4 Modern Prefab Home Companies in Colorado
Colorado has a beautiful range of landscapes and thriving cities—so it’s little wonder that the Centennial State’s population has swelled. To create additional housing to meet demand, or to provide escapes into the stunning outdoors, local firms are increasingly finding solutions in factory-built architecture. We’ve rounded up four impressive Colorado-based companies specializing in prefab that have caught our eye.
Tomecek Studio
Anchored into a rock outcropping, Tomecek Studio's Container House in Nederland, Colorado is a 1,500-square-foot residence completed in 2010 that comprises two insulated shipping containers clad in fireproof plank siding. The dwelling is powered by rooftop photovoltaic panels, draws warmth from a pellet stove, and takes advantage of passive solar strategies to keep energy demands to a minimum.
Prefabrication has long been at the heart of Denver-based Tomecek Studio, which has a growing portfolio of modular homes, shipping container houses, and LEED-certified residences constructed with panelization systems. As an active participant in the 2030 Challenge—an initiative for making all new buildings, developments, and major renovations carbon-neutral by 2030—Tomecek Studio is dedicated to sustainable architecture, particularly in its research and projects that focus on off-site manufacturing. The firm’s modern prefabricated residences have been installed throughout Colorado, as well as outside the state’s boundaries.
Studio Shed
Backyard prefabricated offices are a specialty of Studio Shed—such as this one that belongs to their Signature Series. All of the company’s office sheds are customizable, built with green materials, and prefabricated at their factory in Colorado. Installation takes less than one week.
Don’t let this Boulder-based firm’s humble name deceive you—Studio Shed provides a wide variety of prefab structures not limited to their modern backyard sheds. Mike Koenig and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski founded Studio Shed in 2008 to provide affordable prefab solutions for storing mountain bikes. Today, the design/build firm has grown significantly to produce turnkey buildings of varying sizes that are prefabricated in Colorado and can be shipped from coast to coast. In addition to storage units that start at $5,999, Studio Shed offers a variety of studio models as well as prefab home options that start at $24,300 and range from 250 to 1,000 square feet.
Colorado Timberframe
Created in collaboration with nonprofit Summit Huts Association, the Sister's Cabin by Colorado Timberframe is a timber ski hut perched atop Breckenridge's Baldy Mountain that can only be accessed by a 3.5-mile trek. Due to its remote location, the retreat operates entirely off-grid. It was built with prefabricated timber elements and SIPs airlifted to the site, and it features a luxurious interior that can accommodate 14 people.
Combining the traditional craft of timber frame construction with cutting-edge prefabrication technology, Denver-based Colorado Timberframe prides themselves on delivering beautiful homes that not only last generations, but also offer energy-efficient and environmentally friendly benefits. Colorado Timberframe processes their responsibly harvested stock of "free of heart" center timber (with an option to use FSC-certified or reclaimed timbers) in their Lafayette facility using CNC machinery, planing devices, and other texturing and finishing equipment. The prefabricated timber frame packages—with optional pre-cut SIPs for an airtight envelope—can be shipped across North America and assembled on-site in just a few days. The house designs are fully customizable and can be provided as a complete turnkey package.
359 Design
The town of Vail has enlisted 359 Design's help to produce 32 affordable housing units in the Chamonix Vail project. The modular homes come in five different types and are fabricated in Idaho before being shipped to the site.
Another Denver-based firm focused on prefab construction is 359 Design, whose modular mindset brings systems-built construction to larger housing developments. Although the firm also works on single-family homes and smaller projects, 359 Design has made waves in recent years for their involvement in multihouse prefab and modular developments across the state. Such projects include an affordable housing development fabricated in Idaho that will be installed in the Colorado town of Vail; luxury modular townhomes planned for Bighorn Crossing; a new community in Georgetown just 40 miles outside of Denver; and modular multifamily housing for the small Colorado town of Red Cliff.
Related Reading:
The Ultimate Guide to Prefab: 65 Resources by Location, Construction, and Price
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