Today, Michelle Kaufmann Designs officially announced their newest home, the mkLoft.  MkLoft is a townhouse loft home with 2 bedrooms, 1 loft, and 2 bathrooms, all wrapped up in a modern package.  The home has double-height living space, comes solar-ready, and has all the wonderful, green materials and interior details that come standard in MKD homes:  high-performance mechanical systems, low-flow plumbing fixtures, fsc-certified cabinetry, etc. 

One of the cool things about mkLoft is its scalability.  Units can be 2-story or 3-story, live/work or residential, and the lower level can be parking, retail, or studio.  You name it.  You can have one or one hundred units, depending on your project needs.  Developers can rely on the expertise of MKD for predictability in time and cost.  mkLoft prices out at $130 – $140 psf, and you’re in the lower price range if the project calls for +40 units.  mkLoft is the ultimate multifamily solution for developers wanting to go green.

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UPDATE: 5/1/08 – you can buy the original Inhabit now at Dwell.

Imagine stacking 50 to 100 prefabricated, modular units to create a high-tech, green, multifamily apartment building.  That’s what Unico is all about.  Over the last 18 months, Unico has been perfecting the development of a 15′ x 45′ foot box referred to as "Inhabit."  The company started with idea of using shipping containers, but they later decided to build the box from scratch (and may revisit the use of containers later on).  They partnered with Mithun and Hybrid Architecture, both major innovators in the modern and green space. 

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There’s a lot of talk about eco-cities and we’ve mentioned at least two of them (Dongtan + Masdar).  But an unassuming Swedish suburb, known as Hammarby Sjöstad, has received high praises as a legitimate sustainable community.  In Hammarby Sjöstad, houses use half the energy and water than normal Swedish properties.  Plus, all the homes are built to sustainable standards and will house roughly 25,000 people by 2015 (11,000 units).

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