It should
take no more than 12 weeks to move into your ABODE after placing an order with MODABODE.
The inherent flexibility of the modular system allows views and sunlight to be controlled.
Place a glazed panel to create a sunny dining area, and a solid panel to hide a neighbor's
gable wall. The only site works required are simple pad foundations and utility
connections. Solar panels and grey water treatment can be incorporated for off-grid sites.
And the ABODE can be easily removed, leaving no trace of its existence in the landscape. www.modabode.com.au
SmartShax of Australia--Lightweight, environmental huts designed by architect Ken Latona ideally suited to the Australian coastal climate. Particularly suitable for remote, isolated or difficult to build on lots. Generate your own power, compost your own waste, store your own water. Environmentally self sufficient. Remote access for monitoring via cell or satellite phone and web cam. 60 square meters (4 x 15M) 2 bedrooms, toilet, bathroom, kitchen/living room & deck. Plywood skin with plasterboard internal walls and corrugated iron roof. Option to supply solar energy, tanks for water, gas powered stove/fridge, composting toilets and extras may include satellite phone. The option for a "tailor made shax" is available for a personal design fee. the architect, Ken Latona, was asked to create a cheap family cabin option for Victorian National Parks. These manufactured modular homes have the look of little potting sheds with a wall of glass. www.smartshax.com.au
Bachkit of New Zealand--modular home sliding glass, aluminum louver panels and lots of outdoor decks make this a good modular manufactured home for warm climates. Currently available in New Zealand from Replica Homes but hopefully soon in Australia and the UK soon. www.bachkit.com
m-house of the UK--m-house (pronounced
'mouse') is a beautifully designed and meticulously detailed contemporary house or office
that looks a bit like a shoebox. It is entirely manufactured under controlled factory
conditions, by a skilled workforce, which guarantees both quality of build and delivery
time. m-house arrives in two pieces, each 3m (10' approx) wide, which are then joined
together on site, which takes about a day. It comes completely fitted-out and ready for
you to move into immediately, and delivery is 12 weeks after order. m-house meets full UK
building regulations. The strength of the product lies not only in its design, but also in
the opportunity for economical supply from the cheapest and best sources. For latest
prices, see their info page. www.m-house.org
Pinc House of Scandinavia offers three
cool and different looking models: the Pacific, the Black Barn, and The Sport. The site is
not in English, but there is a link for international inquiries. Pinc House is now
available in Finland. www.pinchouse.fi
Even though they are currently focusing on expansion in Scandinavia, they can ship all
over the world. If you have a project do not hesitate to contact them. www.pinchouse.se
Top Housing is the leading Scandinavian supplier of permanent pre-engineered buildings with 30 years' worldwide experience in emerging markets. Top Housing sectionalized buildings have been erected worldwide for nearly three decades in more than 40 countries. The Top Housing building systems have been especially developed for civil servants and staff of international companies, stationed abroad and requiring an efficient workplace and high standard living accommodation. www.tophousing.com www.tophousing.se
DuraVermeer is a Dutch innovative, developing company in the construction field tha temployees over 4,000 peoole. They have designed floating homes that can rise and fall in flooding situatuions.DuraVermeer has designed 36 amphibious houses and 14 floating houses in Maasbommel, in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands.
