PREFAB FOR HUMANITY

In inner-city Baltimore, Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake paves a path to affordable prefab.

Architect Edward Paul Haladay is one of those people who retires and immediately starts looking for work. Soon after closing the door on a practice heavy on Caribbean resorts, the Baltimore, Maryland, resident walked into Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake’s office in 2008 to start volunteering. The local affiliate had just bought a vacant lot in McElderry Park, where nearly 40 percent of families live below the poverty line.

Haladay had recently seen the New York Museum of Modern Art’s prefab exhibit, Home Delivery, and was disappointed by its Tinkertoy mentality. “The best homes were all made like jewelry, with special joints and fittings,” he says. “There was not one thing the 99 percent could buy.” Doing research for Habitat, he discovered most modular homes cost $200 to $300 per square foot, plus the cost of land. He knew modular was a good solution for Habitat, but he had to do it for less money.

The architect’s row home design for Fayette Street takes into account the everyday lives of the Habitat families—mostly single moms with two or three kids. The homes are “not esoteric,” says Haladay. “We used durable but simple materials, and we put them together prosaically.” Still, there are plenty of practical and thoughtful touches: A two-by-six-foot skylight brightens the central stairwell and beams light into the bathroom and living room via wall perforations. Haladay also insisted on a full basement, generous closet space, and articulated facades to encourage customization—all for less than $100 per square foot.

Despite rain, the installation of nine homes over two nights drew a large crowd. They cheered every time a crane lifted and lowered a module into place. Says Haladay, who still hasn’t retired, “The spectacle was already bringing the community together.”

FAYETTE STREET BY THE NUMBERS

Row house dimensions:
12 by 55 feet

Distance from factory to destination:
Roughly 130 miles

Module cost:
$43.75 per square foot

Completed home cost:
$96.25 per square foot,
or $154,000 each (excluding land)

Construction time:
10 working days in factory

Installation time:
2 nights (plus 1 month
to build foundations)

Time to install a typical gut-renovated or stick-built Habitat house:
6 months

Written By: Caroline Tiger
Source: http://www.dwell.com/great-idea/article/prefab-humanity

Modular Construction, an Efficient Choice for Housing Projects

There are several reasons to choose modular construction for your next home. A modular house offers tremendous design flexibility including the size of the house, layout and interior and exterior finishes. Whether you are looking for a single story house or a multi-story residential community, this can be done more efficiently with modular construction.

Along with the flexibility of modular home construction, a manufactured home is typically built faster than traditional construction. Homes that are built using modular construction are primarily built inside a climate controlledfactory environment. As homes are being constructed in the factory, site work commences to install foundations, utilities and initial site grading. This concurrent schedule enables the builder to meet all of the deadlines that have been set. Additionally, delays related to poor weather conditions are eliminated or significantly reduced.

Although a modular home is built fast, quality is never compromised. Modular builders take great care in ensuring that these homes are built to last. Modular buildings meet or exceed the same building codes as traditional construction. Modular construction ensures that every aspect of the building is structurally sound and durable.

Using modular construction for your next commercial or residential housing project is a great option and comes with numerous benefits.

Modular Construction to Take Off in 2013

NEW YORK CITY-Love it or hate it, modular construction is the way of the future. And, according to Patricia Lancaster, professor, construction management at NYU Schack Institute of Commercial Real Estate, thinks this is certainly a good thing. She is also optimistic about the burgeoning neighborhood around the new Barclays Center here. Read on to hear her thoughts on local developments and construction in 2013. 

GlobeSt: What are your thoughts on modular construction, namely, how will it benefit the commercial real estate industry (if it will)?

I think modular construction is going to be big.  Doing construction indoors in a controlled environment without weather and with the available fabrication technology will make it more economical and higher quality.  Of course, there are some issues to consider.  For instance, where does this fabrication take place, and how does the product get to the site?  What is the maximum size that can be transported, and how much does it cost?  The technology has progressed to the point where some customization is easy, but modular still makes most sense where there are smaller (truckable) repetitive components.  That makes modular more applicable to residential or hospitals than commercial office with the larger spans and open areas.  With that said, all eyes are on Sky City in China.  If that project is successful, it will have developers all over the world demanding as many pre-fabricated or modular elements as possible for their buildings.  But even if it’s not, modular will revolutionize the construction industry the way that laparoscopic surgery has revolutionized the medical industry.

GlobeSt: 2013 has just kicked off and there are a lot of developments under way in New York City. Which project do you think will most benefit the city and why?

The Hudson Yards and other West Side projects will change the face of that entire part of the City, generating revenue and offering unprecedented capacity.  There’s some talk of extending the Highline Park to the north, and if you look at the enormous effect the Highline has had on surrounding property values you get just a taste of the effects of the West Side development over time.

GlobeSt: How do you think the area around Atlantic Yards is going to shape up as a result of the tower there and the Barclays Center?

