Prefabricated Houses and Modularity - Advantages and Disadvantages of Modular Construction






Prefabricated House - History, Construction, Advantages, Disadvantages
Modularity
Modular Construction

Prefabricated House - History, Construction, Advantages, Disadvantages 


History of Prefab Construction
Prefab Method of Construction
Prefabricated Houses Advantages
Prefabricated Houses Disadvantages

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.


B10 Prefab House + Garage for Electric Car + Sustainable Energy

In addition to housing in the architectural sense, the house of the future will also be a decentralized energy producer and 'provider' for emission-free electromobility. As an intelligent component in the energy system of the future, it is grid-connected and supplies neighboring buildings and electric cars with energy from renewable sources. A new construction technology enables 100% recyclable buildings with high design quality, which are affordable thanks to prefab series production and modular system construction.






Rendering
Floor plans
Construction
About Werner Sobek
About E-Lab Projekt GmbH
About AlphaEOS AG and B10 Future Living Lab
Project participants


ArchitectureWerner Sobek, E-Lab Projekt GmbH
BuilderE-Lab Projekt GmbH
Energy conceptWSGreenTechnologies
ElectromobilityDaimler AGKonstruktion: SchwörerHaus
ManufacturersSky-Frame, CLIPSO, Leicht
Testing and researchAlphaEOS AG and B10 Future Living Lab
LocationStuttgart, Germany
Year2014
PhotographyZooey 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

Modular Construction in Perfection - Modular Homes, Multi-Storey Apartment Buildings and Offices by Variahome, Germany

Modular Construction in Perfection






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.


About Variahome

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.