,
Banbury. It was built in 1947 and the upper floors are prefabricated, not brick.]]
Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes, are dwellings manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled.
Some current prefab home designs include architectural details inspired by postmodernism or futurist architecture.
History
Werner Sell of
Berlin,
Germany is considered the inventor of the prefabricated house (Sell-Fertighaus GmbH). After World War II until 1948 his company built over 5000 prefabricated houses in Germany for members of the occupying force of the United States of America.
Consumer issues
Prefab homes have not been particularly marketable, when compared to standard manufactured housing or existing housing stock.
There are well known reasons for these marketing and consumer uptake problems.
Homes are not currently produced cost-effectively enough for current demand.
Homes are not considered a realistic housing solution by the average consumer.
The consumer is either not familiar with the concept, or does not desire it.
Social stigmas exist because of low quality mass produced designs used in the past.
Difficulties obtaining finance due to stricter guidelines being used by lenders to assess prefab home loans.
Current market state
Prefab homes are becoming popular in
Europe,
Canada and
United States as they are relativity cheap when compared to many existing homes on the market. The 2007 finance crisis has however deflated the cost of housing in North America and Europe, so not all prefab homes should be assumed to be cheaper than existing housing.
Modern architects are experimenting with prefabrication as a means to deliver well-designed and mass-produced modern homes. Modern architecture forgoes referential decoration and instead features clean lines and open floor plans.
Because of the design simplifications modern architecture provides (coupled with the cost savings that tend go with design simplification) many in the manufactured housing sector generally feel that modern architecture designs are better suited for prefab home construction.
Word origin
The word "Prefab" is not an industry term like
modular home, manufactured home, panelized home, or site-built home. The term is an amalgamation of panellized and modular building systems, and can mean either one. In today's usage the term "Prefab" is more closely related to the style of home, usually modernist, rather than to a particular method of home construction.
Zoning issues
Manufactured homes are not permitted in some communities and therefore, one should check from their local city to find about prefab building and construction laws regarding prefab homes before considering purchase.
Europe
In the
United Kingdom the word "Prefab" is often associated with a specific type of prefabricated house built in large numbers after the
Second World War, such as
Airey houses, as a temporary replacement for housing that had been destroyed by bombs, particularly in
London.
Despite the intention that these dwellings would be a strictly temporary measure, many remained inhabited for years and even decades after the end of the war. A small number are still in use in the 21st Century, however, more and more are being demolished. In 2011 the BBC reported that Britains largest existing pre-fab estate, in Lewisham, South-East London, is to be demolished.
Beyond the British Isles
There is no pan-EU housing standard for this kind of home construction, as regulation has historically been at the national government level.
There are however many EU directives that do apply to housing construction and design, but these directives do not directly affect the inter-EU modular home sector due to inter-EU free trade considerations.
However, each modular home is legally expected or obliged to be integrated into the local building code once the final construction is finished.
North America
The prefab home or house requires much less labour as compared to conventional houses or homes. Most of the companies are selling complete pre-manufactured prefab modular homes or houses called "mobile homes" or "manufactured homes".
Local building codes in North America typically do not apply to prefab homes or houses; instead, these houses are built according to specialized guidelines (Federal HUD regulations, or their Canadian equivalents) for manufactured housing.
Australasia
There are a small number of prefab home builders in Australasia. In the overall housing sector, prefab housing construction is very small as the overall rate of housing construction has been very low due to slow population growth.
The prefab sector in Australasia is more optimised for exporting its product, as domestic consumption is limited.
See also
All Parks Alliance for Change
Airey house
Boot house (World War I) and Wimpey no-fines house (World War II) - other solutions to post-war housing crises
British post-war temporary prefab houses
Cemesto
Dymaxion house
E. F. Hodgson Co
Futuro
HUD USER
Huf Haus
Lustron house
Manufactured housing
Modular home
Prefabricated building
Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse
NTA Inc
German inventors and discoverers
The Venus Project
References
External links
National Association of Home Builders (US) - "NAHB's Building Systems Council's Concrete, Log, Modular, and Panelized Homes
Guardian Unlimited, Wednesday August 31, 2005, accessed 12 October 2007">"Out & about: architecture: Prefab sproutings" by Jonathan Glancey in Guardian Unlimited, Wednesday August 31, 2005, accessed 12 October 2007
Category:House styles
Category:House types in the United Kingdom
Category:Housing in the United States
Category:House types
Category:Building engineering
Category:Prefabricated houses
