Architecture: Arthur Casas Design Area: 200 sqm Landscaping: Renata Tilli Location: São Paulo, Brazil Year: 2018 Photography: Filippo Bamberghi
Some say houses are made of brick;
Some say they are made of the relationship between spaces;
There are also those who say they are made of mishaps.
We believe that home is time and space.
It is to enjoy time in the best space.
Arthur Casas introduces the SysHaus sustainable prefab home modular system at its pre-launch at CASACOR São Paulo 2018. The technology developed by his office made it possible to build a high-end home in less than a month, with virtually zero waste and water consumption. Each part of the project has been designed exclusively on the basis of needs and specifications, extremely efficiently and functionally, without debris and with reduced execution time.
With 200 m², the structure of pillars, beams and steel screws does not require foundation and concreting. Everything is docked from floor to ceiling. About 90% of the components come from the bespoke factory. In addition, 100% of the materials used are recyclable, and there is a green roof, which naturally contributes to thermal and acoustic comfort, giving the utmost respect to nature in all construction processes.
Generous openings allow the sustainable prefab home to be crossed by ventilation and natural light, reducing energy consumption with lighting and air conditioning. The furniture was designed in modules, ie, just like the structure of the sustainable prefab home, can be assembled in another location. Other pieces of furniture, utilities, finishes and even accessories, such as jewelry, were designed by Arthur in partnership with large companies and national industries - most of them being launched. The house's landscaping is by Renata Tilli, who opted for species that adapt to the climate of any region.
The constructive method will also be commercialized including sustainable everyday practices. In all SysHaus sustainable prefab homes will be installed: the rainwater catchment and reuse mechanism; a biodigestion system that transforms organic waste into gas for use in the fireplace and kitchen, and fertilizer for use in the garden; and sockets for electric vehicles. The customer can also opt for photovoltaic panels, which, through their intelligent monitoring system, make the most of energy. It is estimated that construction can be completed within six months from conception to key delivery.
Factory installed eco-friendly systems
Using technology, engineering and design, SysHaus makes this thinking an effective practice. Its innovative construction method allows the assembly of the pieces intended for each of its spaces to be done without waste generation and excessive consumption of natural resources, whose waste is quite common in conventional constructions. In addition, 100% of the materials used are recyclable, and there is the option of green roofing, which naturally contributes to thermal and acoustic comfort, with the utmost respect for nature in all construction processes.
Sustainable daily practices are also achieved through three items, installed in all sysHaus houses: the mechanism for capturing and reusing rainwater; a biodigestion system that transforms organic waste into gas for use in the fireplace and kitchen, and fertilizer for use in the garden; and sockets for electric vehicles. In addition, photovoltaic panels can also be installed, which, through their intelligent monitoring system, make the most of energy and generate zero cost on the bill.
Sustainability for SysHaus is more than a philosophy; It is an integral part of everything you do, both in designing your production process and applying these practices at every stage of your projects.
The aim of the Swiss Living Challenge project is to encourage people to reduce their energy consumption and ultimately preserve the country's natural resources.
How are we going to do it? To really reduce our energy consumption, we must act on a daily basis, from our mobility to our food. The Swiss Living Challenge project (which brings together 4 universities) offers alternatives that suggest to the inhabitants of a district to adopt sustainable features thanks to its sustainable solar power prefab house, the NeighborHub.
NeighborHub
The team has built a sustainable solar power prefab house for a neighborhood, initiating changes and integrable in different urban areas. Named NeighborHub - this space aims to converge the inhabitants of a neighborhood and imagine with them solutions to consume less and better.
We must act together to reduce our consumption. The NeighborHub will be a place for meetings and exchanges where activities will be held and where we will share moments of life. There will be tools and alternatives for seven levers of action we can act on:
energy
water management
waste management
mobility
food
materials
biodiversity
Local residents will benefit from advice, interactive activities and conferences around these themes. The NeighborHub is also architecturally designed to adapt to all these moments of sharing with a large multifunctional space.
By changing our habits today, we can change the world of tomorrow.
7 Levers of Action
Energy
The electricity production is provided by 29 photovoltaic solar panels arranged only in frontage. Two batteries make it possible to manage the production and consumption flows to ensure a supply corresponding to needs of sustainable solar power prefab house inhabitants.
Water Management
With regard to water management, the aim of the Swiss Living Challenge is not simply to reduce its consumption. Indeed, it is essential to differentiate the various qualities of water that enters and leaves a sustainable solar power prefab house, assigning it the proper use or valuation. For example, the rainwater collected on the roof is fed to washing machine.
Biodiversity
The vegetated roof and the phytopurification basin serve as habitat for flora and fauna. In addition, vertical greenhouses integrated in the structure of the doors welcome shoots of local plants. One of the most important energy consumption items is mobility.
Mobility
A change in our habits supported by the provision of shared electric cars, bicycles or tricycles would reduce our consumption in this area.
Waste management
As far as waste management is concerned, the aim is first of all to reduce waste and this goes through choices such as shopping at the market and buying vegetables without packaging. Since zero waste is not so easy to achieve, product reuse and recycling remain important points in the economy of our resources.
Materials
Choosing to be surrounded by healthy materials that do not release harmful particles and promote good air quality is important for our health but also for the environment. The entire structure of the sustainable solar power prefab house is made of wood. In addition, the kitchen worktop is made of 75% recycled materials such as porcelain, ceramic, glass or mirror.
Food
In the NeighborHub, a common kitchen is available to the inhabitants. They can organize courses to share their culinary knowledge and together find tips to consume more sustainable. Around the NeighborHub there are also vegetable gardens where gardening classes take place.
