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The world of prefab and modular homes. |
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| blog.michellekaufmann.com |
A 
Sunset™ BreezeHouse® designed by Michelle Kaufmann Designs will be open for tours this weekend. From an MKD email:
Beginning at 10am on Saturday, June 14th, a custom Sunset® Breezehouse™ will be open to the public thanks to the Built Green Santa Barbara Expo, Conference & Tour being held that weekend. We built this custom Sunset® Breezehouse™ for an artist couple and their children so it not only reflects their family’s commitment to sustainable living but also their unique personalities and talents.
Some details about the home from the tour page:
The Santa Barbara Breezehouse is unique in its construction. The units flanking the BreezeSpace were built at a factory in Tacoma, Washington – including the framing, insulation, electrical, flooring, tiles, walls and plumbing components – then transported to Santa Barbara on flatbed trucks and craned into place on the foundation. This process reduced the amount of on-site waste generated and the total construction time for the project. Site work was done by local green builders Allen Associates.
(For reference: Allen Associates)
Also worth attending:
The evening prior to that, June 13th at 6pm, I will be delivering a keynote address at the Built Green conference and would love to have you there for that, as well!
Most importantly, both the tour and the conference are free.
The MKD blog shares more details, including images (like the one of the moveable aluminum shutters above).
Well worth a visit!
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| dwell.com |
We weren't able to attend this year's Dwell on Design show in LA, so we'll just do a recap from afar.
Dwell's student blogger Jose Garcia interviewed Michelle Kaufmann.
Curbed LA gave a rundown of the prefab neighborhood with a slideshow and commentary.
Marmol Radziner shared some details on their blog. They rolled out the new Rincon 5 at the show:
The 660 square foot Rincon 5 is the largest of our new series of single module accessory buildings. The Rincon 5 is designed to be used as a guest house, office, or vacation retreat.
Apartment Therapy posted their thoughts, with a slideshow.
One of the most popular (and cramped) exhibits was the 1000 sq. ft. HOM shotgun style pre-fab house. Personally our favourite of the homes showcased.
We'll cover HOM in more detail soon. Until then, Jetson Green provided some info:
Of the three models that HOM plans for production, the (smaller) 1000 sf design was exhibited throughout the weekend in LA. HOM designs cost in the $200 psf range, which calculates to approximately $200,000 for a 1000 sf house....
One interesting aspect of these manufactured homes is that they're characterized under the federal HUD code for manufactured housing. Similar to the modern designs we see with miniHome, HOM homes have an axle and wheels that are disguised by skirting and decking.
(For reference: our miniHome page.)
This year's prefab exhibitors:
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Empyrean International
- Gregg Fleishman Studio
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Hive Modular
- HOM
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kitHAUS
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Modern Cabana
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Marmol Radziner
- pieceHomes
Absent from the show, but present last year:
If you visited the show, please leave your impressions in a comment!
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| http://msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/smart-home/ |
We previously provided an overview of MKD's mkSolaire being installed at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. We also shared a video of the construction.
A couple weeks back, the home opened to the public. We haven't had the chance to visit, but many around the blogosphere have.
Dwell visited on May 8th and reports:
It was a gray and rainy day in Chicago yesterday, but ... Michelle Kaufmann's newest prefab was still producing more energy than it used.
The mkSolaire marks Kaufmann's entry into urban neighborhoods. Designed to fit into a standard 25 ft. wide city lot, the home is seven modules – five for 2500 square foot home and two for the garage, which is designed for flexible future use such as conversion to a guest house when the car is abandoned for good.
Jetson Green visited, along with the folks at PrairieMod, May 9th:
There are a couple of wonderful things about what this exhibit is doing. For example, it is making this approach to design completely accessible to the typical citizen in a relevant manner. It isn't just the stuff of highbrow design and shelter magazines. The Smart Home is absolutely real and is made for real people. It honestly inspires folks to see what can be accomplished with a thoughtful plan and current technology. Another exciting aspect is the fact that a prefab home can be built in the Midwest.
Also featured: an interview they recorded with Michelle Kaufmann.
Kaufmann's hometown newspaper, the Quad-City Times, reported on the home and filled in some details:
Admission to the house is $10, an extra fee for an exhibit celebrating the museum’s 75th anniversary and the 1933-34 "Century of Progress" Chicago World’s Fair.The idea for the exhibit came about during a brainstorming session as museum staff members considered an attraction from 75 years ago called "Homes of Tomorrow."
"We thought how amazing would it be to build a fully functioning home on the museum property that honors the past but is forward-looking with green and smart technologies," said Anne Rashford, director of temporary exhibits.
