Archive for category: Projects

Dear friends,

Today we share an interesting article about prefabricated houses which was published on http://ovacen.com/

We hope you like it!

 

 

Prefabricated housing and its modular design

The subject of prefabricated architecture is constantly updating. The development of new materials, techniques and the need of only one designer at the construction has helped to develop the industrial modular construction. The industrial construction in general is represented by prefabricated or modular houses, which are seen as an advanced construction technology by several technicians, in response to growing demand requirments with different aspects such as: prices, construction quality, deadlines and, above all, environmental impact of the construction and their sustainability.

 

Selling prefabricated houses. A rising market.

Same as in many different areas of the industry, the area of housing is also moving towards a “green” image. The real estate market has a growing affinity towards prefabricated houses, ecological and environmental efficient modules. The purchase and sale of modular homes is moving towards a greener identity with innovative housing models that enhance low-carbon with a clear objective of reducing cost and inefficiency.

Traditionaly the U.S, Canada and Europe are representing 3 of the biggest regional markets, gaining a majority stake in the global market for prefabricated housing, as stated by the new market research report on prefabricated houses (HERE). Its identified that the region of Asia, the markets of Australia and New Zealand are considered as pioneers of the concept of prefab buildings. The fast development of the growing real estate markets of China, India, Taiwan, Korea are promoting new business opportunities of great importance in the territory with a strong grow rate reaching 4.4% until 2017.

 

Modular houses and buildings

The modern living needs fast and effective solutions in order to satisfy determined needs with high performance and satisfactory results. The modular construction offers this possibility if performed consistently.

The concept of modular living

A prefabricated modular house in a “indoor factory-built” product. The production is finished with what we call “the container” which gets transported to the chosen site where the parts get assembled. We must remember that the modular home is not a mobile home, it is simply a home built off-site which is why it differs to the traditional house construction.

Advantages of the prefabricated homes

The conditions.

More control towards the climate, control of quality, better working supervision, easier access to tools, and fewer deliveries of material in time results in a lower cost and architectural quality of construction.

Environmental impacts.

Reductions in cost and material waste, less pollution of water, dust and noise, and less wasted energy in generalm, although the prefabrication has an additional cost and must be quanitified with regard to transport  to the destiny of installation.

 

More compressed time.

Changes can be made in the construction process, saving time and improving workflow which translates into a reduction in cost.

Less conflicts.

Reduction of labor disputes before the construction and scheduled jobs.

Better use of materials.

From the quality, both in the staging and control, till the storage space reduction and fewer losses and misplacements.

Security.

Increased worker safety by reducing exposure to inclement weather, the extreme temperature and current dangerous operations; better working conditions.

Disadvantages of prefabricated houses

• One of the biggest problems is the need to be taken a pre-set design. We can´t always buy the home of our dreams.
• Problem on the location of the property. There is a need of several circumstances in order to be able to transport the module house in a adequate way.
• Since the legislation does not regulate adequately this type of property there may occur problems with building permits or the certificates of occupancy since in many cases homes are acquired outside the Spanish territory, which can be prefabricated with other standards and regulations.
• Maintenance. Depending on which materials have been used for the project, a strict maintenance of the prefabricated houses or its modules is necessary.
• It is necessary to acquire a location so the cost of housing add the floor. In response to the climatological characteristics of location a certain type of prefabricated housing is needed. A building in the Mediterranean doesn´t serve for Finland
• The space of prefabricated houses. The dimensions of manufactured homes are usually smaller, they are standardized. When the need of larger homes is necessary, cost skyrockets.

In this sense, both advantages and drawbacks in the modular housing are talked about in this article (Container houses). Furthermore the article talks about the costs of containers, the different characteristics and the methodology of the construction in a video.

The design of prefabricated housing and buildings

A reality that must be noted is that the types of prefabricated houses that we can find in the market have had a comprehensive study on its energy and bioclimatic behaviour. One advantage is that it allows savings in energy spending significantly. Based on the standard “container” we can identify their behaviour in the following image:

 

Models of prefabricated houses

In this regard, the modular architecture is of great imagination so we can recognize different models of housing and compositions to try to adapt to the customers tastes. Leaving the tipically housing types, we can achieve following design compositions:

Undoubtely the “modular game” can generate a variety of plans of prefabricated houses, but the reality is that simplicity is cheaper when buying a prefabricated building.

Sustainable project of a prefabricated house

In this case we have to look at the Australian company Archiblox, which is determined to construct ecological modular houses that generate more energy than they are wasting.

 

In the Spanish territory there is more than only a manufactured home industry, people often have a vaguest general idea of this “modern architecture”, associating rather temporary and low quality buildings. With this background, it has a lot of value that NOEM, a Spanish company focused on a sustainable business in the industry of prefabricated houses with zero carbon footprints, won the European Prize for Entrepreneurship.

 

The example of modern prefabricated housing 

The shapes, the new technology and the different compositions of the modular blueprints, are transformed in aesthetic modules with a big value and sometimes almost risky in the design. The modern prefabricated house is here and it is a strong example of innovation. The invisible housing…

 

 

More information about this amazing modular housing here: DMAA.

How to build a prefabricated house

What we want to show you in this part is manual guidelines in PDF of how to build a prefabricated house step by step. Like this the reader will get a perspective and understands the work, blueprints, needs, characteristics, materials, metal, wood… etc and steps of what is needed for the construction of housing modules, as well as general informations about the needs and objectives of the modular architecture

 

• The concept and history of modular housing. Modular construction of housing and architecture HERE
• The current state of modular living and a light view from an environmental consideration HERE
• Thesis – Prefabricated construction systems applicable to the constructions of buildings HERE
• Modular buildings. A fast, versatile and reliable answer HERE
• Design Guide of prefabricated construction HERE (Exellent and extensive manual in English)
• All we have to know about wood in architecture and housing construction HERE
• An insight of prefabrication and modular architecture industry HERE. (Very good economic report – English)