Description from Solar Decathlon
The bar was set sky high from the very start. As soon as the Swiss Living Challenge team set foot in the Solar Decathlon arena when scouting the SDE14 event in Versailles, they knew; they could go the extra mile. And they did. One house for a single family? Why not for a whole community? The Swiss Team thrived, and three years later they won first place during the SD17 competition in Denver, USA. The secret to their success? A big part was the social aspect, which was key to the NeighborHub project.
The Swiss Team’s NeighborHub sustainable solar power prefab house was immediately identified as an instigator of change. The notion of a communal space where neighbours are inspired toward energy-efficiency & behavioural change was embraced by visitors touring the NeighbourHub at the SD17 event, all in the name of resource-responsibility. In this process of learning by doing, the emphasis on human interaction to incite change reflected the collaborative and integral character of both the Swiss team and the NeighborHub itself. “Innovation is about integration on all sorts of levels,” says former decathlete Florian Meyer. He was part of the Swiss Team’s engineering group and worked on the electrical systems of the house.
To the Neighborhood
It took total dedication and a fundamental joint effort to turn the NeighborHub concept into reality. The Swiss sustainable solar power prefab house was designed by a total of 250 students and professors from four schools: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg, the Geneva School of Art and Design, and the University of Fribourg. “The connection between team members was very strong,” Florian said. Besides the hands-on approach, what drew him to the project was the interdisciplinary spirit of the team: “It was incredible to work with such a diverse team from beginning to end.” In addition, The Swiss Living Challenge team was supported by 150 teaching staff members from industry and academia. Recently, Florian and his former team members joint forces again as the NeighborHub came back to life in April, 2018 at the smart living lab of blueFACTORY in Fribourg, Switzerland. “We built the NeighborHub such that it would be robust to adaptations in various contexts and urban settings,” Florian explains.
Vegetated Roof
He continues, explaining that the NeighborHub might not include the most state-of-the art technologies; however, the ways in which all elements come together are unique, maybe even cutting edge: the Swiss Team worked toward a seamless integral system of technology and design. One of the NeighborHub sustainable solar power prefab house’s eye-catching features is its vegetated roof, free of solar panels, designed to stimulate biodiversity in urban settings. The roof houses very particular nectar-giving plants that provide sustenance to bees, whose alarming decline in numbers is currently a pressing EU issue. Simultaniously, the roof absorbs rainwater via its plants and gathers it elsewhere for use in certain household appliance such as the washing machine. Wastewater from such appliances is treated in a phyto-purification basin next to the NeighborHub where reeds absorb a large quantity of pollutants out of this wastewater. Purified wastewater can then be infiltrated in the ground, for example, to water other plants. It is a beautiful example of how the Swiss Team aimed to create closed systems to maximise efficiency in and around the NeighborHub sustainable solar power prefab house.
Snow Proof
Instead of placing solar panels on the roof, the Swiss Team ingeniously attached their photovoltaic solar panels to the facades and doors of the NeighborHub sustainable solar power prefab house. They designed the doors to open vertically like a garage door where the wall rotates towards the exterior and then towards the top. As such, solar panels can adapt their orientation according to the position of the sun, allowing the sustainable solar power prefab house to capture more energy as the seasons change.
This means that in winter, the external walls remain closed in vertical position to accommodate the solar panels to the lower position of the sun. During the SD17 Competition this characteristic proved itself exeptionally useful when falling snow in Denver had no effect on the effectivity of the NeighborHub’s solar panels. In summer, the external walls remain open and the solar panels are inclined at a 35-degree angle to maximize the high position of the sun. In this configuration, the wall creates a covered terrace that goes all around the prefab house, enabling the NeighborHub to capture solar energy while simultaneously providing shade to the people moving around the house. As such, design and optimal comfort for the community go hand in hand.
Talk to the Neighborhub
As for Florian, he knows the business of making systems and devices communicate with each other to exchange information, and developed the ‘Talk to the NeighborHub’ app. The application monitors and integrates all sorts of technological house data, which is then translated into engaging information that its users can comprehend. “If all lights in the NeighborHub prefab house are switched on, the app prompts the question whether it is necessary to keep them on,” Florian explains. The above and many other aspects of the NeighborHub solar power prefab house’s design makes the community sustainable house an inspiring meeting place for local residents to co-create solutions for consuming both less and better.
In the coming five years, the NeighborHub prefab house opens up room at the smart living lab of Freiburg for a range of activities such as eco-friendly cooking classes with local foods, bike repair workshops, gardening lessons or coworking days and other social gatherings. As such, the NeighborHub solar power house carries on as a social hub in Switzerland to work together towards sustainable solutions on energy, water management, biodiversity, waste management, mobility, materials, and food.
The term prefabricated house is generally used to refer to a house that - at least in parts - is prefabricated at the factory and delivered to the site.
According to the Austrian Standards Institute definition, a prefabricated house is a structure built on a prepared substructure consisting of prefabricated, floor-to-ceiling large-panel conversion elements, room cells and prefabricated ceiling and roof elements manufactured in production sites independent of weather conditions.
This standard applies to residential buildings (detached and semi-detached houses, terraced houses, multi-storey residential buildings), office buildings, kindergartens, schools and multi-purpose houses and regardless of the building materials used (wood, concrete, brick). This standard does not cover structures constructed with non-storey but prefabricated single structural elements, such as houses made of brick, aerated concrete, hollow blocks or wooden block house planks, or which do not conform to a specific minimum level of performance.
