While not totally prefabricated, the Manifesto House by Infiniski utilizes pre-made materials like shipping containers and wooden pallets to create a totally rad modern house. Infiniski’s mission is to build homes cheaply and quickly using sustainable materials while incorporating renewable energy systems. They have many designs already available, which can be interchanged and easily modified.
LivingHomes had the honor of building the first LEED Platinum certified home in the US, and now they’re on schedule to deliver the first LEED Platinum certified home in Orange County. The new KieranTimberlake LivingHome 1.5 (KTLH1.5) was erected earlier this month in a single day. Located in the city of Newport Beach, we carry no doubts that the home will be LEED Platinum certified given LivingHomes‘ track record.
Hive Modular recently unveiled a brand new pre-fabulous house chock full of eco-friendly materials and lots of high-tech home system controls. Situated in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, the new X-Line 003 is a 4 bedroom, 3 bath home that boasts clean lines and a sleek interior. There are a lot of prefab companies out there serving up brilliant concepts, but not all of them have actually built a house. Hive Modular has — quite a few actually — and they’ve got the project gallery to show for it.
If pop art were to cross paths with prefab housing, the result would likely look this Warhol-worthy prefab home. Designed by Austin + Mergold, A-House-In-A-Can is a single-family residence built in the round interior of a grain silo. Constructed with off-the-shelf components and clad with a prefabricated steel facade, this innovative prefab home design could be the perfect solution for your Warhol-loving, farm-living dreams.
Mark Twain had a garden shed; he called it “the loveliest study you ever saw…octagonal with a peaked roof, each face filled with a spacious window…perched in complete isolation on the top of an elevation that commands leagues of valley and city and retreating ranges of distant blue hills. It is a cozy nest and just room in it for a sofa, table, and three or four chairs, and when the storms sweep down the remote valley and the lighting flashes behind the hills beyond and the rain beats upon the roof over my head—imagine the luxury of it.”
But in recent times, the humble garden shed has become an outlet for designers to experiment in small spaces that often slide under the radar of zoning bylaws, providing extra room for study, relaxation or just getting away from everyone else.
Shipping containers are known for their inherent strength, wide availability and relatively low cost — making them a practical and sustainable option for affordable housing. Last year, South Florida-based design, manufacturing and retail company, Envision Prefab set out to create a eco-conscious home, the “E-House,” constructed of sturdy cargo containers. They also wanted to educate homeowners about sustainability, so they recorded all the steps involved in retro-fitting shipping containers to construct the home and shared it with Jetson Green.
As the winter winds begin to blow, we’d thought we say one last goodbye to the things of summer by featuring Icelandic architectural firm Glama-Kim Architects’ modern, modular, eco-friendly summerhouses situated in the Western part of Iceland, in the town of Stykkishólmur. Project architect Olafur Mathiesen led the design, which boasts spectacular views of the surrounding landscape, as well as the use of readily available materials combined with the ease of construction and simplicity of design.
This prefab concept house, Mini40, comes out of Austria and has a slant towards the increasingly popular Passiv-Haus design method, which promotes a very tight and low-energy design. Hailing from Innsbruck, architect Mario Handle designed this passive home so that it doesn’t require any conventional heating. In fact, in good solar locations, it could be completely off-grid, powered by photovoltaics. The Mini40 was also designed to be constructed with modular parts, and reminds us a little bit of Werner Sobek’s modular homes, although the Mini40 has a slightly warmer aesthetic. And with just as many variations as Sobek’s homes, including the Mini60, Mini80 and Mini120, the concept can be expanded to become a larger-sized home or even multi-family housing.
We’re excited to report that as of today Team California is in 1st place at the Solar Decathlon competition going on right now in Washington DC with their stunning Refract House! Just moments ago, they emerged victorious from the Communications portion of the scoring and as of yesterday they received an almost perfect score of 98 out of a 100 for Architecture and a 92 out of a 100 for Market Viability – combined with their other scores, this puts them in 1st place as of now. Close on their tails are Team Germany and Team Ontario/BC, and all the teams are anticipating the remaining scores which will be rolling in throughtout the rest of the week culminating in the score for Net Metering, which garners the hugest chunk of points. Stay with us on Inhabitat for news and updates on the winning teams. We can’t wait to see who the winner is on Friday!
