Flat Packed In Kent

Kent, U.K. – in.it.studios Built Area: 90 m2 (968 sq. ft.) The term ‘Granny’ flat derives from an earlier era when husbands were usually older than their brides and had shorter life-spans. Even as recently as the 1980’s, women were likely to outlive their husbands by close to 10 years. Many families bought the widow into […]
Prefab comes of age

Fluid spaces – Michelle Kaufmann, Design 101 and Blazer Industries When most of us think of pre-fabricated housing, images of low quality trailer homes spring to mind. But in recent years, a combination of new technologies, better designs, experimentation and rising construction costs have seen a renaissance in factory built housing. If you picture a typical building site […]
House Arc

Big Island, Hawaii – Bellomo Architects Photography: Drew Kelly Yesterday’s post about prefabricated housing certainly seemed to ‘hit the spot’. Here’s another very interesting alternative to conventional, on-site construction. All of the components can be made off-site and assembled and completed in just three days. The uses are limited only by your imagination – granny […]
(BIG) Little House

Berkeley California – The Hopkins Studio For an ageing parent to move into a garden unit or ‘granny flat’ usually means downsizing. That can be a difficult adjustment for many. On the other hand, the move typically occurs because the ‘family home’ has become to hard to manage. By keeping walls to a minimum and ensuring […]
HABODE

Anywhere you choose – Rod Gibson/Habode Built Area: 80 m2 + decks (864 sq.ft. + decks) The New Zealand built HABODE can be shipped anywhere in the world, trucked to site, ‘unfolded’ and be habitable in just two days. It is designed and built to withstand extreme weather conditions and meets and exceeds […]
Paihia Retreat – Hanging From a Portal Frame

Paihia Bay of Island NZ – André Hodgskin / Architex NZ Type: Modular/Prefabricated Built area: 100m2 Year: 2004 Designed for a bachelor, the home sits on 10 acres of beautiful indigenous bush overlooking the Bay of Islands. Only the house site has been cleared and the views are through dense black ti-tree. […]
Koya No Sumika

Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan – mA-style Architects Built area: 77.8 sqm (840 sq. ft.) Year built: 2013 Photography: Kai Nakamura When two adult families share a home, stresses inevitably arise. The Japanese are masters at respecting privacy. Traditional homes have – quite literally, paper-thin walls or screens called shoji. Even modern Japanese homes […]
The Floating Egg

River Beaulieu Hampshire, UK – Stephen Turner, Perring Architecture & Design and SPUD Design Studio Built area: 6 x 2.8 m2 (20 x 10 ft) Project Year: 2013 Photography: Nigel Rigden Artist, Stephen Turner, didn’t just want to paint wildlife as an observer, he wanted to be a participant. To achieve […]
Moor Street Apartment and Office

Melbourne, Australia – Clare Cousins Photography: Shannon McGrath Another great example of ‘walk to work’, in this case through an interconnecting doorway that separates two large warehouse apartments. From a warehouse to a residence and office, this project exemplifies how buildings can be upcycled rather than demolished for urban renewal projects. This renovation gives justice to the […]
Southern Highlands Studio

Bullio NSW Australia – Benn and Penna Architecture Year built: 2013 There are some places in Australia where the risk of bush fires is ever-present. When the bush burns, it does so at a terrifying speed since the native eucalyptus exude a highly flammable oil through their leaves. Houses need to be designed […]