Architecture: Werner Sobek, E-Lab Projekt GmbH Builder: E-Lab Projekt GmbH Manufacturers: Sky-Frame, CLIPSO, Leicht Testing and research: AlphaEOS AG and B10 Future Living Lab Location: Stuttgart, Germany Year: 2014 Photography: Zooey Braun
Vision
At the beginning of the project was the vision of an innovative and sustainable prefab house, which not only generates all the energy needed in-house from sustainable sources and that can be 100% recycled into the material cycle. The building should also create a link between the built environment and electromobility - and show ways of optimally coordinating energy generation and energy consumption at the local level through a smart grid.
Context
The prefab house is located at Bruckmannweg 10, in the heart of the famous Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart. Built in 1927 within a few months, this settlement on the Killesberg was like a revolution in construction. The designs of various world-famous architects showed how we can build and live in the future. Parts of the Weissenhofsiedlung were destroyed and rebuilt after the war - except for the property in the Bruckmannweg, which lay fallow since 1945. Here, for a period of three years, appears B10, a new forward-looking building that shows how innovative materials, designs and technologies can sustainably improve our design environment.
Project
The research project - named "B10" after its location in Bruckmannweg 10 - is an active house. Thanks to a sophisticated energy concept and self-learning building control, it generates twice as much energy itself - from sustainable sources. With the surplus gained, two electric cars and the listed building of the architect Le Corbusier (since 2006 the home of the Weissenhof Museum) have been supplied. Upon completion of the research project, the prefab house will be completely dismantled, rebuilt elsewhere or 100% recycled. The property is then returned to the city of Stuttgart in its original condition.
In an initial phase of use, interested visitors can find out more about the energy concept and the applied construction technology in B10 prefab house. In the second phase of use, the building will be inhabited free of charge by two students. During the entire project period, energy generation and energy consumption as well as a large number of other highly relevant data for building research are continuously measured and scientifically evaluated at the University of Stuttgart.
Builder
The developer of the project is E-Lab Projekt GmbH, a project company of the non-profit Stuttgart Institute of Sustainability Foundation e.V. (SIS). SIS is a non-profit association. It supports and develops methods and technologies for sustainable construction. SIS combines science with industry and crafts. The association was founded in 2011 and has its headquarters in Stuttgart. Further information can be found at http://www.sis-stiftung.de/verein.php
Variahome stands for sophisticated, architecturally high-quality, turnkey buildings in modular solid wood construction. The future-oriented design of Variahome provides the clients with a wealth of advantages.
Made in the tradition of alpine wood craftsmanship Variahome combines tradition with modernity.
Industrially prefabricated Variahome room modular systems are guarantors for short construction time, highest quality, a particularly aesthetic appearance and offer attractive purchase, financing, rental and leasing models for the commercial and municipal sector.
Modular Construction - Sustainable, Flexible, Turnkey
Shared living of young and old. More space for young families, singles, students, pensioners and the construction of low-cost apartments, this is multi-storey modular housing construction with Variahome.
Affordable housing has become an existential issue for millions of people in Germany. Young families no longer find affordable housing in many major cities. Retirees are forced out of their homes and neighborhoods where they have lived for decades. Who in a big city, for example nurse or bus driver is, who can afford in the city center no more housing. The market demands new flexible living concepts and Variahome has them.
If residential space is to be created quickly, Variahome offers a real alternative to conventional building with ecological, sustainable modular solutions with a prefabrication rate of 98% in the factory.
Benefits
Valuable, sustainable ecological architecture:
Good architecture is permanently valuable. The sooner we get involved in the planning, the more economical and precise the result.
Turnkey delivery and construction with fixed price and term guarantee. Variahome carries out the planning in partnership with client in dialogue in order to best capture client's requirements. So Variahome can implement your room and equipment program precisely.
Of course, Variahome meets all the requirements for fire protection, sound insulation and building physics. All legal standards, regulations and specifications are of course complied with. Even highest energy standards such as Passive or Plus energy modular buildings are possible.
Economical: The short construction time, the high flexibility in use and the adaptability to future requirements make the Variahome modular construction particularly economical. No matter whether you are planning barrier-free living space or are using subsidies for social housing or particularly efficient construction methods. Variahome with its experienced architects adapts the planning 100% to client's needs.
Flexible modular design freedom. With Variahome clients achieve the same freedom of design as they are used to from other building systems. Plaster, wood or brick facades are exactly the same as modern HPL facades. With this freedom in design, Variahome integrates their modular buildings into every urban environment.
Flexible and sustainable: you remain flexible even after installation. Adjustments to changing requirements are not a problem with modular design, as the inner walls are not static bearing and can therefore be moved or removed.
Healthy living with well-being guarantee: By using solid wood, which has a favorable effect on the room humidity and room temperature, Variahome creates a comfortable living atmosphere.
Feel-good apartments: In the interior, modular housing allows for a high degree of flexibility in layouts, since Variahome removes all static loads via the exterior walls. Variahome does not know the limitation of "load-bearing interior walls". So Variahome can realize flexible room concepts. When choosing the ceilings and wall surfaces as well as the floor coverings client has free choice. Variahome realizes living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms in the highest quality and execution.
Located at the base of the mountain overlooking the Geneva basin, the 'house in Collonges', designed by the Swiss office Pierre-Alain Dupraz Architects. Built for a single family, the prefab modular villa is constructed from a series of rectangular prefabricated concrete boxes, paired and stacked one on the side - and on top - of the other, in order to shape the dwelling to the sloping landscape and accommodate programmatic needs.
