2Morrow and Stillwater Dwellings photo © 2010 Ellen | more info (via: Wylio)

A number of years ago my wife and I looked at a house on a beautiful setting next to a river in rural Vermont.  We liked the look of the house from a distance but once we got inside there was something about the finishes and materiality of the house that left us cold.  As we were scooting though the kitchen my architect wife turned and whispered,” I think this is a pre-fab house.”

A chill ran up our spines and we were soon wending our way to our next prospect and the word “trailer” kept flashing in our minds.

A few months later we had an opportunity to watch a design competition held at Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vermont where I was serving as executive director.  The competition focused on the challenge of creating a green and affordable space suited for Vermont’s extreme winters.  The hope was to get folks out of pre-1980s doublewides and into something that would enrich their lives as well as protect them from the elements and energy bankruptcy.  And the designs were beautiful including the offerings of Yestermorrow’s founder John Connell at 2Morrow.

This competition had an added element in that the AIA Vermont was requiring that competing teams consist of at least one architect and one modular home builder.  In short, the numerous architectural eye-candies we feasted on were modular homes or pre-fabs.

The whole exercise opened my mind to modular building. By the competition’s end, I was really warming to the whole idea of looking for beneficial synergies between the inherent efficiencies of modular home factories and architectural aesthetics.  One has only to visit a traditional construction site before the clean up crews work their magic to see that tremendous amounts of waste are generated.  In contrast, a wall assembly operation designed to use full length 2X4s and other precut materials wastes far, far less.  And assembly factories can be sited in areas with lower costs of living to save labor costs.

The same is true on the architectural side as well.  Being married to one I can honestly say that there are many, many things that architects “see” that the rest of the world might overlook or think inconsequential.  But these are items that impact us tremendously on a whole host of levels.  Designers might confuse you with ramblings about fenestration (windows), negative space (the places where things aren’t) or the parti of a design (no not party, but the organizing principle), but the exercise will be well worth it in the end.

Now we are living in the Pacific Northwest and I am pleased to see that modular homes are continuing to mature as an architectural form.  In fact, the City of Vancouver recently suggested that some newer generation modular homes be erected to house some of the City’s homeless.   I am sure that many might respond to this: Yeah, sure, better trailers than boxes, but what’s in this for me.

The answer to that last part for some happens a little farther south in Ballard near Seattle: Modular homes for the middle class.  Matthew Stannard and his team at Stillwater Dwellings located in Seattle is now offering modular home designs with qualities and features for a higher end market.  These homes are still value-engineered and green, but Stillwater is also incorporating more sustainability principles such as custom designs that enable the use of narrow—40-50 foot-wide—urban lots.  This latter option more easily allows for urban and suburban infill thus letting more folks live near their work, interests, friends, and services.

Who knows where the end result of this modular snowball will land. Perhaps the next generation will include more recycled content, integrated solar panels, or computerized energy managers? I don’t know, but I am excited that the trend is in the right direction and will be watching innovators like 2Morrow and Stillwater Dwellings.