By: Johnny Hartsfield

The Tacoma Housing Authority (THA), located just south of Seattle, is pursuing its first modular housing project in the hopes of bringing affordable and sustainable homes to an economically diverse community.  THA will be constructing Hillsdale Heights, a 110-unit housing community, on the former Hillsdale Lumber sawmill site.  The community will include 60 low-income rental units, 50 affordable for-sale townhomes, a small community center, trails and green space.   

Designed by GGLO of Seattle and manufactured by Guerdon Enterprises of Idaho, the project aims to combine modular technology with sustainable design systems to achieve LEED Silver certification and the new Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard. 

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

GreenFab had previously shown the progress leading up to the opening of MoMA’s “Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling” but we have yet to share some of the opinions of those that seem to be less impressed with MoMA’s efforts to explain the history behind prefabricated dwellings and the five international architects’ take on “the future”. 

The Washington Post recently published an article titled “Walls That Talk, and Repeat Themselves” that raises some interesting points about the story MoMA is telling about prefabricated design and construction.  Here are a few highlights:

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

The team that brought us BedZED back in 2002 has released yet another zero carbon housing product called ruralZED earlier this year at EcoBuild in Earls Court, London.  The ZEDfactory installed their new affordable, zero carbon home in only 3 days.  ruralZED is a high quality housing system combining micro-generation and small biomass technologies that help achieve a Level 6 in England’s Code for Sustainable Homes.  What makes this product unique is that the ZEDfactory has built into their system the ability to upgrade from a Code 3 to a Code 6 for 70% of all UK building sites. 

ruralZED is made of a hybrid laminated timber frame flexible enough for a variety of master plan options at fixed prefabricated kit prices with volume discounts.  Minimizing its demand on resources, ruralZED catches sunlight, wind, fresh air and rain using tried and tested energy systems.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Located on a brown-field site on Bermondsey Street in London, Carmarthen Place SE1 incorporates sustainable building practices, historic vernacular and contextual sympathy into a prefabricated, timber clad urban infill project.  Designed by architect Emma Doherty with AiR, the project consists of two 2-bedroom homes and an artist’s studio. 

An innovative solid wood panel system was chosen for its total cassette system panels complete with insulation, breather membranes, batons, cladding and pre-fitted fenestration and doors.  The large panels were craned, erected and bolted together on-site in just 12 days.  The laminated solid wood panels are 100mm thick and form the breathable structural skeleton of the building as well as the finished interior surface.  Internal staircases were made on-site using English Oak and are bathed in light piercing through double height voids covered in glass.  Deep set windows and boxed protrusions give framed views on the top two floors while high-level windows on the ground floor create a sense of privacy.  Complete with a sedum green roof, Carmarthen Place SE1 is the first project in the UK to be developed using Riko’s sustainable system.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

“Visionary architect Dr. David Fisher is the creator of the revolutionary Dynamic Tower, the world’s first building in motion. The Dynamic Tower heralds a new era of architecture: Buildings in motion will challenge traditional architecture, becoming the symbol of a new philosophy that will change the look of our cities and the concept of living.

The Dynamic Tower offers infinite design possibilities, as each floor rotates independently at different speeds, resulting in a unique and ever evolving shape that introduces a fourth dimension to architecture, Time.

The Dynamic Tower is environmentally friendly, with the ability to generate electricity for itself as well as other buildings nearby making it the first building designed to be self-powered, it achieves this feat with wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor. An 80-story building will have up to 79 wind turbines, making it a true green power plant.

The Dynamic Tower is also the first skyscraper to be built entirely from prefabricated parts that are custom made in a workshop, resulting of fast construction and of substantial cost savings . this approach known as the Fisher Method, also requires far less workers on construction site while each floor of the building can be completed in only seven days, units can also be customized according to the owners needs and styles.”

>> Dynamic Architecture

By: Johnny Hartsfield

Danish architects Tegnestuen Vandkunsten have developed a low-cost modular housing prototype that was the product of a 2004 competition to create affordable units without sacrificing architectural quality.  This prototype will help their Danish client launch the next 124 courtyard homes.  There are four different courtyard housing types, derived from 5.2×5.2 meter modules, gathered around a communal space.  Each kitchen window opens out onto these intimate landscapes.  The facades of each building are carbonized (baked or heat-treated) wood and aluminum.

The concept is called ”bedre billigere boliger (bbb)” and literally translates to mean “better cheaper housing”.  Creating an affordable project with high architectural detailing was a challenge.  One design area the client chose to spend money on was the windows.  By putting more money in all the windows, the overall quality of the project could be raised in one single move. 