The south axis rests on a geographic shelf where are the entrance, dining, kitchen, living room and master bedroom areas. The children's bedrooms are found on the lower level, embedded in the slope, overlooking the valley. The neutral gray of the exposed concrete facade is interrupted by light frames and square wooden windows, allowing the prefab modular villa to naturally blend in with its surroundings in green summers and white winters.
Three on Abbott is a development of three prefabricated, detached homes on the corner of Voltaire & Abbott streets in Ocean Beach. The homes are located near San Diego's best attractions. The project is sensitive to the area's wants and wishes, conforming by-right to all local zoning and ordinances. It was constructed off-site to minimize disturbance to the community and surrounding businesses and are sustainably designed with the area in mind. Large roof decks offer 180 degree views to the water from the channel to the North to the Pacific to the West.
Project: Three on Abbott Builders: R&S Tavares Associates, Inc.
Champion Home Builders Area: 840 sqf Bedrooms: 2 Full baths: 3 Year: 2016 Location: San Diego, California Photos: Pacific Video Productions
Description from R&S Tavares Associates
R&S Tavares Associates, Inc., brings contemporary prefab living to Ocean Beach, a charming beach community close to San Diego's downtown. The project was an effort of Pedro Tavares who started researching the project while attending Woodbury University's Master of Real Estate Development for Architects program in San Diego, headed by Ted Smith, Jonathan Segal, Lloyd Russell, Brett Farrow and Mike Burnett, giants in the San Diego Architect as Developer model. The project was first explored as part of their thesis in that program and continued past graduation where Pedro and a colleague designed, permitted and completed the project as owner-builders.
R&S Tavares Associates, a design and consulting company started by Ralph and Silvana Tavares, also partners in the project, performed the engineering and authored the construction documents for the project. Ralph and Silvana are the country's foremost experts in Modular/Prefabricated building technologies, having worked for various manufacturers throughout the United States since 1987 and branching off on their own in 2000, they have been directly responsible for the design and engineering of thousands of modular projects worldwide from "tiny homes," 100,000+ square foot hospitals and award winning projects such as RADLAB's Quartyard project in San Diego which received a people's choice orchid and Studio E's High Tech High in Chula Vista which won an AIA COTE award. Ralph holds professional Engineering licenses in 42 states currently and Silvana is a New York licensed Architect.
Manufactured and shipped from Champion Home Builders in Corona, CA, the homes were built under extremely rigid constraints imposed by local zoning. They are about 840 square feet each, a block from Dog Beach in Ocean Beach, San Diego. They feature floor to ceiling heights of 13'-0", and are very unique in terms of modular structures in that they contain balloon-framed loft spaces within and overall total module heights of 15'-0" (4.5 meters), utilizing special trailers to keep their overall shipping height under the 17 foot special permit restriction in California. A large roof deck with panoramic views of the water is accessible in each house. Portuguese cobblestone from Porto, Portugal was imported to the Port of Los Angeles along with three Portuguese master masons to create the Copacabana Boardwalk pattern on the driveways by Roc2C.
On-site construction started April 25, 2016 and production of the modules started May 9th. The project was set in one day by Nick Rocco of Rocco Enterprises on May 26th, ahead of schedule to comply with the City of San Diego's Coastal Construction Moratorium which would have not allowed for a crane to be set in the road past Memorial Day.
What does it take to own a home? MIMA Light shows that a construction site, 22 weeks time and € 20,000 can already be enough. The idea of a small house, customizable in size and features, is as simple as it is ingenious. The result is a functional design sculpture that also withstands a look behind the façade.
It takes just 22 weeks from personal design, through production and construction, to your own dream home. Whether on the shores of a lake or in the mountains, the basic concept is adaptable and adapts to local conditions. Individual foundation solutions range from concrete floor slabs or supports to special wood foundations. The wooden small modular house has short construction period due to modular system of building elements. At the construction site, the prefabricated modules are only assembled.
For the design of the small units MIMA was inspired by different artists. The sculptural cube seems to float above the ground. It owes this impression to an all-round mirrored pedestal. The other materials shine with noble restraint: Noble metal coating or simple color, every owner can give a MIMA Light a personal touch.
Depending on the customer's requirements, 1.2 meter modules will give a total length between seven and eleven, with a fixed height and width of 3 meters. This results in floor areas of 21 m2 for the smallest, and almost 33 m2 for the largest unit. The individual modules are clearly visible to the outside and act like chain links. A flat roof and internal gutters complete the pure geometry.
The interior is also reserved. Floor and walls made of plywood boards ground the innovative project. While large glass fronts provide a friendly ambience on the front side, it is also possible to make individual façade modules as glass surfaces. Depending on the location, for example in extremely warm conditions, the glass is made thicker and with higher level of protection.
Not only architectural design, but also energy technology puts a lot in this small prefab house. Solar panels are used for the electric boiler, which guarantees the hot water supply.
Kitchen and bathroom form a compact module that can be placed centrally or at one end of the MIMA Light small prefab house. Their position is decisive for the shape of living room and bedroom.
The compact home opens up new perspectives in tourism as well as in the holiday home market and with prices between € 20,000 and € 40,000 is not only affordable for high earners.
The KODA Light Float opens up the opportunity of using urban or countryside waterfront space. The architecture, design and engineering skills combined enable living near a favourite yacht harbour, on a private lake or on an urban canal.
The versatility of prefab modular housing concept makes the KODA Light Float either a harbour café, artist’s studio, not to mention a summer retreat or a fisherman’s dream.