Their websitehttp://www.drijvendestad.nl/sites/drijvendestad/tekst_ddwoning_uk.html
The SmallHouse by WeberHaus can be ordered in different combinations. It is a very stylish modular wood kit house that is prefabbed offsite. The SmallHouse is designed by Bauart Architekten and now available in Europe. This site is in German, so you might want to use Google's translation tool which does a pretty good job. en.red-dot.org/961.html
Topsiderhouseplans-- Modular House, Prefab
House
A prefabricated packaged home building system, featuring client-designed spaces of
floor-to-ceiling glass, vaulted ceilings and exposed beams. Shipped worldwide since 1968. www.topsiderhouseplans.com
House-in-a-Box - Pre-Fab House
This ocean-going shipping container transforms into a two-story home. In fact, it is the
basis of the structure. www.houseinabox.com
Ameripanel Homes - House Kits--Do-it-yourself panelized house kits
featuring structural insulated panels (SIPs). Dealership opportunities available. www.ameripanel.com
Linwood Custom Cedar Homes --Since 1968, Linwood Custom Cedar Homes has
been building kit homes. Vast selection of prefab house designs. www.linwoodhomes.com
Geodesic Dome Homes - American Ingenuity geodesic dome homes and
modular home plans. Custom concrete dome floor plans, or pre-fab home kits. www.aidomes.com
Landmark's panelized home kits can be customized to your taste. Use
standard plans or develop your own. Kit houses for owner builders. Floor plan can be
customized your to your needs. www.lhlc.com
Fabrik-International Panelized House Kit--Panelized house structure ideal
for self-builder and contractor. They say they can panelize any residential or commercial
building. www.fabrik-international.com
Yankee Barn Homes - Kit Home/Manufactured House & Barn Building
System
The look and feel of barn architecture, the warmth of antique wood and the strength of
timber frame. Authentic post and beam, soaring windows, great floor plans. High style
manufactured timber frame homes. Since 1969. Built nationwide. www.yankeebarnhomes.com
The Home Store Modular Construction
Home construction by The Home Store, building modular homes in New England and the Hudson
Valley. National award winner. www.the-homestore.com
Like an inhabitable billboard,
the Single Hauz – by Poland's front
architects – proposes cantilevering domestic living space from a
central mast. This might work in areas of low wind....but I am not so sure
about the plumbing issues.
Dangar Island House, Harper &
Irvine, Australia---Architect Sue Harper's house is well camouflaged by the giant trees in the upper reaches of the Hawkesbury River at Dangar Island in Australia. It is a lightweight structure with three pavilions on a slope. This home is elegantly designed and it uses an innovative modular building system.
Harper and her environmental engineer husband, Andy Irvine, are passionate about finding better ways to build. It is a prototype of a prefabricated building system Harper developed in her work in remote communities in the Northern Territory in Australia. Harper and Irvine plan to apply the system to any house design, making it easier and more economical to build.
The system uses steel modules or "picture frames", as Harper calls them. These modules have a small braced upper area and a larger lower section that is equal in dimension to a standard panel of building material. "They are all designed around the building material size of 1200mm x 2400mm," Irvine says.
The steel frames are bolted together in a skeleton structure. Then, as these frames are of standard dimensions, building materials such as plywood or
fiber cement sheets, glass louvres, canvas or even a roller door, are slotted or screwed into the skeleton.
This system, because it's self-bracing, doesn't need any structural walls."
The house could then be put together by laypeople with building savvy. Each frame weighs 80 kilograms so can be carried by two men.
The modular system has big cost and time benefits. As it works on a standard grid and is fairly simple to construct, there are minimal waste of materials and reduced labour costs.
Budget and time were definite motivations for choosing the system in the Dangar Island house. The original clients, a couple with two children, wanted to build for $1400 a square metre. Access to the site was unusually difficult. The site is on the top of a hill with no vehicular access - all materials had to come in via barge.
"They wanted a house that let them enjoy living with the climate of the island; [to make the most of] indoor-outdoor living," Harper says.
Harper designed a pavilion house to fit their brief. The largest pavilion contained the children's bedrooms below and an open-plan living space and kitchen opening to a deck above. A timber walkway linked this building to a small central pavilion housing the bathroom and a private upper domain that served as the main bedroom.
There was a switch in client midway through the project. The new client, Liam Flood, came on as owner-builder. He loved the design and the innovative modular construction, but needed more space.
Harper developed the system so that small rooms, such as laundries or guest bathrooms, could be included in new houses or added to existing ones. Harper added several to Dangar Island II: one as kitchen, another on the middle level as a laundry and two to the upper pavilion for a wardrobe and home office.
