Technology: Digital Processes and the Potential to Individualize Prefabricated Homes

© Bruno Klomfar
© Bruno Klomfar
© Stora Enso Timber
© Stora Enso Timber
To improve the image of prefabricated homes, many manufacturers are now offering domiciles designed by architects. The high degree of prefabrication, combined with the ideas introduced by the architects – particularly when digital processes are consistently implemented – allow the purchaser to influence the process. Their production time and set-up are brief, and the price is guaranteed. The m3-haus – created by a prefab home manufacturer, the architecture firm maaars and local carpenters – can even be adapted to different regional contexts. Its modules are based on a 4 x 6 m grid; there are three modules on each storey. The purchaser determines what type of floor plan the house will have.Parallel to the earliest sketches, the first digital models are produced and are refined as the project progresses. They are the basis for renderings (Artlantis, Maxwell Renderer) as well as for the cross-laminated timber (CLT) working drawings.