With its spacious comfort and high ceilings, the fully equipped small prefab floating home has a facade-sized illuminating window. The floating KODA house gives an atmosphere of a mediterranean villa.
Sustainably finished with plywood inside, the KODA Light is as minimalist as it is cosy. The floating terrace creates even more luxury space to be blend into the favourite surroundings.
KODA is a factory-built house and delivered as turnkey.
A standard equipped KODA Light includes an openspace living room, a full-size sleeping area, a shower room with toilet, a kitchen and a wooden terrace – all that on spacious, yet compact 25.8 m2.
The KODA Light has maintained its insulation and strength for year around living in heat and frost, while enabling stacking two units of its own kind on the roof.
The small prefab floating home KODA Light Float offers the opportunity of choosing the most suitable exterior finish as well as the terrace and border materials to your environment. The first being either plywood or timber, the latter offering options between spruce terrace and pine border, or larch terrace with glass border.
Technical details
Dimension of platform
6.0 × 12.0 m
Floats 2pc
HD Pontoon 1.07× 2.4× 12m
Freeboard with decking
0.7m
Tanks 2pc
3.3 m3
Weight of platform
31 tons
Load capacity
4.1 kN/m² (30 tons)
Allowed max wave height
0.3m
Allowed current speed
1 m/sec
Allowed ice condition
Allowed static ice load, ice moving is not allowed
Mass
ca. 10 tons
Net area
25.8 sqm / 277.7 sqft
Area of building perimetre
28.8 sqm / 310.0 sqft
External dimensions
L 7226 mm / 23.7 ft
W 3930 mm / 12.9 ft
H 3990 mm / 13.1 ft
Internal dimensions
L 5858 mm / 19.2 ft
W 3416 mm / 11.2 ft
H 3323 mm / 10.9 ft
Structural
Timber frame structure
Mineral wool layer of insulation
200 mm/0.66 ft in walls; 250 mm/0.82 ft in ceiling and floor
The 14 x 10.50 m building consists of five modules. Walls and ceilings were made with wooden surfaces and additionally covered with HPL panels in the wet area. The façade consists of HPL panels. As insulating material wood fiber insulation materials were used. Advantage of the solid wood construction: With the same thermal insulation, the walls can be constructed 6 cm thinner.
In a time of constant change, the creation of modular building units is becoming increasingly important. Modules from Russ Holzbau und Technik offer growing space as an optimal solution for changing needs. The modular building surfaces are adapted to the respective needs by extending or reducing additional modules.
Regardless of where you are, you can also stay flexible: whether it's a living module, office module, parterre module or back-up module, you can work and live wherever you want. And if you change your location or place of residence, then take your module with you.
Further you will find individual building solutions for offices, residential buildings and sales rooms of Russ Holzbau & Technik.
Passengers at Terminal C of the airport Berlin-Tegel have access to a new lounge. The special feature: the three-storey modular building was built from steel modules by Cramo Adapteo in just six weeks of night installation. The fronts of the modules are glazed over a large area, underlining the cuboidal structure of the serial elements, while the lounges offer generous views.
The new lounge at Terminal C of Berlin's Tegel Airport, which is close to the city center, proves that modular construction is suitable for functional and fast building projects, yet not neglecting design and comfort. Cramo Adapteo, part of the Finnish Cramo Group, placed its prefabricated modules on the apron of the terminal in just six weeks. Since the erection had to take place during the running of the airport, the assembly could only take place at night. To the outside, the building retains a functional character that matches the context, to which the modular design is clearly assigned. The steel construction of each element is visible on the façade, because the individual structures optionally frame large-area glazing and the rooms behind, or outdoor spaces and access area.
From the inside, the glass fronts allow for sweeping views. The lounge areas themselves are designed to meet comfort and service requirements for stays between flights. On the ground floor of the three-storey terminal building there is a reception area and a dining area. In addition to dining tables and chairs, work tables are also available, each equipped with sockets. On the second level comfortable seats were placed directly in front of the panoramic glazing, so that the handling of the aircraft can be observed in the first row. On the third floor is a smoking lounge with ventilation system. The exit to a roof terrace is also possible here, from where takeoffs and landings of the aircraft can be experienced in a more exposed position.
In addition to the transparent interface, which can be shaded by centrally controlled blinds, a generous sense of space is generated with a clear ceiling height of 2.75 m and partially half-height interior walls. Circumferential LED strips at the connection to the ceiling contour and stage the volume. The designed as heating and cooling ceiling space closure ensures the appropriate air conditioning, the supply takes over an air-water pump with MSR technology. Part of the security concept is an escape staircase, fire protection measures, emergency lighting and door monitoring.
The close cooperation of a modular construction company, a housing association and an architectural firm is due to the construction of several residential modular multi-storey apartment buildings on the modular principle and in steel modular construction. In a relaxed urban planning arrangement on a newly developed, inner-city plot in Bochum, for example, three Point houses were created, which want to contradict the uniform appearance and repetitive, shapeless image of serial construction.
The Essen-based office Koschany + Zimmer Architekten KZA dealt with the modular construction at an early stage. After a first project in Dortmund, which the architects developed together with the system construction company Alho from Friesenhagen, the cooperation was continued in Bochum. On behalf of the housing company Vonovia, three 4-storey Point houses in the midst of generously designed open spaces were realized. The participants regard the applied modular principle as advantageous for the housing industry as well as for architects and planners.