Each year, West Coast Green brings together the largest conference on green innovation for the built environment with leading sustainable businesses and an eclectic group of green technology and exciting design exhibitors. This year’s batch of booths focused mainly on natural building materials and alternative energy, with a few futuristic electric vehicles thrown in. Many of the products are already available, but some, including Armageddon Energy’s solar panels and the Stak Block, are still in the testing stages. Check out all of our fantastic finds after the jump.
There’s a tiny shed subculture growing, and you may find one sprouting in your own backyard. This prototype from Modern Cabana showed up recently at a San Francisco garden store, which also hosted a Tiny Shed Challenge as part of the month-long AIA SF Architecture and the City Festival.
Today is the first day of West Coast Green, and this year’s showhouse is a stunner! Designed by San Francisco-based Green Horizon, the self-sustaining prefab home is an immediately deployable emergency shelter that can be configured to adapt to a remarkable range of situations. By focusing upon simple sturdy construction, prefabricated modular parts, and a bevy of green building strategies, Green Horizon has created a home that can sustain a family of four with a week’s worth of food, electricity, and water without external support. I met with CEO James Pope to take a tour of the modular wonder before the show – read on for the full scoop!
After finding an affordable and convenient warehouse space in the industrial section of Santa Ana, Orange County, local printing company MVP decided to turn part of their premises into an office space. The warehouse wasn’t equipped to accommodate private offices, and the company felt that keeping the whole space climate-controlled would be wasteful, so they decided to group 10 20-foot shipping containers inside the warehouse to act as offices. The warehouse’s new industrial-chic workspaces proved to be an affordable option that continues to save the company on energy bills.
An exciting new development in the world of prefab designs happened today, when Blu Homes, an East coast prefab home designer, announced that they had acquired the assets of mkDesigns, Michelle Kaufman’s prefab home design company. Back in May we were so saddened to hear that Michelle was closing the doors of her firm due to the crash in the housing market. This new development is huge and combines the manufacturing capabilities of Blu Homes with Michelle’s amazing talent, letting her continue doing what she does best – design fabulous green homes.
As more people filter into the city, open land to build on will become more and more scarce, and we may have to use every available bit of space we can, including empty bare walls, bridge pylons, and retaining walls. The Prefab Parasite, designed by Australia-based Lara Calder Architects, is such a structure — aiming to turn previously empty vertical surfaces into livable and attractive private space. Mimicking parasitic qualities, the home is designed for durability and adaptability, evident in its construction out of prefabricated panels so that the home can be affixed onto any wall or pylon large and strong enough to hold it.
The real estate bubble may have burst, but we’ve found a better, more sustainable bubble to get into: The buBbLe Prototype! This inventive housing alternative is the result of a design collaboration between the office of MMAS and architect-artist Cipriano Chas. The design team aimed to develop a prototype of a non-permanent house simple enough to be transported by any means, while at the same time providing its inhabitants with basic contemporary comforts in any context.
Pod living is becoming a new trend in prefab design — small houses carefully designed to contain everything you need to sustain yourself in a small space. Broisson Architects of Naucalpan, Mexico has a new design for a prefab and modular pod house – Shelter No 2. This three-story home is designed for any socio-economic level, and contains enough room sleeping space for 3, a kitchen, reading and living area and hydroponia area. Able to be constructed at a speedy pace and built from recycled materials, the architects think this home could be a model for affordable housing.