Once the idea was set, it didn’t take long to find Kaufmann, 39.
Exhibit details and images are available on the Museum of Science and Industry site.
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| http://www.dwell.com/peopleplaces/conferences/14292127.html |
Dwell Magazine's third Dwell On Design conference and exhibition is coming to the Los Angeles Convention Center June 5-8.
June 5th and 6th will feature conference sessions on a wide range of topics. On June 6 Michael Sylvester of fabprefab will host a session on "Systems Building and Prefab." Speakers include:
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Michelle Kaufmann of MKD
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Leo Marmol of Marmol Radziner
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Jay Eli of Empyrean International
The public exhibition opens June 7th (emphasis added):
Everything you ever wanted to know about modern design in one very big place: 200+ exhibitors, an entire neighborhood of full-scale pre-fab structures completely landscaped and furnished by Dwell. Plus you'll get hands-on, actionable advice and information from architects, designers and other trade professionals.
Prefab companies that are listed as exhibiting include:
If you're interested in attending, you can register for the exhibition FREE; just enter the code "BDODEC".
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| www.hangarprefab.com |
materialicio.us covered the Joshua Tree prefab:
steel skinned prefab with a wooden interior described as a ‘mountain refuge’, presented at the recent Milan Furniture Fair.
A number of blogs covered the EvolutiV House. Archinect saw it first. MoCo Loco picked up the trail. Treehugger added some details:
The 70 square meter Maison evolutiV was shown at the Salon Européen du bois et de l'Habitat Durable in April....
It is a low consumption modular wood home, ...composed of 2 prefabricated units...
materialicio.us saw the home. And Inhabitat's Prefab Friday liked the home enough to feature it:
The beauty of this design lies in its chestnut façade and inviting floor plan, but also in its small ecological footprint.
Treehugger wrote about a series of prefabs from Swedish company Next House (no relation to Empyrean International's NextHouse). We'll cover those in more detail down the line.
Jetson Green, in conjunction with PrairieMod, visited MKD's mkSolaire at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. We'll cover the unveiling in more detail soon.
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| http://www.dwell.com/daily/blog/18148519.html |
The Dwell blog reported on prefabs at the Milan Furniture Fair.
Contemporist covered the Huf Haus, a kit company in Germany:
...you can choose to put these post and beam homes together yourself, or Huf Haus will manage the whole project for you.
Curbed LA reports on Marmol Radziner:
The firm, known for its high-end prefab homes (such as their Desert Hot Springs prototype), will launch a new line of prefab models that will be priced 20-25 percent less than their existing line.
Apartment Therapy Re-Nest sang praises for MKD and shared a slideshow of Michelle Kaufmann's Glidehouse.
Inhabitat's Prefab Friday shared the Wings prefab from Jenesys Building Systems:
Wings is taking off in great prefab form.
We missed last week, so here is two weeks of prefab news.
Jetson Green found three promotional videos of MKD homes from the MKD blog. One is included below:
Curbed LA shared details of a new prefab rental built by Sander Architects:
...this one-bedroom, one-bath, 1,000 square foot rental is described as being a "stunning new 'green' loft on a tree-lined cul-de-sac in a beautiful residential neighborhood just blocks from downtown Culver City, Sony Studios, Helms District, and Hayden Tract...Cost: $2,300 per month.
materialicio.us wrote about the Prebuilt Mod House Range:
...for those who like their homes clean and crisp with a modernist edge. These finely detailed, timber clad pavilions are based on a modular system offering the ultimate in flexibility...
Inhabitat's Prefab Friday covered a prefab cabin two weeks ago:
...the Clara Cabin from hiveMODULAR is a perfect solution. You get all the comforts of cabin life - a bed, reprieve from the bugs, and weather - while still being able to connect to the surrounding nature.
This week, Prefab Friday looked at a Swedish prefab:
...the Plus House embraces its Nordic roots and rural setting as a thoroughly modern take on the Swedish barn house.
Hive Modular sent out an email update and shared a Picasa page which shows many of their more recent designs.
We missed two of our "this week" posts, so here's a roundup of the past three weeks of prefab news.
Prefab Update shared a video of the installation of MKD's mkSolaire in Chicago:
MoCo Loco posted some pics of the recent kitHAUS K3 install in Big Sur, California.
Jetson Green got excited about a container loft project:
...the first, mid-rise container building in the U.S. is planned for downtown Salt Lake City. The project was designed by none other than Adam Kalkin, container architecture expert, and will be called City Center Lofts.
Inhabitat's Prefab Friday covered a prefab in Brazil, discussed the new joint venture between LivingHomes and KieranTimberlake, and took a look at the ZeroHouse.