Planning from the inside out
The Modular Housing Kit developed by KZA and Alho consists of individual module types. These include, for example, a living room and a kitchen, a bedroom with a hallway or a nursery plus a bathroom. From this matrix - a canon of different modules - the apartments are custom-made for the respective location and according to the desired apartment key. Afterwards, the house is created out of this individual mix of apartments. "Normally, architects tend to work in the opposite direction - from outside to inside: there is an urban planning situation from which the building is conceived in its cubature and fitted with floor plans developed from it," explains architect Axel Koschany. "Modular construction is the other way around. It starts with elaborate floor plans - in the end the most important thing for the future residents. Even the most similar apartment types are almost never forced into one and the same cubature due to the different local specifications."
Diversity in modular design and layout
For example, three modular houses, each with 14 residential units, were built in Kaulbachstraße in Bochum in the course of an inner-city rehabilitation measure. As an urban development reaction to the adjacent to the north side 2- and 3-storey neighboring buildings was staggered in coordination with the city. The mezzanine floor jumps back 3 meters on the 4th floor and creates spacious roof terraces. The return could be agreed with the modular design, since this only one module had to be omitted. The systematics of the modular structure remained otherwise unchanged.
The modules are on 17 x 19 m base and 12.5 m high, with 7 one-room, 3 two-room, 2 three-room and 2 four-room apartments, user requirements are covered. The apartments are designed throughout to be barrier-free and wheelchair-friendly. The buildings are centrally accessed via a single-flight staircase and lift system. All apartments on the 1st and 2nd floor have prefabricated balconies, and the apartments on the 3rd floor have rooftop terraces. Arrangement of freestanding Point Houses ensures a varied appearance. The funnel-shaped outer space zones leave room for differently designed open spaces. Green tenants' gardens, playgrounds and other dwellings are planned here.
Profitability factor of prefabrication
Each building consists of 43 room modules. These were manufactured at Alho plant for seven weeks and under ongoing quality controls. At the construction site, the modules were ultimately assembled in seven days per house. The entire construction period of the three modular buildings was - after the ground was prepared - 20 weeks.
"The modular construction can always exploit its advantages if the structural units that are as constant as possible are repeated. That's why we talk about serial modular construction. So that these module types are not built into uniform houses, we work together with architects like KZA. They bring creative input by playing with the building blocks and exploiting their potential in terms of design," explains Michael Lauer, architect at the multi-storey building competence center at Alho.
The projects in Dortmund and Bochum are the first of a series of residential construction projects that will be completed with the developed modular system later this year. The project partners are planning to further optimize the system and to expand new components, such as new module units.
Diversity in modular construction
In Bochum, an exemplary modular construction project proves that series and individuality are not mutually exclusive. On a newly developed, inner-city plot, three modular Point Houses have been created with a loose, urban arrangement and a staggered cubature.
As one of the first manufacturers of prefab modular buildings in steel module construction, ALHO offers sophisticated solutions in multi-storey housing construction. For the housing company VONOVIA, the company is currently (2018) realizing a series of residential buildings based on a modular system. The concept was developed together with Koschany + Zimmer Architekten KZA from Essen. Instead of developing the building out of the urban situation, the process of serial construction begins with the smallest scalable serial element, the module. Depending on the room requirement, these individual elements are put together individually. This is how well-designed floor plans and a large range of cubatures are created with modular prefab units.
The ensemble of the three Point Houses is already the second housing project that was realized together with KZA. It was created in the course of an urban development densification in Bochum. The buildings are four-storeyed and offer space for 14 continuously accessible housing units of different sizes. There is no basement, but all apartments have a sufficiently large storage room and on each ground floor a technology module is arranged. Overall, the Point Houses are made up of 43 room modules. They were manufactured in the factory within seven weeks under strict quality controls at ALHO and installed at the construction site per house within seven days. The total construction time of the three buildings was just under 20 weeks after the ground was prepared with the floor slab.
Contrary to popular belief that modular buildings are boring, the architects were able to make the three residential buildings in Bochum exciting: With the fourth floor projecting back, the design responds to the two- and three-storey neighboring buildings adjoining the north side. At the same time, the staggering of the building cubatures visually revives the facades. In terms of urban planning, the arrangement of the Point Houses, which is rotated towards each other, creates a sense of relaxation: funnel-shaped interspaces that provide space for differently designed recreational areas - from green tenants' gardens to varied playgrounds.
Project: Woodie Client: Third PRIMUS Projekt GmbH - a joint venture of Primus and Senectus Architect: Sauerbruch Hutton, Berlin Location: Dratelnstrasse 32, 21109 Hamburg (DE) Construction: 12/2016 - 09/2017 Project cost: 37.000.000 EUR Photos: Thomas Ebert, Gotz Wrage
The prefabricated cross laminated timber modules of this student dormitory in Hamburg were developed in close cooperation between the architects of Sauerbruch Hutton, the client and the module manufacturer Kaufmann Bausysteme. A manageable number of design details and the restriction to two module types have made this an efficient as well as inexpensive building possible.
For the time- and cost-efficient realization of the "Woodie" dormitory in the Wilhelmsburg district of Hamburg, the client's decision was made to involve a wood module manufacturer directly after the architectural competition. Following the direct commissioning, Kaufmann Bausysteme, together with the architects and structural engineers at Merz Kley, set about optimizing the area of the apartments.
The definition of the performance limits was essential, which ultimately led to the module builders being responsible not only for module production but also for the directly adjacent trades: the construction of prefabricated concrete floor structures, the production and assembly of all larch wood facades and roof waterproofing. The resulting benefits include fewer and more precise interfaces as well as subcontractor workflows that are clearly tailored to the modular design, ultimately resulting in more quality, fewer defects, shorter construction time, and therefore cost-effective solutions.
