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Posted by on Nov 21, 2016 in Blog |

Progressive Prefab Design

Progressive Prefab Design

Jean Prouvé always said to never copy—to go ahead and do something different. According to his grandson and architect Serge Drouin, that’s why, after dropping out of school at the age of 14, the future French design icon apprenticed with a Parisian metalsmith, seeking to master one of the few materials unfamiliar to his father, who was an Art Nouveau painter and sculptor. It led to Prouvé’s mastery of steel and aluminum, and eventually a string of prefab housing prototypes that were generations ahead of his contemporaries. Even today, according to Drouin, when engineers dismount Prouvé’s buildings, they can’t always figure out the bracing and support system that he intuitively set up within the structures he created. As the designer developed his craft, and later his own business, Atelier Prouvé, he became adept at fabricating, fashioning, and bending steel at scale, eventually graduating from smaller scale structures such as elevator cabs and furniture into prefabricated housing, beginning with the BLPS model (Beaudouin, Lods, Prouvé, Forges de Strasbourg) in the late ‘30s, a futuristic...

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Posted by on Nov 15, 2016 in Blog |

McDonald’s Built Using Prefab Construction in the UK

McDonald’s Built Using Prefab Construction in the UK

Offsite builder Elliott, of the United Kingdom, has received a contract to design and construct several new McDonald’s stores across central England. What’s so special about another company building more of the omnipresent franchises? With prefab construction, these restaurants will be open for business in a four-week site schedule. Despite their quick assembly, the buildings are indistinguishable from their traditionally built counterparts and avoid many of the issues associated with the latter, such as extended build schedules and site skills shortage. As principal contractor on the McDonald’s project, Elliott will manufacture, install and commission the franchises. The modules will be constructed at the firm’s 13-acre production plant in Carnaby, North Yorkshire. The new restaurants represent cutting edge design and push the boundary of modular system performance. Each of the 25-ton modules that make up a new restaurant is supplied by Elliott fully finished and ready for connecting to services. The modules are hoisted into place on pre-prepared foundations. One of the key benefits is that the buildings will be...

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Posted by on Nov 7, 2016 in Blog |

Green Roof Prefab Housing Offers Ocean Views

Green Roof Prefab Housing Offers Ocean Views

This prefab social housing project for Tangier, Morocco, utilizes prefab and passive design principles to create a sustainable neighborhood with enviable views of the Atlantic. Stephane Malka of Malka Architecture envisioned the four modules as adjustable green-roofed habitats that create a constantly evolving urban structure. The buildings, made up of four modular prefab units, are equipped with loggias and terraces with several functions: they provide beautiful views of the ocean, facilitate natural ventilation and allow natural lighting to reach the most remote corners of the interior spaces. During summer, a shading system controls solar gain and ensures the buildings’ optimal bioclimatic performance. Related: Lush Green Pedestrian Bridge Revitalizes Abandoned Parisian Roadways An abundance of vegetation gives the neighborhood a more pastoral feel and blends the new structures into the surroundings. The strict rectangular geometry of the modules is softened through the extensive use of perforated screens which also reference the traditional decorative elements of the local culture. Despite their size, the structures seem to be in line with the human scale...

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Posted by on Oct 31, 2016 in Blog |

Go Green Solar Panels

The frameless crystalline solar module is gaining traction in the industry. Some customers prefer the way they look and how they perform. But even with their benefits over their framed cousins, frameless modules haven’t picked up much steam in the installation department. Here’s a quick summary of what’s out there and what’s holding them back. Types A frameless module has a pretty obvious definition—there’s no frame. A dual glass (AKA glass-on-glass or glass-glass, among other names) is also pretty self-explanatory—solar cells are sandwiched between two pieces of glass. Keep in mind that frameless is not a synonym for glass-on-glass. SolarWorld’s glass-glass module (the Sunmodule Protect) has an aluminum frame. On the other end, Solaria’s range of frameless crystalline solar panels have a backsheet instead of two glass pieces. So make sure you’re dealing with a true frameless module. Lumos Solar LSX frameless solar modules on a carport project Benefits The most notable benefit is no need for grounding. Without a metal frame, frameless modules are less likely to shock...

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Posted by on Oct 13, 2016 in Blog |

Hotel Developers Turn to Prefab Construction to Meet Demand

Hotels in the U.S. surpassed five million available rooms for the first time last year. But supply, which is expected to grow by only 1.6% in 2016, at that rate would continue to lag demand, according to forecasts by STR, the research and benchmarking service provider. This dilemma may account for the increased interest in prefab construction among developers and property managers. The Modular Building Institute, in its “Permanent Modular Construction 2015 Annual Report,” based on data from 73 North American modular manufacturers, estimates that prefab hotel construction in the U.S. increased by 31% and 25.7%, respectively, in the last two years, with the Southeast and South Central parts of the country seeing the most activity in that sector. “Hotel brands and developers are finding compelling advantages to using the latest forms of prefab construction for new projects, whether it’s implementing just bathroom ‘pods’ or pre-fabricating the entire guestroom,” stated a posting last May on Hotel News Now’s website. That post noted that, by way of example, Hilton Worldwide...

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Posted by on Sep 22, 2016 in Blog |

Modular Home Construction Opening the Door for Small Builders

Several years of production deficits during the housing downturn resulted in a limited supply of both rental and new homes in the country. At present, a shortage of buildable lots, skilled labor and available capital for smaller builders are limiting home production, thereby lowering the inventory of homes, both new and existing. New homes inventory for sale was 210,000 units at the end of February. This is just 4.7-month of new home supply, down from the January levels and also the lowest level since June 2013. The supply of existing homes is also tight, with an available supply of just 4.6 months. Analysts expect prices to flare up if the supply picture does not improve. Labor, Land and Material Costs are at the heart of the problem.  Rising building materials and labor costs are threatening margins as they limit homebuilders’ pricing power. Both labor and construction material costs are rising proportionally with increasing housing starts, and there could be significant inflation going forward. This could eat into site builder’s...

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