Inhabitat also discovered the LV Home in Napa we've discussed previously.
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The Michelle Kaufmann blog announces:
...we have been working very hard for the past few months to get to this point and are now finally ready and delighted to announce that MKD is going to be a part of the “Smart Home: Green + Wired, Powered by ComEd and Warmed by Peoples Gas” exhibit at MSI that’s opening this spring! The exhibit is going to include a full-size mkSolaire™ home to be built in on parkland on the southeast side of the Museum and will showcase the very best in sustainable living concepts and solutions.
A bit more from the museum exhibit page:
During its 75th Anniversary year, the Museum of Science and Industry will be building a functioning, three-story modular and sustainable “green” home ... to highlight unique home technologies for the 21st century.
The Greater Fort Wayne [Illinois] Business Weekly quotes Art Breitenstein of the home's builder, All American Homes:
The home’s module construction will be under way for two or three more weeks on one of the All American assembly lines in Decatur....“This is a special house, a very high-priced house; it has the best of the best. ... there’s a lot of new technology in there that’s one-of-a-kind that if it becomes accepted by consumers, like anything else, the price comes down of course.”
Jetson Green says:
I can't wait to see more!
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Banks.com loves weeHouses and the new weeHouse site:
I like weeHouses for three reasons:
They look cool, and what’s not to love about that boxy Frank Lloyd Wright style?
They are eco-friendly....
These houses are smaller and more streamlined, yet still appear functional....
The Good Human's Prefab Wednesday covered an Australian prefab home, called The Mod House from Prebuilt. We'll look at that company in more detail soon.
Inhabitat's Prefab Friday got excited about a gingerbread version of the mkLotus:
The only thing better than beautifully designed green prefab is edible green prefab! One of our favorite green architects Michelle Kauffman, in honor of the holiday season, has designed a yummy version of her awesome zero energy mkLotus, made entirely from gingerbread cookies...
Treehugger, Curbed San Francisco, and re-nest also enjoyed the holiday version of prefab.
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| mkd-arc.com |
Michelle Kaufmann's mkLoft will be used in a new development in Denver. From the Rocky Mountain News:
Denver developers Susan Powers and Chuck Perry are teaming with Kaufmann to put 40 factory-built town houses on 21 acres near Regis University at West 52nd Avenue and Federal Boulevard. The 1,100- to 1,500-square-foot town houses will be built at the All American Homes factory in Milliken, in Weld County, and trucked 60 miles, in sections, to the Denver site for assembly.That they're modular won't be apparent, as factory-built houses don't necessarily have the mass- produced, cookie-cutter look they did 30 years ago.
Read more about the plans in the full article.
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| mkd-arc.com |
Michelle Kaufmann Designs is one of the hottest companies in the modernist prefab world today. Right on the heels of the mkLotus comes the announcement of the mkLoft:
This spacious 2-story, 2-bedroom + loft features a double-high ceiling in the living room, creating an open, harmonious environment for reflection and creativity.mkLoft™ is the perfect design for urban dwelling, whether you are looking to build your primary residence or live/work solution, a duplex, or a healthy community, this home can be designed in 2- or 3-story configurations to suit your needs....
mkLoft™ is also ideal in a multifamily development layout.
The Good Human was impressed:
She has done it again - come out with another stunning example of what a modern prefab can be.
Inhabitat noted the low price of the homes:
Depending on volume and finishes, the typical mkLoft ranges from $130 to $140/sf. This does not include the cost of land nor the permit approval process.
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| modern-modular.com |
CubeMe discussed the Bombala house, an offering from Modern Modular.
Curbed LA wrote about the first weeHouse in Los Angeles:
...a three-unit weeHouse (yes, that's how it's spelled) development for Valevista Trail. A family is planning to build the development, which is currently in the permit phase, and sell the homes...
Spanish-language blog Cien Ladrillos wrote a long post about prefabs in Spain.
Inhabitat's Prefab Friday and The Good Human's Prefab Wednesday both covered the mkLoft from Michelle Kaufmann Designs. We'll discuss that in more detail soon.
Jetson Green looked at a new container project in Panama City, Panama.
I happened upon a new blog called Prefab Dweller, which looks to cover "modern prefab housing, modern architecture, and green housing." Recent posts include one about Alchemy Architects' weeHouse.
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| thegoodhuman.com |
The Good Human's Prefab Wednesday discovered new designs from Gregory La Vardera, many of which are offered by EcoSteel:
"I would love to have one of these as a year-round home! A true prefab it is not, because the houses are built on-site, but I still love the idea of a ready-made 'custom designed' home plan..."
