eHABITAT
by Jill Fehrenbacher
What is with Australia and prefab? With the recent Modabode, the Deck House, and now eHabitat, its beginning to seem like the locus of Prefab has moved down under. Whats going on?
Whatever the case, we love the new prefab “eHabitat” - and not just because the name goes so well with ours. This latest Australian prefab is beautiful, simple, inexpensive and distinctly eco-friendly, incorporating passive solar principles and energy efficient materials into its design. The modular, customizable eHabitat allows limitless individual configurations, enabling the owner to design a unique layout, which can be easily expanded at any time. Additional features include built in storage, climatic control devices and built in furniture options. The minimalist, almost Japanese aesthetic is modern without being stark, and the superlative local materials (such as Tasmanian kiln dried hardwood) make for a high quality, well-insulated structure.
EHabitat’s design and construction processes are inherently innovative: allowing an unprecedented degree of freedom for the buyer to custom tailor the home of their dreams, right down to the layout, materials, and energy systems. You can let eHabitat pair you up with an “eHabitat registered builder”, choose your own builder, or (if you are particularly handy) even construct the building yourself.
Passive Solar Design
Passive solar design makes use of the sun’s energy and local breezes to make a building warm in winter and cool in summer. Depending on your local climate, eHabitat has the correct thermal mass, insulation, shading and ventilation solutions to suit you.
Thanks Giles!
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As a native of Oz and a lifetime fan of both mid-century contemporary architecture and Japanese styles I’m quietly chuffed this sort of innovation is emerging in Australia. The eHabitat is the best I’ve seen of late and its makers are to be congratulated. This is even more gratifying given the particularly staid local building industry and visionless local planning authorities in most municipalities. This type of approach is ideal for Australia where the usual building materials favoured rarely compliment the natural conditions or light-filled environs. Now to find some land…