Today, two prefab veterans launch their website for a new company called Connect:Homes with a mission to “deliver modern homes that are affordable, green, and available wherever your are.” The co-founders Jared Levy and Gordon Stott, both formerly with Marmol Radziner Prefab, started the Los Angeles-based enterprise to reinvent modular prefab and deliver homes that are predictably priced, inherently green, and shipped most anywhere at a lower cost.
This is the first Energy Star qualified home in British Columbia, according to builder Mandala Homes. The company’s been around since 2000, and this is their new, round showcase with passive solar design, tuned windows, non-toxic finishes, a custom greenhouse, and all sorts of materials that emphasize energy efficiency. It’s owned by Mandala Homes president Lars Chose and partner Rachel Ross.
I caught up with Brian Phillips, principal of Interface Studio Architects, in Miami recently while he was down as a visiting critic at the University of Miami School of Architecture. Based in Philadelphia, ISA is a prominent architecture and research firm on the leading edge of green building and pre-fab construction with notable projects such as the 100k House and The Modules, featured on Jetson Green a few years ago. Here is our discussion on the work of ISA and direction of the green building industry.
A future homeowner inherits a chunk of land in Ulster County, New York and decides to put a dreamy modern prefab on it. I can understand that. The owner picks an LVL model home from Rocio Romero, and the kit costs $47,000, including such things as the plans, a construction binder, open wall panels, certain structural materials, and the exterior siding. The owner budgets just over $120,000 to finish the 1,669 square-foot home and hires a contractor to do the work, but that’s where things go wrong.
If you take all the benefits of prefab building, combine it with over twenty years of building experience, and mix in pure, relentless coolness, you might just find yourself buying a home from JET PreFab,* and having fun while you’re doing it.
I’ve seen a ton of interest in these panel-built structures by Sett Studio, so I thought it’d be appropriate to share a short video for your viewing pleasure. In the video, these Austin-based builders share details of the construction, materials, and installation of a typical Sett Studio. Mike Speciale of Sett Studio also talks about why they use SIP construction and how they’ve tweaked shou-sugi-ban to treat their siding. For the pretty photos, check the original Sett and the twin Setts.
