Sleek modular dwelling in the Mojave Desert

This prefabricated home has been designed as a collaborative effort between prefab developer Blue Sky Homes and o2 Architecture, located in the Mojave Desert region north of Palm Springs, California. The homeowner asked for a modest size, open and adaptable floor plan that was sustainably conceived with durable materials. What’s more, the design was to utilize efficiencies of factory fabrication to achieve economical sales price. The design would serve as a prototype for a future line of prefabricated “system-built” homes. Emphasis was given to flexible site placement; and ensuring minimal environmental impact while maximizing view potential and required privacy.

The home is a modest 968 square foot (90 square meters), 2-Bedroom, 1-Bath house with a seamless 30 square meter outdoor deck floats above the site on structurally efficient columns and beams of light gauge steel. The building envelope is composed by a grid of pre-manufactured wall panels and standardized building components. The bathroom module, containing all home mechanical, plumbing, and electrical services, is built off-site and delivered. Interior spaces are defined by the placement of storage cabinetry, eliminating interior framed walls. Solar technologies provide electricity, hot water and space heating.

The flat-packed building components minimize transportation volume and promote sustainability through material/structural efficiency and can be dissembled and relocated. The inherent nature of prefabricated design ensures low embodied energy and minimizes site waste. The prototype was completed after a construction schedule of 8 weeks. The prototype was completed in May 2009, with an 8 week construction schedule at $270/SF. Via

Visit the website of o2 Architecture here and Blue Sky Homes here.

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