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By Sara Hart

Their process differs little from standard practice, including the five phases of architectural services, but the bidding process requires soliciting bids from both manufacturers and site contractors. Still, cost reduction is striking, as is the sudden realization that reduced cost does not mean inferior quality. By limiting their process to a typology based on standard units, Tanney and Luntz can take full advantage of the efficiencies of factory-built components. Luntz identifies the two most important factors at work. First of all, there are the economies of scale in which high-volume purchasing drives down costs. But in the prefabrication world, manufacturers buy from manufacturers directly, so there are more savings. Luntz is quick to identify the high cost of labor. “In stick-built construction, the labor can run as high as 60 or 70 percent of the total cost. In the factory, labor can drop to 20 percent,” he explains. Tanney and Luntz predict that the Dwell house will probably come in at $100 per square foot. They have several prefab houses on the boards now to be built in various places from East Hampton to Nashville.

 

This modular, prefabricated housing system incorporates production principles from the automotive industry. Different panel types are available—plastic (above), metal (below), and wood. Images: Courtesy nottoscale

Although classified on fabprefab.com as “in development,” Peter Strzebniok and Matthias Troitzsch started Nottoscale (www.nottoscale.com) in San Francisco for reasons similar to those of Tanney and Luntz. Upon arriving in the Bay Area from Germany, “we were puzzled by the size and financial strength of the housing market and were surprised to see how few architects were trying to compete with the ‘blueprint housing’ market and the developer-driven track homes we all know so well,” says Strzebniok.

 

The basic construction concept shows modular components based on a 2-foot grid. Modular construction allows flexibility and easy expansion (above).

Unlike Tanney and Luntz, who opted for traditional modular technology, Strzebniok and Troitzsch chose automotive engineering as the model for a modular system for residential design and construction. Volkswagen has ecumenical appeal. The architects recognized it as “a car for the masses, affordable, well-designed, dependable, and one that responds to the consumer’s contemporary lifestyle.” Using the VW model, they developed what is currently called the Modulome, which uses production principles from the automotive industry to create housing solutions for different income levels, site requirements, and owner preferences.

They have clients but are still in the construction document phase of development. All components will be prefabricated in a factory and assembled on-site. The structural core is a moment diagram of a prefabricated and preassembled steel chassis that measures 16 by 48 by 10 feet, which is trucked to the site in one piece and mounted on columns embedded in point foundations. Except for the point foundations and utility core, the assembly is referred to as a dry-construction system. The fully insulated floor, roof, and wall panels are screwed or bolted into predrilled holes in the steel members of the chassis.