Last week, The Good Human covered the Jeriko House.
Inhabitat's Prefab Friday filed a video report about the mkLotus.
Last week, Inhabitat discussed the Drop House prototype.
A handful of blogs wrote about the Napa Rocio Romero Prefab, including architecture.MNP and Jetson Green.
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| cnet.com |
Last week CNET released a video report from the mkLotus (3:13). This follows last month's visit to the XtremeHomes factory.
The video features some interior views of the house and an interview with Rebecca Woelke, who's in charge of PR for Michelle Kaufmann Designs.
Other coverage of West Coast Green around the web:
The Contra Costa Times filed a report about the show.
The Las Vegas Wash gave an overview of coverage.
EcoGeek discussed the features of the mkLotus.
Home by sunset shared more photos of the mkLotus.
The Marin Independent Journal wrote about Michelle Kaufmann.
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| © copyright 2007 Peter Bernheim |
By far the most popular and exciting prefab presence at West Coast Green was Michelle Kaufmann and the mkLotus showhouse.
The show house was set right in front of San Francisco City Hall, out in the open for all to see. And see it people did. Visitors lined up to tour the home and looked to be waiting upwards of half an hour on Saturday's Homeowner Day (due to the home's size, the show staff were limiting the number of people in at any one time).
While the home was small, around 700 sf, it felt plenty roomy. The home featured a window wall system from NanaWall that opens accordion-style to create a near seamless indoor/outdoor room. The bathroom was luxurious for such a small home. And the ample outdoor living space (decks, patios, courtyards) was a welcome addition.
Some of the features and details that I saw as I toured the house:
• angled walls to make spaces feel larger
• translucent doors to divide spaces but not block all light
• high ceilings
• tons of glass
• control system for house lighting and temperature
• plants on the roof (a "living roof") help to limit rain runoff and provide natural insulation
• quality materials
• built in iPod audio system
All of these add-ons and options push the home out of many folks' price range though. For instance, the NanaWall system runs ~$1,500 per single panel (the mkLotus had xx). My understanding is that the home starts around $150,000, but can venture past $225k with all of the add-ons featured on the show home.
A note worth mentioning, and one repeated throughout the conference: these homes may seem expensive, but much of that is due to their "green" features, from rainwater catchment systems, to solar panels galore.
Jill and Emily at Inhabitat loved the house:
"Above and beyond all the green, however, the house is just a testament to thoughtful, smart design. Every material, system and design choice in the house seems to be thought out, and have purpose. The high ceilings, skylights, gently angled walls, floor to ceiling glass and copious daylight all work to make the 700 sf house feel a lot bigger and more spacious than it actually is."They also uploaded a bunch of photos of the house to Flickr.
CBS 5 San Francisco offered a video report from the home.
With the mkLotus as the star attraction of the show, Michelle Kaufmann had a sort of celebrity aura to her. She spoke a number of times, on topics ranging from the show house to "Women in Green." She shows great enthusiasm for her work (and the work is prolific). The talks focused on the green aspects of the different MK products. Their work is separated into three categories:
• pre-configured options: pre-designed with finish and fixture options available
• custom designs: feature the MKD aesthetic but fully flexible in design configurations
• modern green communities: multi-family housing (which helps reduce costs significantly)
I'll share further info on a number of developments and new products from MKD in the coming weeks.
More West Coast Green coverage in the coming days.
We weren't at Dwell on Design last weekend, but a lot of others were.
BLDGBLOG covered a talk by Michelle Kaufmann and fellow architect Michael McDonough:
"Michelle Kaufmann, meanwhile, still speaking as I type this, is introducing everyone to green roofs, rainwater catchment, passive/active solar energy systems, and the relatively streamlined construction process involved in assembling one of her projects. She even, briefly, touched on issues of affordability (or the lack thereof)."
PrairieMod produced some rambling podcasts from the show. Day 1 featured a review of the opening day speakers and show setup. Day 2 shared some photos from the show and more reviews of speakers.
Inhabitat posted details each day. Day 1: the speakers and some photos. Day 2: the outdoor area and kitHAUS.
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| abc7news.com |
I'm at West Coast Green, and just wanted to link to a couple more pieces of coverage of the event and the mkLotus.
From ABC 7 News in San Francisco: a live report earlier this week showed the near-complete house.
It has to be the most stylish one on the planet. It's only 725 square feet -- that's part of the message -- to be green, you don't need to build so big. Since it's modular, you can buy other pieces and add on to it."
The home was dubbed the mkLotus house by its designer, Michelle Kaufman Designs. The exterior is smart and sleek, with double-paned, floor-to-ceiling windows surrounding the living room and sustainably grown red balau wood and slabs of fly-ash concrete siding the back half....
