Putting the "Fab" in Prefab
Factory-built modular homes are breaking new ground with their contemporary designs. Check out these modern-as-tomorrow examples
Architects have been trying to create affordable contemporary homes for decades. One notable attempt came in the late 1950s, with Frank Lloyd Wright's prefab kit houses created for Marshall Erdman & Associates, according to the book Kit Homes Modern. Despite the publicity that Wright's name brought to the projects, the $55,000 turnkey cost proved to be too expensive, and only 11 were ever sold.
True, the modular method -- where homes are put together on-site by builders from fully formed box-like pieces, called modules, that are shipped from factories -- still isn't cheap. But thanks to new building techniques and materials, modular building systems are now far more cost-effective. It requires a lot of man-hours in the factory (although the building time is more compressed than for conventional construction), more materials than a stick-built house (built on site) of similar size (to make it strong enough to transport), and months of work by a local building crew.
Contemporary homes, less likely to be in most manufacturers' set of standard plans, have had the extra cost of architect design. And not just anyone can design for modular building. The architect must understand modular building systems and take into account the strains put on modules by delivery and the ways in which they will be integrated to form a single home.
Architect Joseph Tanney of New York-based Resolution: 4 Architecture, which has specialized in prefab since 2001, says there has been a shift in attitude about design in the U.S, toward having "design within reach." Tanney points out that as the market for contemporary-designed and other more costly modular homes has grown, so has the number of manufacturers willing to partner with architects on custom and mass-building projects. Here's a look at some of the most modern modular designs out there today.
Compiled by Mira Serrill-Robins
Check out our slide show on traditional-looking prefab houses here.