Roger Kurath on Prefab
We get a nice double dose of architect Roger Kurath, principal of Design*21, this year at Dwell on Design. First check out the Tatami Residence he designed in Marina del Rey on the Westside Home Tour on June 18th, then hear him talk about the current state of prefabricated design on Saturday, June 25, on the Sustainability Stage. Here's a sneak peek of what's on Roger's mind, how he sees prefab design playing out in Southern California, and how he thinks we can learn from the building methods at work in his native Switzerland.
You just designed a wonderful new prefab house near Marina del Rey. Can you describe the client and the process?
The house is for a young Japanese couple with no kids—she’s from Japan and very traditional and he was born in America. Because they are very private they didn’t want to interact that much with the neighbors or have too many exterior windows. So I oriented the design toward an interior courtyard. She works from home but I didn’t want her office to be excluded from the rest of the house so the office has good views of the house and lots of light.
The courtyard of Kurath's Tatami residence, a poem in prefab simplicity.
Tell me about the construction.
The proportions of the house are based on a tatami mat. Once we decided on that system for the house I worked with the engineer to design the optimal size, weight, and so forth for the exterior wall panels to be installed without a crane. And in the end all the panels are the same size, except for those that fit on the ends.
That’s not the typical approach for most architects?
No. It was more of a manufacturing approach than a design approach. I knew I wanted to tilt up the walls with a little forklift instead of a crane, so that’s how the engineer and I organized things.
Here's a view of the kitchen space of the Tatami residence taken from the central courtyard. The owners of the home wanted privacy so Kurath oriented the house around this internal outdoor space.
Where do you see prefab going in Southern California?
Right now is a great time to do it. But I don’t think that prefabrication of entire houses is the way to go. Here in America there’s a sense that if a house is prefab then the entire thing has to be prefab, but prefabricating parts of the home in factories and designing for a logical prefab system is what I prefer. They’re more advanced in that regard in Europe than here.
It’s a different mentality in Europe?
I’m doing a six-unit residence in a ski town in Switzerland of some 7000 square feet and we put up all the walls in two weeks. They were made in a factory with the windows put in, and some of the electrical wiring already set. That’s the prefab that I really believe in: Prefabricate elements of the house and you’ll have better quality control, quicker construction times, and you’ll also end up saving money too. Just make the pieces and put them together. It’s like Lego. And that’s the way forward.
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In the country were I live, The Netherlands, all the new buldings are made with prefabricate parts. I saw bulidings ready in one year! The nice thing about it is that they quckly build the 'box' and then add decorative elements around it -like glass walls, bricks etc.- that make the final result amazing. I defenetely support and like this building method, the only concern I have is about the earthquakes: is it 'earthquakes-proof' ?
It seems to me, unless you are really building around tatami mats, which I do not see in any of the photos, it would be very inefficient module to use in the US since standard sheet goods are 4'x8'....
You know, I used to live in a house which was prefabed something like Mr.Kurath describes: It was built in twelve foot wide pannels with the windows & so forth already in place. My neighbor who saw it built said the builders pulled up with a semi and a small crane at 8:00 and turned an empty foundation into a house by five o'clock. I expect there was still detail work to be done, like hooking up the plumbing and wireing, but way, way quicker than stick built would be. I understand the design had been developed by the war housing board during World War II. When we remodeled the bathroom, we encountered some definite oddness: all the interior wall pannels were glued as well as nailed in place. . .
Throw away the notion of trailers without wheels! When prefab looks this great, why wouldn't you? Some brilliant points made regarding energy efficiency.
Prefab of course lowers the cost of building a home so this makes our hard earned dollar go further. Now regarding the example shown above, this home has about as much warmth and usability as a pet rock. I've been in garages with more practicality. Pardon me, but the concept is great, but the current example of executing it falls way short of the mark - at least for what the average person would call a comfy home they'd enjoying living in.
I'm confused! I have looked into loads of prefab options here in the US, and prefab is DEFINITELY not cheaper than regular construction. Am I missing something? I love the look of the homes from Method and Blu but they are way out of my budget. Are there any prefab homes (or part-prefab) that are more price comparable?
I agree completely with the previous post. Pre-fab homes are going nowhere in the general housing market until the costs come down. There is really no reason that excellent design, as we see it here, should be out of reach to middle-income people. I currently own a '70s era "factory-built" home, which, unfortunately, has all the design quality of a Kleenex box, but sits on a beautiful site. How I would love to be able to afford an efficient, beautiful home in a similar setting.
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