Prefab - container architecture

I always thought of prefabrication as something really horrible and tacky: standard elements stuck together resulting in a generically looking building. When I hear a word “prefabricated” an image of house being built comes up in my mind: a couple of cranes lifting walls that have already been made in a factory and putting them into their place. And there’s a roof there, waiting to be lifted on the top once the walls are in.

I’ve seen a movie some time ago about the hurricanes in America and that they build prefab houses there for a very simple reason: they are cheap and quick to make (whether they are of any aesthetical value is a question). They are practical as well: a hurricane comes, takes your house down, a few days later you have your house delivered and assembled. No planning permissions, no paying a fortune for an architect, no waiting for a year or so for a house to be built… quick and easy.

Anyway, that’s the image I have in my head when I think about prefab. However, I have realized there is much more to it than just that while doing some research. There are different scales of prefabrication such small elements, panelized systems or volumetric modules.

By panelized systems I mean building elements, such as walls, floors, parts of roof etc. being made off site, delivered and assembled on site.

That’s the sort of thing I have in my mind when it comes to prefab. So, obviously, this kind of prefabrication doesn’t quite interest me much.

Volumetric modules are “the whole thing” assembled off site. Like a whole bathroom with all fixtures. It is convenient and cheap, I suppose, but doesn’t it take away a chance to personalize that room? It’s a made product and it has already been decided for you how your bathroom, or other room, will look like. I had one of those bathrooms myself at a place where I lived a few years ago. It felt like the bathrooms they have on ships for some reason…

On the DLR, going towards Tower Gateway there’s another example of prefab architecture: container city. Basically – a building made of containers stuck on top of each other. It reminds me of a building site (especially the little offices stuck on top of each other near Excel exhibition centre, where they are building an extension). Not very tempting from outside, but it would be interesting to see how it looks and feels inside.

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I’ve been looking into different projects built from containers in the last few days. I am absolutely amazed by the designs considering how restricting a one – size - only module can be. I would have though all designs would turn out to be either very typical rectangular shape or looking like Habitat 67. However, that is not the case!

I find some of the projects very elegant while others are beautiful in their own, quite rough way. The Freitag shop in Zurich is one of the ‘rough’ ones, but it made me think that that sort of thing would work quite well on Greenwich peninsula.

One of the things I found very fascinating is the time it takes to construct a house from containers. Container city in London took 8 days to build. 8 DAYS! Roughly half of that time was taken by foundations and the other half by the assembly of the containers..

> A little film of how container buildings are being built.

To follow are the images of some of the projects that I found interesting; all from containers.

Sean Godsell /Future Shack/ Melbourne


MVRDV /Cancer Research Centre/ Amsterdam


Annette Spillmann and Harald Echsle /Freitag Shop/ Zurich


Adam Kalkin /12 Container House/


Adam Kalkin /City Centre Lofts/ Salt Lake City


Nicholas Lacey and Partners /Container City/ London


USM Ltd. /Cove Park/ Scotland


Lot-Ek /Penthouse/ New York

Images from:
http://kostasvoyatzis.wordpress.com
http://www.mvrdv.nl/
http://www.containercity.com/
http://www.jetsongreen.com/
http://www.citycenterlofts.net/
http://www.archidose.org/