Harper says she envisages an "Ikea idea" catalogue from which owners order frames or pop-outs. "We are trying to do a house of the future," she says.
Harper and Irvine have built their own weekender using the system and it fits their lifestyle and budget. "As with many of their friends, Irvine says, "we can't afford to do it all at once". The couple started with one large room with mainly plywood walls -now they are adding a pop-out and exchanging some solid panels for glass doors onto a deck.
With Irvine doing the building, their 50 square meter home has worked out economically, costing about $30,000 to date. And the system is innovative, durable and adaptable enough to shake up the building industry for the better.
TIME FRAME
Three-and-a-half months.
GREEN POINTS
* A heat pump is used to warm water.
* Roofs catch water for a tank that feeds toilets and the garden.
* All waste water is treated and used on gardens.
* There is an Aqua Clarus toilet, which breaks down waste on site.
* The house and skillion roofs face north.
* All walls, floors and roofs are insulated.
* Timber is used sparingly and is plantation grown.
* Breezeways set up cross-ventilation.
ARCHITECT--Sue Harper, 0412 571 348,
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER--Andy Irvine, 9948 3950
Now mostly commercial modular building suppliers:
Nucor Building Systems--A leading manufacturer of metal building systems
offering commercial, industrial and community buildings from 1,000 to one million square
feet. Over 500 builders nationwide. www.nucorbuildingsystems.com
Iron Built Metal Buildings--Durable prefabricated metal buildings
for equipment storage, riding arenas, horse stables, warehouses, and garages. Immediate
pricing direct from the factory. www.ironbuilt.com
Starrco Pre-Engineered Modular Construction--Starrco manufactures modular
office systems and exterior portable buildings. Flexible and attractive designs are
pre-engineered for fast, easy installation. www.starrco.com
Ramtech--specializes in factory-built modular construction for interim
and permanent public and commercial projects. They are multi-state licensed with
concurrent site management capability. www.ramtechmodular.com
Modular Construction from MBS--Modern Building Systems offers modular
space for immediate use. Serving the greater Pacific Northwest. www.mbs-modular.com
National Partitions--Manufacturer of in-plant offices, modular rooms,
modular construction, prefabricated wall systems, industrial enclosures, mezzanines and
exterior buildings. www.n-p.com
Vanguard Modular Building Systems--Modular buildings and pre-engineered
structures for temporary or permanent space needs for use in commercial offices,
educational classrooms and healthcare uses. www.vanguardmodular.com
McDonald Modular Solutions--Temporary/Permanent Building Structures
McDonald Modular Solutions, serving MI, WI, IN and IL, offers a variety of mobile modular
buildings for office, schools, storage. New/used for rent, buy
or lease. www.mcdonaldmodular.com
Portafab Modular Building Systems--For over 25 years, PortaFab has been a
manufacturer and designer of pre-engineered modular building systems for
constructing in-plant offices, rooms, and pre-assembled buildings. www.portafab.com
PBI Modular Construction--PBI manufactures mezzanines and in-plant,
exterior, interior and pre-assembled buildings. The structures are available in many
facings, including aluminum, steel and stucco. www.panel-built.com
Adrian Building Concepts--Custom Modular Buildings for Georgia, North and
South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. www.adrianbuildingconcepts.com
Olympia Buildings Modular Construction --Prefabricated modular
construction for industrial, commercial, agricultural, residential building
applications. www.olympiabuildings.com
McGilland Company--Modular In-Plant Buildings, Mezzanines Modular
in-plant buildings and mezzanines. They design, sell, lease, service and install
their own products. www.mcgillandcompany.com
Waco Temporary and Modular Buildings---Waco provides modular construction solutions, supplying modular buildings as classrooms, healthcare facilities and office environments to organizations throughout the UK. www.waco.co.uk
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