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. Many of the current prefab home designs on the market have the jovial, eclectic elements of postmodernism or the clean, simple lines of futurism. Prefab homes have not been particularly marketable; possible reasons for this include the following:
- 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.
- A social stigma exists because of low-quality mass-produced designs used in the past.
- Obtaining financing can be difficult due to stricter guidelines being used by lenders to assess prefab home loans.
Recently, however, modern architects are experimenting more often 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. Therefore, many feel modern architecture is better suited to benefit from prefabrication.
The word prefab is not an industry term like modular home, manufactured home, panelized home, or site-built home. Prefab building is an amalgamation of panelized and modular building systems, so the term can be used to refer to either of those. 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.
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 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 well into the 21st century.
A new development of modern prefabricated homes is currently being built in Milton Keynes, England. Designed by renowned architect Richard Rogers, designer of the Lloyd's building, the Millennium Dome, and the Pompidou Centre in Paris, these new prefab homes are part of a wider government objective to breathe new building methods into the housing market within the United Kingdom and to show that prefab is not only still alive, but also well respected.
A prefab material can be used in a quick, easy, and fast installation of any structure like a house, storage building, cabin, or garage. The prefab material is becoming popular because it is cheap, fast, and durable. The prefab home or house requires much less labor as compared to conventional houses or homes. Most of the companies are selling complete premanufactured prefab modular homes or houses called mobile homes or manufactured homes. Prefab homes are becoming popular in Europe, Canada, and the US. Local building codes (LBCs) do not apply to prefab homes or houses; instead, these houses are built according to specialized guidelines (called Federal HUD regulations in the US) for manufactured housing. Manufactured homes are not permitted in some communities. Therefore, before considering purchase, one should check with the local government to learn about prefab building and construction laws.
External Links
- National Association of Home Builders (US) - "NAHB's Building Systems Council's Concrete, Log, Modular, and Panelized Homes
- "Out & about: architecture: Prefab sproutings" by Jonathan Glancey in Guardian Unlimited, Wednesday August 31, 2005, accessed 12 October 2007
- "Prefab home loans" by DrGleeson in Launchtags, Tuesday October 23, 2007, accessed 23 October 2007