All modules were prefabricated complete with interior fittings, finished bathrooms, windows and doors, stored temporarily, packed in a watertight package, delivered to Hamburg just in time, and immediately lifted to the correct position with a crane. An intermediate storage on the construction site was not provided, not least for reasons of space. A maximum of four modules could be produced per day.
The serial production of the modules on a kind of production line brought numerous advantages in terms of accelerated assembly time and a short construction time. Added to this is the fact that assembly processes in workshop conditions and on the ground are generally cheaper and faster feasible than on site. Even more important, however, is the higher quality and precision achievable thereby, without which a modular construction of this type would not have been feasible.
Efficient sound control for timber-constructed prefab modular student residence
On six floors, 100 metres in length and made of solid wood, 371 student flats are strung out in the district of Wilhelmsburg in Hamburg. This makes "UDQ" the biggest timber student residence in Europe and the tallest timber building in Hamburg.
Inspired by the stacked containers in the Port of Hamburg, “UDQ” is made up of prefabricated timber modules that are stacked on top of and next to one other. The whole construction sits on a base of reinforced concrete. Each of the 20 m2 apartments is fully furnished – with bed, bathroom, built-in wardrobe, kitchenette and folding table. Where necessary, single modules can also be combined to create larger apartments.
Effective sound insulation is essential on a project such as this. That is why Getzner was brought on board as experts by contractor Kaufmann Bausysteme GmbH.
THE SOLUTION
To prevent sound transmission between the apartments, the individual modules were bedded on Sylodyn® from Getzner. Timber was chosen as a building material due to its ecological properties and the warm interior ambience it creates. The modules were pre-fitted with Sylodyn® linear supports at the factory for reliable soundproofing.
"Sound mainly propagates through the flanking of the modules. Using elastic bearings, means we have been able to almost completely eliminate sound transmission between the individual modules", explains Hendrik Reichelt, Project Manager at Getzner.
Additional Information:
Timber construction modules: Kaufmann Bausysteme GmbH, Reuthe (AT)
Structural Design Modules: Merz Kley Partner, A-Dornbirn
Structural Design Concrete Construction / Building Physics: Wetzel & von Seht, Hamburg
Landscape Architecture: Sinai Gesellschaft von Landschaftsarchitekten mbH
The project of a minimum expandable living unit: LIVINGBOX has been developed at the Laboratory of Building Design of the University of Trento (Italy). It can be used as a minimum dwelling for two people (40.50 m2) or as a hotel room (18 m2 + optional spaces) finished in every detail: interior finishing, furniture and technological systems.
The furniture is integrated in walls and the inner space is flexible and changeable. The furniture, the inner spatial organization and the inner and outdoor finishing are customizable. The modular home is built joining two precast modules. The dimensions of a single module are cm 249 x 999 x 300. LIVINGBOX has been designed to minimize the impact of the building on environmental matrixes: water, air, soil. The materials used are natural, recyclable or recycled. It is characterized by extensive use of wood to limit CO2 emission into the atmosphere and it was designed as Zero Energy House. To reach this target it is equipped with systems for producing energy from renewable sources, so as to minimize use of fossil energy. In addition the modular home is a low consumption building. The envelop transmittance value is between 0.20 and 0.25 W/m2
K, and the thermal lag of 10-15 h. To optimize the relationship between comfort and energy consumption LIVINGBOX is equipped with a modular home automation system. A prototype at real scale has been
built as so to verify the real building possibilities. It was displayed in Milano (Italy) at beginning of October 2013 at the “MADE EXPO 2013”. The prototype was transported by 2 trucks from Roma to Milano to Campobasso (more or less 1500 Km) for testing the effective transportability and we could verify no inconvenience or crack on the interior and on the furniture. This is also a real demonstration that it is earthquake resistant building.
Living as flexible as life would have to be: a house that grows with increasing numbers of children and shrinks again when family members move out. Modular houses are a modern trend in the field of prefabricated construction.
A family changes over the years. First, two people move into a house, then a third, maybe even a fourth person is added. More space is needed. Years later, a few residents gradually move out again. In the end, maybe only one will stay behind - and less space is needed again. Homes that take part in all these situations would be nice - and they already exist: Thanks to their modular design, buildings can grow or shrink.
The individual configuration of products is becoming increasingly important in many areas - and the trend is rising. Horst Wildemann, a professor at the Technical University of Munich, is an expert in serial construction and prophesies: "What has long been the norm when buying a car will also prevail in the home market." But that goes far beyond the individual planning on the computer according to the wishes of the clients - it goes all the way to future with modular extensions.
"Individual modules made from lightweight components are industrially prefabricated in line with the model of the automobile industry and then put together on the construction site," says Prof. Wildemann, explaining the production of a modular building. Quasi-finished house areas are brought as a whole on the construction sites.
District in Trondheim concentrates young architects, students and artists who build their own homes and buildings.
On one of those days of blue sky and intense cold, typical of late winter in Norway, I walked a short distance in a district in the center of Trondheim. The area where 240 people live is somewhat peculiar and is different from the rest of the country. In the kindergarten built in a car shop, I found two sheep eating grass and I saw, through the large glass windows, a group of children snacking on round tables. In the district there are also art installations, graffiti, prefab sustainable homes built by the residents themselves and a sense of community and belonging. I'm in Svartlamon, an experimental ecological zone - unique in urban planning in Norway.
