Why prefab houses are a trend that didn’t stick
‘Holy grail of design’ has its share of setbacks, despite popularity abroad
Design magazines love them.
So do movie stars, environmentalists and some forwardthinking builders who tout them as the way every home should be built in the future, says Greenwich, Conn.-based Sheri Koones, author of Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid.
Yet, despite having been around for decades, prefab or modular homes made up just 2 per cent of new single-family houses in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Prefab construction gained traction in the 1970s when builders and architects recognized they could save on time and costs by moving the majority of the process into a factory. “The real saving is in time,” says Brian Abramson of Method Homes, a prefab factory in Seattle that works mostly on modern, custom homes. “It typically takes 50 per cent less construc- tion time to complete a prefab house.”
“You can do any style you want, from traditional to craftsman to colonial to Tudor or contemporary,” says Mark Giarraputo, an architect with Studio Z Design Concepts in Bethesda, Md. “Prefab lends itself a little more to contemporary homes because of the clean lines, but you’re not limited to that style.”
A significant turning point for prefab homes came in 20022003, when Dwell magazine held a competition for architects to design a $200,000 (U.S.) prefab house, says Ryan Smith, director of the Integrated Technology in Architecture Collaborative at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
“Prefab construction became the holy grail of design,” says Joseph Tanney, co-founder of Resolution: 4 Architecture in New York City, winner of the 2002 Dwell magazine competition. “The idea was that it would be the answer for modern, affordable, mass-produced housing. We’ve seen far fewer prefab factories than what we expected.”
Smith says that prefab housing is more common in other countries, particularly Sweden, Japan and Germany. “The difference is that they tend to be production-based, so the homes all look alike, even if they are high-end homes.”
Prefab, though, also has its hassles. Robert Gurney, an architect in Washington, D.C., says he will never design another prefab house after the one he built in Bethesda. “I can design a stick-built house that’s faster and less costly to build,” he says.
The biggest obstacle, says Gurney, was that it took six months longer than normal to get the permits. However, he believes the control offered by a factory can produce quality construction and insulation.
Brendan O’Neill Jr., president of O’Neill Development in Gaithersburg, Md., has lived for 19 years in a modular home he built with his father. The house took four months to complete from plans to occupancy, while a stick-built house typically takes six to 10 months.
“My house has been through an earthquake, a derecho, a few blizzards and some wild windstorms without damage, so I know it’s solidly built,” he says.