Prefabricated housing used to be limited to trailer parks. But it’s looking now as if the time has come for factory-made, mass-produced housing to take its place at the forefront of the architecture scene.
European designers and avant-garde American architects have already joined the movement, and now it’s Canada’s time. The nation’s short construction season and wide-open spaces put Canada at the cutting edge of architectural couture.
The LV Kit Home
The LV began life as a little oasis in Chile for architect Rocio Romero’s parents. She had designed a compact but sleek rectangular home that was portable and inexpensive. Since then, her basic kit has sparked interest in architectural circles for its extremely clean lines. Now, she has released both larger and smaller designs for other uses. Her camp series features high-end post-modern shacks with decks and a wood stove that can sleep up to four people. Romero’s kits cost as little as $36,060, and even including additional costs, hits a high of about $131,600.
The Glidehouse
Architect Michelle Kaufmann has designed the beautiful and much-praised steel-and-glass Glidehouse, which comes with everything intact, from cabinetry to windows and doors. Clothes horses and pack rats will appreciate Kaufmann’s consideration in installing generous closet space and storage. The home is designed for natural ventilation and light and can be outfitted with solar panels, a geothermal or wind generator or a hybrid system. A two-storey version has also been designed for smaller urban lots. The Glidehouses are created in a factory near Vancouver, and run about $206,00 for a two-bedroom fully-fitted unit.
The Royal Q
A 620-square-foot cottage with two bedrooms, a deck and a wood stove, the Q series was designed for Royal Homes by Kohn Shnier Architects. It is a sleek home designed for living year-round, sitting in its natural setting on top of columns or in a basement. The homes are constructed in the company’s Wingham, Ont., warehouse, and the company delivers all over Ontario and Michigan to anywhere with a road wide enough to accommodate its truck. There are several projects in the works this year. A Royal Q home will cost roughly $150,000, plus the price of land. The homes are outfitted to allow for such sustainable extras as a compost toilet, bamboo floors and solar and wind power.
The miniHome
An all-season home that is completely portable and capable of going off-grid, the miniHome offers urban loft styling with a green sensibility. It’s a compact 350-square-foot space, with a loft bed, full bath, kitchen, office and dining room space — and storage in every nook and cranny. A green roof is included in the basic model, and for a small upgrade, the building can be outfitted with solar panels and a wind turbine or a compost toilet. It is currently priced at about $145,000 with all the extras.
Spacebox
Looking more like Duplo blocks than the grey high-rises associated with student residences in Canada, Dutch architect Mart de Jong has created a stackable, self-contained prefab unit that can be installed and moved quickly. The small studios come with a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom and can easily be fitted with electricity, water, sewage and a phone line. Hundreds have been used to help solve the student housing crisis in the Netherlands, and there are plans to expand throughout Europe. They are constructed of the same light-weight materials used to build airplanes and ships, so they can be stacked up to three units high.
PRE-FAB HAS YOUTH APPEAL
Lloyd Alter sees modern prefab architecture as the perfect fit for a generation expecting fashionable modern design at budget prices.
“You’ve got the Ikea generation saying, ‘I don’t wear my parents’ clothes or use my parents’ furniture. Why am I living in my parents’ house?’” says Alter, an environmental writer and the driving force behind the Royal Q line, a new line of prefab cottages.
Alter sees Canada as a market even better suited to prefab homes than the U.S.
“Modular houses are still looked down on a bit (in the U.S.). In Canada they’re not,” he said. “Canada is at the forefront of modern prefab.”
One company taking its first steps into the prefab world is Toronto-based Sustain Design Studio. Partners Andy Thomson and Daniel Hall have built their first miniHome, which they launched to much curiosity at the National Home Show in Toronto last weekend. One young fan said their portable post-modern RV was “taking the trash out of trailers.”
Not only do many modern prefab homes have room to add environmental options such as wind or solar power, but the fact that they are smaller in size and made in factories cuts down on the industrial waste associated with building.
And while the units will be a bit pricier until the companies begin producing them in large numbers, the investment might be worthwhile in the end, Alter said.
“These are so much more energy efficient, there will be a huge upswing as everyone gets their gas and electrical bills over the next few years,” he said. “This is the year that’s going to be the big break for modern prefab in Canada.”
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