Inhabitat

November 11, 2005

PREBUILT

by Sarah Rich

What makes the Prebuilt different from other prefabs? For one thing, it’s truly affordable. The four design variations range from $43,000 to $109,000USD, the more costly of which gets you a two-story, three-bedroom home. Not bad. For another thing, the house can be folded up and transported on a single standard truck, and constructed in a matter of days, including interior installations and fixtures.

The Prebuilt has a galvanized steel frame with a choice of several claddings and window treatments. The entire structure can be elevated to accomodate site conditions, and can be folded up and relocated quickly and easily.

Among other attributes, Prebuilt claims to be “eco-sensitive,” though it’s unclear what exactly earns them this label. Simply utilizing off-site construction seems to have many manufacturers championing themselves as environmentalists, when there’s been minimal consideration put towards materials and energy consumption. In terms of price, however, the company certainly has an appealing edge among its kin, and it’s not bad looking, either - especially inside! (see below).

+ www.prebuilt.com.au

Thanks, Justin!

2 Responses to “PREBUILT”

Vitaliy Says:

November 15th, 2005 at 4:05 pm

Any prefabs available around NY/US area?

mike m Says:

November 16th, 2005 at 5:40 am

Those interiors are very nice. I checked out the 12000 Deluxe. It is 1,098 sq ft. That makes it about $99.27/sq foot. Viewed in this light, it’s not earth shattering. On the other hand, it’s nice to see a quality interior in this price range, rather than up around $125-130/sq ft ala the slide house. Unfortunately, that nice deck is also not included in the base pricing. I can’t help but wonder whether the cheaper price is a reflection of lower labor costs down under. The same goes for materials, although I’m more ignorant on this matter.

Vitally, in order to avoid pimping websites, I will not name names, but type prefab into Google and off you go. I did that and it was a good 2 or 3 days of obession before I realized I needed sleep.

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

Please note that gratuitous links to your site are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments.