Land+Living: Prefab according to Kappe

Architecture — March 11, 2006 Posted by James

A prefabricated house built by Living Homes designed by Ray Kappe

Prefab seems to have been the panacea for many young architects seeking to make a name for themselves. Many efforts have not gotten off the ground and frankly many have not been overwhelmingly impressive. But a name like Ray Kappe (founder of SCI-Arc and a well respected west coast architect) lends a certain credibility to this prefab proposal.

There is a lot to like about Living Homes first product as designed by Kappe - green materials, solar power, living roof system, reduced construction waste. A model home is currently under construction in Santa Monica, California, and Living Homes is apparently developing a community near Joshua Tree National Park thus creating their own economy of scale. Plus they'll let you buy your own prefab to plant wherever you like.

You can check out Living Homes at CA Boom 3 where they will be exhibiting in the "prefab Zone" and presenting at the Speakers Conference.

Link: Living Homes

22 comments

Comments (22)

Smitmarv — March 20, 2006
Wonderful

This is wonderful but I'm sure in no way affordable for the ave person. Love the roof and the inside. It looks very custom! I love it!

stefano — March 23, 2006
details

It seems to be very comfortable... It has a beautiful design, but i'm not able to figure out the internal space distribution. Is it possible to view flors plans? regards stefano

Patrice — April 20, 2006
Where is it?

Anyone know where this is, the address?

Anh — May 23, 2006
Address Please?

I'd love to drive by and see this prototype!

mytcz — May 24, 2006
WOW

OMG! thats like my dreamhouse! :) i wish i can see the bedrooms and bathrooms shots...

Anonymous — May 28, 2006
Re: Address Please?

in Santa Monica, on Highland just south of Ashland. http://tinyurl.com/fbmru

Anonymous — June 9, 2006

Does anyone have recent photos of the installation?

John — June 12, 2006
Latest pix

http://la.curbed.com

Scott — July 6, 2006
Unbelievable!

I spoke with a Livinghomes representative who said this house was completed. Any new pics? I'd love to see some interior shots and rooftop pics. Thanks!!

aduncan@ffres.com — July 10, 2006
address

Address is Highland and Ashland in Santa Monica

Liam Harris SCoA — August 9, 2006
Living Homes

This (built) prototype could be the answer to many urban and suburban housing issues. By creating a prefab dwelling unit (in macro and micro scale) that uses building efficiency to the maximum, while sustaining an evironmentally friendly presence within the neighborhood, it acts as a catalyst for innovative and alternative ways of living at a hopefully inexpensive cost. -Liam Harris SCoA

BRANDON M. KEENAN — August 16, 2006
COST PER SQ FT

COST PER SQ FT TO DELIVER AND SET UP IN CAMAS WASHINGTON. LOT SIZE 10500 SQ FT = 70 X 150 W/ 22' HEIGHT RESTRICTION. WOULD LIKE 3 CAR GARAGE.

Richie — September 1, 2006
interesting twist...

The most fascinating aspect of this design is it's aapparent reformatting of shipping container skeletons. Look at the last photo, and you'll see a welding rig alongside a shipping container skelton that's clearly been widened beyond it's factory spec 8 foot width. And when you look at the photo of the unclad full house framework (all orange metal), you can see how the hollow metal blocks that reside at all corners of shipping containers, are still used as the conecting points between all the customized modules. Quite a great approach. Let's hear it for 'mutated' ISO shipping container frames... to the max !!! Richie

Barbara — October 8, 2006

Please let me know where in Joshua Tree you are building. thank you

Tiki Pauley Mc Mahan Ludlow, V — October 9, 2006
It's About Time

Beauty, comfort, efficient and affordable to Middle Class America. How do I order one?

Anonymous — October 9, 2006
Is it really affordable?

the living homes site (http://www.livinghomes.us) says that the cost to build is $250/sf. exluding design fees, transport, installation, foundation, etc. which add $70-$90/sf. a typical 2500sf house would run about $750K in building costs. Not what I would call affordable. for modern prefab to really take hold, the industry is going to have to figure out how to get the building costs down to $100/sf. while still keeping the houses **cool**.

Shamness33@aol.com — October 20, 2006
Fabulous Darlinks

Wow!! Terrific use of space, and the living roof is a great feature. I love the visually floating balconies and the interplay of glass reflecting outside as inside space..You guys ROCK!!! Please get the price down so I can move to the West Coast and live with dignity!! Keep on Keepin on guys!!! Peace...