Sitting atop thin steel stilts, the Froschköenig Treehouse conjures up ideas of a space pod just landed among a canopy of trees. Designed by well-known treehouse designer and manufacturer, Baumraum, the prefabricated treehouse features a futuristic, curved zinc roof enveloping a more rustic-feeling tatajuba wood foundation to create a whimsical hideaway for kids and adults.READ MORE AT INHABITOTS >
Sitting among the canopy of a jungle forest near Yelapa, Mexico, these V-Houses by Heinz Legler are quite possibly an eco-adventurer’s paradise. The treehouse-like structures are lofted 16 feet above the ground and open on all sides to offer panoramic views of the tropical surroundings. Although the rooms measure only 16 feet by 16 feet, a slanted ceiling and open walls make the treehouse seem larger — blurring the lines between indoors and outdoors. And to top off this eco-dream of a jungle retreat, the V-Houses were designed with modular components, made with sustainable materials, and have incorporated solar panels, composting toilets, and a greywater system.
We’re getting excited about this year’s Solar Decathlon and love Virginia Tech’s zero-energy, smart house. Lumenhaus — which is a combination of Lumen, meaning power of light, and Haus, which is a reference to the Bauhaus architectural movement — is a high-tech home that will be sure to garner a lot of attention at the upcoming competition. In fact it’s only one of two US teams to be accepted into the Solar Decathlon Europe, where it will compete against teams from around the world.
Canadian architect Moshe Safdie designed and built this extraordinary experimental housing complex made up of modular concrete units for the 1967 World Expo in Montreal. Named Habitat 67, the apartment complex was Safdie’s attempt to redesign urban living, provide affordable housing and create a community complete with shops and a school. All of the units were prefabricated on-site, and each has its own rooftop garden space located on the roof of the neighbor below.
Appearing as a cross between a Tokyo capsule hotel and a pixellated prefab treehouse, the T-Tree housing community offers residents the opportunity to live among the clouds. One of 20 incredible finalists in our ReBurbia competition to save the suburbs, the sustainable community was designed by Adil Azhiyev and Ivan Kudryavtsev of Light+Space to help alleviate the problems of suburban sprawl with a site-sensitive vertical structure composed of two design elements — a central core containing an elevator and stars, and a lofted series of prefab housing modules. Like the trunk of a tree the core serves as the base, while the housing modules are stacked one on top of the other to create a tower of alternating cubes and activated space.
If you’re tired of boring ho-hum hotels and looking for a new sort of vacation experience, look into these cute little prefabs accommodations by Carre d’Etoiles, based in France. The cube-shaped mini prefab is designed to be a new way to ‘get away from it all,’ and each comes complete with a transparent dome and a telescope to take advantage of a starry night sky. Inside, the compact accommodation includes sleeping for 4 and all the amenities you might need for your vacation. The environmentally-sensitive cabin is easily transported and can be dropped anywhere to maximize views and night-time star viewing sessions.
Wannabe Eskimos looking for an updated version of the familiar ice dome will feel at home in the Igloo Satellite Cabin, a pre-fabricated remote shelter designed to withstand sub-zero temperatures, high winds, ice and snow. Icewall One, the Australia-based manufacturer designed these shelters to offer transport-able accommodations for remote areas, from the poles to the tropics. Originally designed for exploration and research stations, the Igloo Satellite Cabin has also become an attractive alternative for eco-tourism.
The Dutch have been fighting the rising and falling tides for centuries, building dikes and pumping water out of areas that are below sea level. Now, rather than fight the water infiltrating their land, the Dutch will use it as part of a new development called ‘New Water‘, which will feature the world’s first floating apartment complex, The Citadel. This “water-breaking” new project was designed by Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio in the Netherlands, and will use 25% less energy than a conventional building on land thanks to the use of water cooling techniques.
This curvaceous modular home by Palo Alto architect, Joseph Bellomo, is joining the ranks of affordable, modular housing. Dubbed the House Arc, Bellomo was inspired to create the home after the success of his modular bicycle rack design, the Bike Arc — designed to provide efficient storage space for bicycles. The House Arc prototype will make its debut sometime this year on the big island of Hawaii.