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

And the Australian Institute of Architects Small Project award goes to: Casey Brown’s Permanent Camping.  Permanent Camping is a small 3×3x6m prefab tower situated in Australia’s outback.  The sides are made of corrugated copper to protect against brush fires and fold up and down for shade and security.  Amenities include a kitchen, sleeping loft, detached copper-clad outhouse and a water collection tank. 

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Verana Hotels has just expanded their Yelapa, Mexico hotel with 5 units of prefabricated modern dwellings perched high on a cliff.  Each V-House, designed by Heinz Legler, is 16′x16′ with open sides to maintain views and air flow.  This project was an experiment of sorts and is intended to house guests and seasonal hotel staff.  Standing 18′ apart, the V-houses have basically no environmental impact or foot print and can be built on any surface condition.

Each house is self sufficient with solar integration, composting toilets and a grey water system that helps irrigate the surrounding garden.  Prefabricated in Puerto Vallarta, the homes were delivered by boat and carried up the hill using no machinery or heavy duty equipment.  The structures emerge from a small concrete foundation and are made out of steel, plywood and red corrugated iron.   

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

This 1,600-square-foot structure was designed and built for the people of Greensburg by the students in the University of Kansas School of Architecture’s award-winning Studio 804 course.  Using modular design dimensioned to the length of long truck trailers rather than the width, the 547 Community Art Center is a LEED Platinum building that uses a combination of active and passive energy systems including water reclamation, solar integration and cross ventilation.  Other sustainable features include: wind turbines, geothermal heating, thermal massing and a green roof.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Momo is a modern modular-based interpretation of the weekend cottage designed by Thomas Lind from Grasshopper Studio.  The house contains two modular boxes of living space separated by an outdoor lounge area.  The structure is covered with a tensile fabric roof structure and is flexible enough in design to give a myriad of layout opportunities that can be moved for various urban and residential situations.

The larger module contains the living area, kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom and children’s bedroom whereas the smaller section is for guests.  Made of solid wood at 10 square meters, each module is able to be customized to meet different building site and user needs.  The foundation is designed with pillars with a surrounding wooden terrace and the roof contains grasses and succulents. 

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Christensen & Co Arketekter has been short-listed for the Low Cost Housing Competition, 12,000m².  Their project, Low emission housing in Allerod, is based on three parameters: low construction costs, high energy efficiency and quality housing.  The design team has achieved this by a repetition of a few pre-fab units.  The units are situated on the site as a series of terraces that open to a centralized green common area that provides circulation and gathering space for the residents.

This is the scale where modular construction show its true benefits.  Like any factory process, a larger number of units migrating across the assembly line allows an efficiency and cost effectiveness that cannot be matched by traditional construction practices.

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

The System3 prototype house has been installed outside of MoMA and is ready for your visit. 

There are only 18 days left until the opening of Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling, MoMA’s new exhibition on the past, present and future of prefabricated homes.  The installation consists of the selected works of five international architects and will display full-scale prefabricated homes in the outdoor space to the west of the Museum’s main building.  Each home is currently in a different stage of assembly on site - Read more to see installation progress

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

Sebastian Irarrazaval’s 140 m2 low-cost home is cross-shaped to take advantage of the surrounding landscape in Colina, Chile.  This prefabricated home sits in the Chilean hillside and has a simple geometry covered with steel plates that weather over time. 

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

If you missed Michelle Kaufmann’s custom Sunset Breezehouse open house in Santa Barbara last weekend, here is your chance to check it out.  In conjunction with the Built Green Santa Barbara Expo, Conference, and Tour, the open house revealed some great sustainable features including; permeable walkways and decking, a LouvreTec open roof system, solar integration, rainwater collection, natural cooling, and radiant heating.

The Breezehouse is centered around a site-built glass-enclosed breezeway which “lets the green in” to the main living and dinning areas.  The units on either side of the breezeway, including the framing, insulation, electrical, flooring, tiles, walls and plumbing, were constructed in a factory in Tacoma, Washington and transported via flatbed truck to the site in Santa Barbara. 

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By: Johnny Hartsfield

The Magic Box is a new prefab “versatile box that changes the stereotypes of prefabricated houses and extension rooms by having qualities such as transparency and simplistic form with high versatility.”  This concept comes from Magic Box, Inc. and designer Jun Ueno to provide a type of space that people have never experienced before - a ‘fusion’ of art and architecture.

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