Viridis Homes in the UK offers 4 modular models:

Model	Price	Size	BR	Bath
Bungalow	$132,867 (£83,203)	898 sf (83.38 m²)	2	1
Terraced	$79,845 - $95,814 (£50,000 - £60,000)	905 sf (84.11 m²)	2	2
Semi-Detached	$130,472 (£81,703)	905 sf (84.11 m²)	2	2
Detached House	$133,181 (£83,400)	905 sf (84.11 m²)	2	2

According to their site:

Our homes are manufactured under factory controlled conditions and are delivered complete with all internal and external finishes, ready for assembly. Unlike other modular buildings, our homes can be transported and installed without the need for expensive cranes. Once the homes have arrived onsite, they are assembled and connected to services quickly and easily within 48 hours by our own team of specialists.

Hat tip: Manchester Confidential Property on May 6, 2009.

Yesterday, The LA times reported that Michelle Kaufmann Designs is closing.

Green prefab architecture firm Michelle Kaufmann Designs is calling it quits, a victim of the credit crisis and broader woes in the economy. In a letter sent over Memorial Day weekend, Kaufmann told clients the firm would close by the end of this week. She confirmed the news in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.

...

Kaufmann sold the factory last year and in November trimmed the size of her Oakland office to 17. She thought those moves would help see the firm through the recession. But two factories MKD worked with have gone out of business since then, and clients and potential clients have found it almost impossible to get financing.

"Being a small company without significant reserves, that was more head wind than we could bear," she said.

According to the article, she will continue working as a consultant. We wish her luck in her future endeavors.

There's more details in the article, and we expect additional discussion across the industry.

Hat tip: Jetson Green on May 26, 2009.

We recently received an email from ma, an offspring of KRDB in Austin, TX. From their site:

When we were searching for a name for our new modern, modular company, we kept returning to the Japanese concept, ma, meaning an interval in time and space, a dramatic pause, the silence between phrases of music. In architecture it is a quiet, neutral space that enhances the whole of a design.

They currently offer 6 modules:

Model	Size	BR	Bath
dharma	540 sf	0	1
karma	540 sf	0	1
intima	540 sf	2	1
maxima	900 sf	0	1
grandma	900 sf	1	1
soma	900 sf	2	2

More information:

• connector and stair modules are available
• timeline: "Zero-to-house in 180 days...Two weeks after arrival you can move in."
• price: $125/sf and $150/sf
• picture gallery
• blog

Some news we missed in March: Epoch Homes was nominated for a Small Business Association of New England (SBANE) Innovation Award for its Unique Green Design/Build System.

Interesting to note:

Epoch became the first modular home manufacturer in the nation to be certified under the Modular Green Approved program now offered by the NAHB Research Center, which administers the National Green Building Certification program for residential construction.

Hat tip: Building Systems on March 27, 2009.

Jetson Green recently covered a pilot project in Washington state.

With the sponsorship of the Seattle Archidiocesan Housing Authority and a grant from Enterprise Community Partners, Mithun designed three prefabricated modules to provide a model for affordable housing for farmworkers and their families.

Each of the 3 module designs by Mithun are 580 sf.

Two of the first constructed units will go to farms in Skagit Valley, while the other will likely end up in Yakima. Upon completion, the homes will be publicly available by appointment.

Check out the post for more pictures and see Mithun's project detail page for further information.

We didn't see any information on costs, so it's not clear if the "affordable" part of the goal was met.

We received an email this week from Alchemy Architects announcing their weeHouse Open House today and this weekend.

host: Heart of North, LLC

Model details:

model: Saturn weeHouse

designer: Alchemy Architects

size: 250 sf

br: studio

bath: 1

price: ~$65,000

Form & Forest recently sent us an email announcing the latest addition to their lineup of Flat Pack Cabins. Here's our usual summary:

model: Lookout

designer: D'Arcy Jones Design

manufacturer: Form & Forest

size: 1,559 sf

br: 2

bath: 2

price: $99,900

available: yes

Check out their brochure (PDF) for the floorplan and further details.

materialicious recently linked to an interesting Dwell Magazine article from 2005. The article covered a mountaintop house built with prefab elements by Anderson Anderson Architecture.

the house adds an interesting case study to the ongoing research project that is prefabricated building—another rung to the ladder the building industry needs to climb to maximize prefab’s potential

From the slideshow:

Architect Peter Anderson explains that “the floating nature of the design would not have been possible with conventional onsite framing techniques, nor any of the currently marketed modular home designs.” Using a heavy structural steel frame, engineered wood spline beam system, and structural insulated panels, the architects created a truly unique hybrid structural system and, in the end, a home.