Architect: SOA Soler Orozco Arquitectos Project: Casa Molina Location: Morelos, México Year: 2015 Photos: Cesar Béjar
Given the homeowner´s need to minimize all on-site work and construction time to as low as possible for this modular prefab annex to weekend house, prefabricated structure was considered as the best cost-effective and sustainable option. The modular prefab annex includes two bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a large terrace for common use.
Prefab modules has an important constraint in their design, the dimensions of prefab elements could not exceed maximum dimensions for truck transportation. Architects planned prefab modules measuring up to 2.4 m by 7.2 m, the standard maximum size of a freight truck platform commonly used for building materials delivery, which also perfectly optimized the use of construction elements and metal sections for the frame and structure. The entire prefab module was put together in the controlled environment of remote workshop, with internal plumbing, electrical installations, light roofing, as well as preliminary ceiling, wall, and floor finishes in the bathroom spaces.
On site, the ground work had been done and the concrete foundations had been prepared to receive the modular prefab annex. Once there, the prefab modules were assembled and installed, windows and doors put in place, bathroom accessories, lighting, and fixtures installed, and exterior natural stone was applied, before the final finishes and details were attended to.
Sliced logs and mirrored glass form the facade surfaces of these prefabricated cabins designed by architects from MAPA, which are located in a beautiful vineyard in Uruguay.
The mirrored glass prefabricated cabins stand on the Sacromonte vineyard with an area of 101-hectare. The vineyard is set within a picturescue valley of dense green grassland crossed by water streams.
Local land owner wanted a hotel that "combined architecture, productive land, hospitality, and landscape", which MAPA with offices in Brazil and Uruguay, helped to create.
The Sacromonte Landscape Hotel comprises 13 prefabricated cabins placed at various locations throughout the valley so that guests can see and enjoy unique and beautiful perspectives and views of the verdant surroundings.
Each steel-frame prefab cabin was assembled in a 10 weeks in Montevideo and after the off-site construction being complete the units were transported 200 kilometres to Maldonado.
"Prefabrication process appears as an ideal solution if you want to achieve high levels of comfort in remote areas", architect Sebastian Lambert told.
MAPA has completed several prefabrication projects. The architects placed a pair of prefab guesthouses in Brazil, on a historic coffee plantation, and has designed a prefab dwelling in an olive grove in Uruguay.
While the prefab cabin's front facade has been crafted from modern material, mirrored glass, its rear elevation is built from stacked wood logs meant to emulate and reflect the appearance of classic woodpiles typically found in local rural settings. The natural stone bases that used for support of the prefab cabins are erected on building site, shaped to perfectly suit each individual cabin's features of specific plot of land.
Cabins roofs have also been covered with appropriate to the landscape camouflaging greenery, and outer peripheral walls feature slatted custom timber sliding screens.
Internally the 60-square-metre prefab cabins completed with a fireplace, cosy reading nook, and a living area with windows that face directly onto the surrounding landscape. The valley will also have a wine tasting hilltop terrace, a restaurant, and a pitched, open-air chapel.
Description from architects:
SACROMONTE CRAFTED WINES | LANDSCAPE HOTEL
Sacromonte is an invitation to meet with the remote nature and the world of fine wines, where sophistication and originality coexist in a new landscape experience.
Its lands of more than 100 hectares (250 acres) are located in a privileged location: the wild mountains of eastern Uruguay. Equidistant from Punta del Este, Jose Ignacio and Pueblo Garzon, it forms a unique ecosystem of enjoyment, of which it is part with its own spirit.
SACROMONTE AS A FIELD OF EXPERIENCES
Sacromonte is a landscape. It is a field of relational forces, of old intensities and new impulses that coexist in a new unprecedented entity.
Thus, nature, production, infrastructures, buildings and energy constitute a field of stimuli to discover, a field of experiences.
SACROMONTE AS A FIELD OF EXPERIENCES
It is a field of forces inter-related between veloces intensities and nova impulses that constitute a unit of precedent.
In this landscape young vineyards interact that adapt to the characteristics of their soils, a hill from which to understand the landscape, green areas of meadow, two reserves of natural water and several streams that run through the valleys surrounded by dense native vegetation. The contemporary explorer is in charge of traversing them and drawing his own script through various scenarios of which he is co-protagonist next to the landscape.
SACROMONTE SHELTERS, A PREFAB EXPERIENCE OF THE LANDSCAPE
The rooms of Sacromonte are born in a factory in the metropolitan area of Montevideo. It is a fast process, less than 10 weeks, to be transported
more than 200km in a single day. When leaving the city behind, the rooms stop being, to become refuges of landscape, stop being objects to become experiences.
In its modular metal structure, which combines steel framing and light steel framing, the simplicity of construction and the efficient use of materials are paramount. Their endings are simple and forceful, the materials are used according to their nature.
In contrast, the walls received by the prefab modules are simultaneously built in place with local stones that take on various organic shapes and are adapted to enable each implantation. They are complete with circular pools that integrate a new sensory experience of the landscape.
The spaces are organized in a sequence of longitudinal layers of different thicknesses between which life develops. The back facade is composed of a stack of wooden trunks that recalls the stacks of firewood typical of life in nature.
The next layer houses the wet areas of bathroom and kitchen, a wood stove and a deep hole ideal for reading a book or a nap sheltered in the landscape. Separated by a wooden plan, it follows the main bedroom, living and dining room, which opens completely to the landscape it faces, being part of it.
The frontal facade is made up of a mirrored glass that covers the prefab cabin with an almost magical effect, positioning it in a tense boundary: between the camouflage and nature and the unreal brilliance of today's technology.