The area around Atlantic Yards will see a great resurgence.  Some people will just use the arena as a destination, then hop right back on one of the many public transportation modes – but many more will do what Professor Lambeck, Chair of the Construction Management Department here at NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate and I did a few weeks ago, and have a meal at one of the many restaurants in the area before attending an event at the arena.  It’s convenient to get to, and that means people will spend time and money, making local businesses prosper.  

GlobeSt: What do you predict for internationalconstruction trends in 2013?

International construction will trend increasingly towards modular, increasingly sustainable and increasingly including infrastructure components that would previously have been done by government.

GlobeSt: In New York City, what is going to be the next hot neighborhood for building and why?

Of course, all of the big developments like Columbia’s Manhattanville, Willett’s Point and Hudson Yards will transform the neighborhoods around them over time in a dramatically positive way.  As far as the next hot neighborhood, I’d look to Seward Park on the Lower East Side.  NYC EDC is set to issue an RFP for a 1.5M square foot mixed use development that will entirely alter the urban fabric in that area.  It is uniquely poised to bring up property values in the surrounding area, which has already seen increased activity moving east across Center Street.  The only unknown is the effect of the City’s study of the food plain elevation on this particular project, and how long it takes to get resolved.

Written By: Miriam Lamey

Source: GlobeSt.com

Modular Buildings for Oil Extraction

The oil business is booming and workers are flooding to high-paying jobs in states like North Dakota. However, many of these areas are so remote that there are no viable housing options for those workers. Modular construction is an efficient solution in areas with elevated growth and where oil drilling has expanded the workforce beyond capacity.

Modular homes can be constructed much faster because site work and factory construction are completed simultaneously. Unlike traditional construction, modular homes are not greatly impacted by weather. Because they're constructed off-site, they can be built at any time of year, even during North Dakota's harsh winter season.

Modular structures can be customized to meet the exact size and layout of each client. Additionally, homes can come in a variety of colors and designs, ensuring clients have a comfortable and welcoming place to call home.

Modular construction is a fast solution for commercial and residential projects. A modular building can take the stress away from lengthy construction timelines and allows buildings to be completed up to 40% faster. Modular construction meets the housing demands of growing areas.

In addition to modular homes, commercial structures can be constructed much more efficiently with modular construction, helping to build the infrastructure and support the rapid growth of areas.

Efficient Modular Designs for Laboratories

Modular laboratory buildings are leading the healthcare industry into the future with new lab designs that involve more environmentally safe construction methods. The development and planning of modular laboratories are faster and more economical than the traditional building methods of the past.

The ever increasing demand for intelligently designed operational space is establishing modular construction as the more efficient building method for medical laboratories. Modular buildings can fulfill the highly specialized requirements of science, pharmaceutical and medical research labs as well as animal testing facilities considerably faster than traditional construction. Whether a laboratory is required to be a permanent or a provisional structure, modular engineering tactics yields functionality flexibility and quality that are second to none in the construction industry.

The Productivity of Modular Medical Buildings
Modular laboratories are primarily constructed in a climate controlled factory environment. As modules are being constructed, site work commences to install foundation, utilities and initial site grading. This concurrent schedule greatly improves productivity and functionality allowing modular laboratories to be constructed much faster than traditional construction. Because of the greatly diminished on-site construction work there will be fewer construction site disturbances such as noise. Additionally, material waste is greatly reduced with factory construction.

Healthcare buildings such as laboratories and research buildings help hospitals, offices and schools quickly expand. Modular construction makes this not only possible but simple to do. Whether the building is to be placed right next to an existing building or on a brand new site; modular medicalbuildings more efficient construction practices to deliver a high quality project on time and within budget.

A Modular Solution for Overcrowding in U.S. Prisons

Overcrowding causes a number of problems for federal and state prisons. Although inmates may be sent to prison to carry out their sentences, many are released early to ease congestion and the inmates who stay may spend more time locked in their cell because common areas are too crowded for the guards to safely patrol. As the government struggles with funding to build more infrastructures, more inmates are incarcerated every day. 

Modular construction is an effective solution to prison overcrowding. A modular building is the optimal choice for minimum and medium security facilities. A modular jail is as secure as a traditionally constructed building. Security features such as prison quality locks, surveillance systems and bullet resistant windows provide the protection needed for safe and secure modular correctional facilities. Additionally, modular prisons can be customized to meet the needs of each institution.

Modular correctional facilities serve as an appropriate means to ease overcrowding in juvenile, medical and guard facilities. Because factory construction and site work occur simultaneously, modular jails are completed quickly. Whether the extra space is needed to house additional inmates or to add educational or treatment complexes, modular correctional facilities allow prison systems to upgrade or expand their infrastructure without causing much disruption to ongoing operations.

The additional space offered by a modular prison facility can serve as a means to separate lower-risk inmates from those who have a history of disruptive conduct. Custom floor plans can be designed to meet each facility’s unique needs including size and layout. Modular jails often offer inmates more space and privacy than typical prisons.