The use of structural insulated panels (SIPs) throughout the house helped speed the construction process. Peter Anderson explains, "The panels themselves hang from and rest upon the steel frame and wood spline beam system, which is the link between the steel frame and the panels. The SIPs provide enclosure, insulation, and the spanning capacity to support the cast-concrete floor."

Read the article for more information.

Haven Custom Homes recently issued a press release announcing their receipt of the 2009 Modular Multi Family Award from the National Modular Housing Council (NMHC). The award was given for the design "The Alcott".

The Alcott is part of a new townhome project scheduled to be built this summer at Mt. Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.

Model details:

model: The Alcott

designer: New Hampshire Design Collaborative

manufacturer: Haven Custom Homes

builder: Sequel Development and Management

size: 2,500 sf

Check out the architect's renderings.

The awards are co-sponsored by the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) which has a complete list of winners.

Hat tip: Maryland Gazette on May 6, 2009.

Northland's NewsCenter in Duluth, MN recently featured the setting of a modular home manufactured by Dynamic Homes and installed by Ideal Homes.

See the post for a multimedia version of the story (2:11).

Epoch Homes will be conducting factory tours this weekend.

Details:

If you can't make it to their factory, check out their video tour. (3:18)

Inhabitat recently shared pictures of the Puma City Shipping Container Store designed by LOT EK.

The portable Puma Store...makes clever re-use of discarded shipping containers and has been traveling around the world as a spokes-structure for both Puma and prefabricated buildings.

It will be on display at Fan Pier in Boston until May 16th.

Blue Sky Homes recently finished their Yucca Valley Prototype.

It has been exactly 8 weeks since we started this journey and I’m happy to report that the house is finished – furniture is in, television is working, literally a turn-key house!

Check out the post for more pictures.

Clayton Homes officially launched their much anticipated iHouse.

They offer 2 models and an optional flex room:

Model	Size	BR	Bath	Price
iHouse I	723 sf	1	1	$74,900
iHouse II	1,023 sf	2	1	$93,300
Flex I	268 sf	0	1	$26,660

View the brochures:

• iHouse I brochure (PDF)
• iHouse II brochure (PDF)

Take a virtual tour:

• iHouse I virtual tour
• iHouse II virtual tour
• Flex I virtual tour

Configure your own iHouse via their website.

Hat tip: Jetson Green on May 3, 2009.

While researching a post last week, we noticed that we overlooked last year's AIA awards. Here's the American Institute of Architects press release announcing the 19 recipients of their 2008 Housing Awards.

Of particular interest to Prefabcosm readers:

Wissioming Residence by Robert M. Gurney, FAIA

From the architect's website:

Structural pre-cast concrete planks are employed throughout the project in effort to expedite the construction process, span large open areas and to provide the ability to heat the house hydronically.

Streeter House by Salmela Architect

By using prefabricated materials, this house sets a standard for sustainable construction methods. The house comprises a simple kit of parts: glass, concrete block, Glulam beams, structural insulated panels (SIPs), and pipe.

Macallen Building Condominiums by Burt Hill, Inc.

use of recycled materials, and fabricated systems, which were transported from within 500 miles, were all part of the sustainable design implementation

Crabapple House by Randy Brown Architects

The intended goal was to design an affordable, modern, eco-friendly home that would sell at the same price point as a homebuilder house with comparable square footage. The result was a modular-designed “bar” that sits on a poured-in-place concrete foundation.

Urban Infill by Johnsen Schmaling Architects

consists of two interlocking building blocks, a compact two-story wood cube, and a single-story concrete block bar. The cube is based on a strict 48-inch module to maximize the use of standard sheets

DigsDigs recently featured a cedar shingled house in North Elmham, UK.

Floors, walls and roofing [are] made of prefabricated timber

Model details:

model: Cedar House

designer: Hudson Architects

manufacturer: Framework Construction Design Management Ltd

br: 2

price: $369,264 (£245,000)

Check out the post for more pictures, and see the Cedar House video (1:26) on the architect's website.

GreenSource Magazine recently named their Best Green House for April 2009.

model: Cascade House

designer: Paul Raff Studio

size: ~3,788 sf (352 m2)

Its exterior is constructed of SIPs, while wood-stud partitions make up the interior partitions.

Read the entire article for more information and to see additional pictures.

Hat tip: Jetson Green on April 30, 2009.

The home page of Dwell Magazine currently features a 2005 article about a house in Wisconsin built using SIPs. It was designed by David Salmela of Salmela Architect.

The larger of the two units (which contains the kitchen, dining area, lounge, master bedroom, bath, and screen porch) is 900 square feet, and the smaller (where the guest room and bath, office area, and mechanical room are located) measures 360 square feet. The house, which was finished in 2003, cost $295,000 to build.

Read the entire article for more information.