Prefab House, Guest House and Sauna, Sweden

About Claesson Koivisto Rune

Project: Folded Roof House
Design: Claesson Koivisto Rune
Year: 2008
Location: Muskö island, Sweden




Folded roof house is CKR second house for Swedish kit house manufacturer Arkitekthus. A one-story house with an asymmetric folded roof plan. The bedrooms are positioned at the gable ends and the living room and kitchen is between, with an open main facade.

For the site on Musko island the separate guest house and sauna building were specifically designed for the the client.

Description from architects

In Sweden, as in many other countries, much of the market for new private houses is provided for by kit house manufacturers. In their catalogues you can pick your prefab house from a selection of styles and sizes to put on your lot. The advantage is that the price is more or less fixed and that the construction process is handled by the company. Unfortunately, these prefab houses carry little or no architectural ambition, as they are often designed by company engineers or sales people. The idea behind the new company, Arkitekthus, is to provide kit houses designed by leading architects at prices competitive with these other manufacturers.

Folded Roof house is our second house for Swedish kit house manufacturer Arkitekthus. It is a one-storey prefab house with an asymmetric folded roof plane. The floor plan provides for separation between private bedrooms and a communal kitchen and living room. The bedrooms are positioned at the gable ends and the living room is between, with an open main facade. The openings are fully glazed and inset into the house volume so that roof-covered terrace spaces serve as continuations of the interior. Another important visual feature is the framing of these insets by the thin wall and roof edges. This was possible because no insulation is needed in the sections located outside of the actual prefab house.

For the site on Muskö island, shown in the images here, the separate guest house and sauna buildings were specifically designed for the client.

The D*Haus - Dynamic Prefab Modular House

Video

About The D*Haus Company

Description from architects

Conceived for the harsh, climatic extremes from ‘Lapland to Cape Horn and Aleutians to Auckland’ The D*Haus concept can respond dynamically to its environment by controlled adaptation to seasonal, meteorological and astronomical conditions.

The modular flexibility of the D*Haus allows adaptation from winter to summer, and day to night by literally moving inside itself. The thick heavy external walls unfold into internal walls allowing glass internal walls to become facades. Doors become windows and vice versa.

Dynamic Architecture
Like a Rubiks Cube

In the winter time, the prefab modular house is in a square formation, with small windows and high thermal mass. It literally hugs itself. As the season’s change and the climate warms, the house opens up, like a flower opens up to allow light and air to penetrate the inside of the modular building offering full panoramic views of the surroundings.

D*Dynamic literally unfolds itself like a Rubiks Cube. The internal walls become external walls, doors become windows and windows become doors. A prefab modular house like this has never been done before in the history of architecture and we believe that creating buildings that can adapt and change is a much more sustainable way of living.

It Mimics Nature
Ecological Haus

Solar radiation from the Sun can have a significant impact on a building’s performance. Whilst often a source of overheating due to inadequate controls, with thoughtful design it can provide a cheap and abundant source of energy in your building. This energy can be utilised to heat spaces in winter, provide hot water, and even generate ventilation for cooling in summer.

Winter Haus / Summer Haus
How It Works

Over the course of the year, D*Haus changes form to respond to its environment. It mimics nature. The modular prefab house opens up to respond to the environmental conditions, much like a flower opening over the course of a day.




A Kit Of Parts
Eight Houses In One

The modular prefab house is a product of an applied mathematical realisation. Thus from a manufacturing point of view, the design deploys only one set of materials to achieve the flexible possibilities which its design invites. This means that less waste is produced during the manufacturing process, and from a mass-production point of view, D*Dynmaic offers savings in both time and materials.