Whether you think form follows function or function follows form, the Pentimento House proves that form and function can work gracefully together. An elegant and contemporary version of the Lincoln Log House, architects Jose Maria Sáez and David Barragán purposefully stacked prefabricated concrete pieces so that spaces were left in-between, allowing air to flow through …
ADEX is a system for building self-sufficient prefabricated pod houses that are capable of adapting to different sites while meeting the changing needs of their inhabitants. The modular eco houses are constructed from an interlocking system of prefabricated pieces, are capable of gathering renewable resources from their surroundings, and can be installed anywhere with no site-specific requirements.
Set against the rocky forms of the L’Ardévaz mountains, the Zufferey House both complements and contrasts its surroundings with a poised position that makes it appear like a rock teetering slightly off-balance or a box-y UFO about to take off. With a structural form that can certainly be considered an architectural novelty, the home — designed by Nunatak Sàrl Architectes — grabbed our attention when we noticed its incorporation of eco-friendly building techniques including a prefabricated wood frame and passive heating.
The fabulous Dwell on Design Show in LA last weekend showcased some amazing new products and home designs, like the organic ‘Solar Ivy‘, and the Mormal Radziner Skyline Prefab Series. Even more exciting though was the little prefab that could by Reclaimed Space, which sold on Ebay for $75,000, with a portion going to Habitat For Humanity. Reclaimed Space designed and built a 400 square foot prefab cabin, trucked it to LA for the event. The home has a contemporary mix of wood and metal in its exterior, and a beautiful interior decorated by our friends at Ecofabulous, with the help of Jeffers Design Group. We’re in love with the design, space and interior — so we weren’t surprised that it was a smash hit at the show.
Pre-built homemakers extraordinaire, Marmol Radziner Prefab were in the news this week once again introducing their newest custom prefab home. High up in the hills above Los Angeles sits the new Hollywood Hybrid, a 2576 sq. ft. sustainable, modern prefab home with killer views and a minimal carbon footprint. Inhabitat went up to the site where the home was being built for a peek.
Today all that nomadic telecommuters need is internet access, a phone, and some strong coffee. Waskman Design Studio’s stunning mobile home, designed for Vodafone, has all of those things (except the caffeine). The solar powered trailer was created for Vodafone to show off its fixed phone and wireless internet service, and is currently occupied by blogger Marcos Morales and his family as they travel through Spain on a family vacation!
There is nothing we love more than good design meeting up with a good cause. That’s why we love this student humanitarian design project on the Thai Burmese border: it combines beautifully designed (and super efficient) vernacular-inspired architecture with social responsibility in aiding the plight of Karen refugee orphans. Five students in Thailand are using architecture to make new lives for 24 orphans by providing them with homes to call their own.
Inhabitat favorites Marmol Radziner Prefab and Dwell have teamed together in a joint effort to bring “good design to everyone” with their recently debuted Skyline series of prefabs! Unveiled just this past Friday at the Dwell on Design Conference, the Skyline series comprises four interchangeable floor plans available in six modern configurations that make extensive use of recycled materials, high efficiency insulation, and offer the optional installation of solar panels. Available in sizes ranging from 1 story (1755 sq ft) to two stories (3180 sq ft), the series has been designed for installation in urban spaces and offers the privacy of a residential retreat while bringing the outdoors in through a series of floor to ceiling windows and patio spaces.
Scrap Lab is a group of designers based out of Bangkok’s Kasetsart University’s Architecture program that creates fun and innovative furniture out discarded industrial scraps. The group makes an eclectic variety of furniture, from a funky shaggy lamp to a lounge chair with a quilt-block pattern — all masterfully re-purposing materials that were once considered waste. While their list of materials includes traditional materials such as wood and metal, it also includes less traditional items such as foam and rope. The purpose of the group’s work is to not only create physical products, but also to collect research on how discarded materials can be used effectively to design functional and aesthetically pleasing pieces.
LOTS MORE GREAT GREEN DESIGN STORIES HERE... KEEP READING!
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