Daniel Cunningham — October 23, 2006
LivingHomes here...

Thanks to everyone for your great comments regarding our first model home. To address a few questions above: 1) Brandon, if you'd like info on a home WA, please sign up at www.livinghomes.us and we'll be in touch 2) New photos of the model home have been posted at www.livinghomes.us for several weeks now, so check them out if you haven't already 3) Those are NOT shipping container skeletons :)but that is definitely an idea that other are pursuing with some limited success. 4) The Joshua Tree development is a bit North of the 62 freeway. More information is coming in November. The positive response to our design and attention to minimizing the environmental footprint of our homes has been overwhelming. Thanks for everyone's support and please sign up on the website if you want us to keep you informed of new releases, developments, etc.

JOHN — December 5, 2006
REALISTIC COST

IF YOU WANT $100 SQ. FT. LOOK AT A TRAILER. IN-CITY , TOP QUALITY CONSTRUCTION STARTS AT $200. I KNOW,I AM DOING A HOUSE NOW.

KT — June 5, 2007
OH Really...

I heard about this Steve Glenn guy, the founder, from Clever Homes. He called up Clever Homes and said he was a "venture capitalist" and wanted to invest in them. So they let him come in and they told him their secrets. He then copied EVERYTHING they had and created Living Homes. He showed up at the Dwell conference (you can see it online in video someplace) and had used Clever Homes logo, copied their business plan, quoted the words of their architect and had pitced their technology to investors as his idea. Just look at him in the movies online.. he is a New York weasel. His houses are overpriced, you can get one for half the cost from 20 other pre-fab suppliers. They are death-traps because of the steel which draws EMF into the house and the coatings on his woods which out gas.. and they guy is just a jerk if you ever had to deal with him. He got his investors to pay for a free house for himself and now his factories see that he lied about the volume. I work at one of those factories.

Lee — November 14, 2007
Affordability Is A HUGE Concern...

>"the living homes site (http://www.livinghomes.us) says that the cost to build is $250/sf. exluding design fees, transport, installation, foundation, etc. which ADD $70-$90/sf. A typical 2500sf house would run about $750+K in building costs. Not what I would call affordable. For modern prefab to really take hold, the industry is going to have to figure out how to get the building costs down to $100/sf. while still keeping the houses **cool**." While I agree that total costs of $320-340/sq ft are unacceptable to all but the very wealthy, $100 sq ft seems pretty unreachable, unless you're talking about making very cheap, not-so-green, undistinguished houses in a very low cost area, such as in the rural South. These are exactly the folks who tend not to CARE about green issues or cool design, though there's always exceptions. Realistically, if prefab can appeal to middle-class urbanites and subarbanites, specifically the ones who care about and are willing to pay more for good design and green-ness, they will do very well. But to do that, they'll have to get TOTAL costs (including design fees, transport, and foundation) down to the $200-250/sq ft range, and no more. So costs will have to drop by about a third, at least... otherwise, these things will remain a niche market, at best, no matter how 'cool' they are.

steve glenn — September 20, 2008
rebuttal of OH

all, the comments left by dk lew are absolutely, categorically untrue — and i assume it’s part of a some trip anonymous has with me/us. he or she has posted this EXACT SAME COMMENT in three other blogs. in two cases, the blog master took the post down. every claim is untrue. the facts: 1. when i started working on livinghomes in 2004, i spoke to a number of companies including clever homes, michelle kaufman and marmol radziner (who did my last home). i told each i was exploring doing a prefab company. 2. i never saw the business plan of any of these companies. 3. our logo hasn’t changed since launch. clever homes has — long after ours was public. and, yes, i do think it looks like ours now, but, fyi, ours was done first. 4. i’m not from new york. never even lived there. 5. a home like ours for half price from 20 other suppliers? show me one; we’ll buy them there and make money!! problem is, there aren’t even 20 suppliers actually shipping homes. 6. steel happens to be the most fire retardant of the major building materials. that’s why it’s used in skyscrapers. 7. i’m not a jerk. i’m a nice guy. 8. i paid for my home myself, thank you. 9. we don’t have factories. we have A factory. we have built two home; and over 16 are in various stages of production. (and, btw, you clearly don’t work there.) anonymous, you’re a flammer — in the worse sense. you know my response, yet you continue to post this. why? steve glenn