According to XtremeHome CEO Tim Schmidt, without all the extras, an mkLotus could cost as little as $64,000, and he can have one good to go in less than six months."
[The] house...'was designed as an oasis,' Kaufmann says. 'It can be perfect for a vacation home, or a home where you feel like you're on vacation.'
The popularity of the two- to four-bedroom Glidehouse brought countless inquiries for in-law units and cottages, said Rebecca Woelke, spokeswoman for Michelle Kaufmann Designs.
'We wanted to give clients a different type of design in a one-bedroom layout,' Woelke said, something that 'opens entire living spaces to the outdoors and brings the outdoors in.' To do that, mkLotus' signature feature is its NanaWalls, floor-to-ceiling glass doors in the living room that fold up like an accordion to welcome nature into the home. 'This house blurs the boundary between the interior and exterior.'"
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| westcoastgreen.com |
The West Coast Green residential building conference and expo starts this Thursday in San Francisco. I will be attending and am looking forward to seeing the mkLotus in person.
West Coast Green is "America's largest residential green building conference". September 20-21 are limited to building professionals, but the general public is invited for September 22s "Homeowner Day":
"West Coast Green will host community leaders and visionaries, such as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Hollywood actor Ed Begly Jr., environmental/civil rights leader Van Jones and many others. Homeowners looking to design and build a new, energy-efficient green home, or those looking to upgrade the efficiency of their existing homes, will benefit from walking the tradeshow floor, abounding with hundreds of products and services to build, remodel, power, insulate, clean, furnish and finance their green homes."
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| boklok.com |
CubeMe covered the IKEA BoKlok housing system we've discussed.
The Good Human's Prefab Wednesday discussed the Quik House from Adam Kalkin:
"Although there is currently a 6 month waiting list, this looks like a very nice alternative to some of the more expensive prefab homes on the market."
Builder Online anticipates the West Coast Green Building Conference and the arrival of the mkLotus.
Jetson Green gave a sneak preview of a new prefab concept, the Nodul(ar) House, which is being announced this weekend at the Dwell on Design conference.
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| cnet.com |
CNET has released a video (3:14) showing the mkLotus being built in the XtremeHomes factory. CEO Tim Schmidt mentions a key advantage of factory-built homes: reduced construction time with employees rather than contractors. Michelle Kaufmann discusses the green features and demonstrates the NanaWall.
(Scott adds two gripes: CNET's video player is flaky, and the pre-roll ad is annoying.)
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| homebysunset.com |
Home by sunset visited the XtremeHomes factory and reported back:
"We saw the fully installed folding glass panels, which are called Nanawalls...three sides of the living-dining room. They silently glide away to unite inside and outside: this is how to live large in a small space."
The Good Human's Prefab Wednesday covered the JoT House:
"I love this house. [Its] sleek modern lines, affordability and 'green-ness' make it a good option for those looking for a modern prefab house."
Inhabitat's Prefab Friday featured a video of design firm LOT-EK speaking about their shipping container architecture.
The LA Investor's Real Estate Blog discussed two prefab projects, the WIRED LivingHome and Marmol Radziner Prefab.
Architecture.mnp loves A Prefab Project too.
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'Prefab' can mean more than the modernist prefabs featured in Dwell and other design magazines, as Grace at Apartment Therapy LA found out:
"When friends of mine told me that they were building a prefab house on their lot on the outskirts of San Diego, I was expecting an offshoot of the Glide House. Imagine my surprise when they sent me a photo of their rustic cedar mansion courtesy of Lindal..."
According to the Lindal Cedar Homes FAQ:
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| xhllc.com |
We recently reported on the mkLotus show house from Michelle Kaufmann Designs. Modular builder XtremeHomes will be fabricating the mkLotus at their factory in Oroville, CA.
"XtremeHomes provides a diverse array of architectural styles from ultra-modern to highly detailed alpine homes. Our product offerings address a variety of consumers with our entry level Neighborhood Series™, to an XtremeCustom™ home or a house from one of our Signature Series™ architects. Through its ongoing research and development, XtremeHomes focuses on ways to produce homes with less environmental impact, that are more energy efficient, are healthier and of higher quality. XtremeHomes, an Energy Star® partner, endeavors to build all of its houses to Energy Star®, LEED® and Build It Green® standards."
XtremeHomes will be a part of the West Coast Green building conference in September.
As an aside, are we the first to link to their (new?) Web site? link:xhllc.com. This post should help get them into the Google results:
• xhllc.com
• xtremehomes