LamiDesign Modern House Plan Blog

Upcoming Project Round-Up

2008-07-03T14:45:00.000-04:00

Things are going to start getting pretty interesting around here as several projects start to happen. Here is a quick round-up of what will be coming later this summer.

Our first bona fide shipping container based project is well into the design phase with intrepid client John Unger. John is an adept metal artist and will be fitting out much of the house himself. 3 stories, 6 boxes, including a 2 bedroom home, office, and workshop.

A complete and modern renovation to a Virginia Farm House. Yes, that is a big honking window in the side of the existing house and its going to take a bit of exposed structural steel hoonage to hold it up. Yup, and to hold up one of those sexy hanging fireplaces too.

A new compact, and efficient EcoSteel house, should be going in the ground late summer in Maryland. This is the one I think, the one that has some legs, the promise of being anybodies affordable prefab. The new 3030 House: 30ft x 30ft plus porch footprint, just under 2000 sqft, 3 bedrooms, and a nice open plan living space. Fits on narrow in-fill lots, or in new compact communities. No onesies though. We want to sell these in bunches.

And the Massachusetts EcoSteel Plat House which started last fall is rolling again. The steel order is in and due on site at the end of the month.

So keep your eyes peeled for these projects coming soon.

Technorati Tags: ecosteel, modern design, modern house, Plat House, prefab house

New Mexico EcoSteel House - more photos

2008-07-01T00:03:00.001-04:00

Another round of photos from the New Mexico EcoSteel House. An interesting point of view, most of these were shot from a lift that was on site for the interior work. Most of the exterior photos are from this elevated point of view.

As before more shots in a photo browser below the click through:

Technorati Tags: 6030 House, 6040 House, ecosteel, modern design, modern house

Common Pond Plat House - new photos

2008-06-29T01:05:00.002-04:00

We received some new photos from the owner of the Common Pond Plat House today. They are just about ready to move in and the house appears finished.

More photos after the link.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Plat House

Letters from Sweden - deliver and set

2008-06-28T18:09:00.003-04:00

Its time to wrap up our series on pref-fab house building in Sweden. In previous entries we've looked at how the houses are put together, and the products and technology that have enabled the technique. Today we are going to look at the last part of the process: delivery and installation at the site.

As we've hinted at before the panelized method used by the Swedes requires less shipping than a modular technique. Where modular requires a separate truck/trailer for each module box with panelized a few trucks can usually deliver all the parts. All the wall and floor panels can be loaded on one truck, roof trusses and roofing materials on another. Its a denser method of transport compared to the hollow box of modular construction. Remember, Ikea ships their goods flat-packed because it avoids shipping air!

The parts arrive at the site and are craned into place, carpenter fastening the wall panels as they are off-loaded. This is important! They are not stacking them on site to be handled again when they are installed. The come off the truck and into their final resting place in one step. When the ground floor walls are up, then the drywall for the ceilings and wall patches is placed on the floor before the second floor framing goes on. The drywall is delivered with the rest of the panels from the factory, so there is no separate order of materials, and no unloading and carrying of drywall into the house. They leverage the crane for this. Here is a time lapse installation video made by Scott. As you will see the entire house goes up in one day.

Another common technique is the crane enabled delivery truck. This is a flat bed deliver truck which includes a relatively small crane for unloading the panels. We've seen similar equipment in the US. Often lumber yards will have a small lift arm on a flat bed truck for lifting drywall or lumber to a convenient spot on a construction site. Scale that up and you have the Swedish house delivery truck. Often the controls are wireless allowing the operator to get a better view of the load and place it with more ease. These trucks are commonly owned by the factory, which if you remember from earlier posts owns the entire process at the site. So unlike a lumber delivery truck in the US, the truck is not running to the next delivery. It can remain on site and assist with the remaining lifting work - this may mean spending a day at the site, vs unloading in an hour or two and disappearing. This can mean a lot to the speed of construction overall, and it is certainly convenient for delivery and assembly to be unified. Otherwise the builder must have his own equipment on site to handle the panels after delivery. That all adds extra steps which erodes the efficiency of the process.

While the house walls are going in on another part of the site the roof will be assembled. The trusses come off the truck and are placed onto a steel jig which has been previously set up to match the top plates of the walls. Roof sheathing goes on, pre-sided end panels go on, and the roof is shingled. This all happens just a few feet above the ground instead of an entire story up. This makes it easier for the workers to get on and off the roof, and carrying materials up is also much easier. From here the roof assembly is craned to the flat bed, carried over to the house, and craned in place.

It all happens very quickly, and everything that has gone before was designed to make this field install as fast and as systematic as possible. Remember this is not a curiosity there. This method has completely replaced the site based construction we do here in the US. This is the way the commercial house builders work in Sweden.

Now that the house is together what is left to do? The joints between panels must be finished and sealed on the outside, and drywalled on the inside. Ceiling drywall must be installed, and wires pulled through the conduits. Connections must be made for plumbing and electrical services, and the HVAC system connections as well. Windows and hardware must be adjusted, and the house made clean for the buyer. Buyers often add sweat equity to finish houses. Painting is common. Floor finishes sometimes as well. Plumbing fixtures as explained before are often installed like appliances after the fact.

One more entry to wrap up the series - we'll look at a range of Swedish house vendors.

Thanks to Scott for photos and video.
Previously:
Letters from Sweden - plumbing the prefab
Letters from Sweden - wiring zen
Letters from Sweden - a windows tale
Letters from Sweden - panel building in Sweden vs the USA
Letters from Sweden - Europe is different, Sweden is not, sort of..
Letters from Sweden - land of modern, land of prefab
Letters from Sweden - conversations with an expatriate builder

Technorati Tags: modern design, modern house, prefab house

0857 L House - Design Prints Available

2008-06-20T19:14:00.000-04:00

Yes indeed, the Design Prints are done, and available from the new catalog page right now. So go, dig in, look at the plans, look at the drawings of the outside, look at the drawings of the inside, imagine your life in this house..

Technorati Tags: house plans, L House, modern design, modern house

0857 L House - welcome to the neighborhood

2008-06-18T17:02:00.000-04:00

Still much to do, movers are coming with the furniture, then the photographers. Then we have to make the floor plan for the catalog page and put together the Design Prints. We're closer though.

I've set this up very similar to the Tray House as they are of a kind. I used the same suburban context model as the Tray House but put a little bit more effort into the site. Note the image is the version with the garage doors on the front. Images shown previously were with the side doors.

Technorati Tags: house plans, L House, modern design, modern house

Common Pond Plat House almost wrapped up

2008-06-18T00:49:00.000-04:00

The SIPs version of the Plat House built at Common Pond is almost complete. A few loose ends and it will be done.

Take a quick look at the photo from the last entry to see how the site has cleaned up and the house now looks finished. More photos will come when the project is finished.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Plat House

0857 L House - model done

2008-06-18T00:30:00.000-04:00

Much left to do though. I've raised the bar on the context models with the 0738 Palo Alto so now I feel pressured to do a nice back yard and streetscape. We'll see, the sooner I finish the Design Prints, the sooner it goes into production.

lookin a lot like its little brother the Tray House!

Technorati Tags: house plans, L House, modern design, modern house

0857 L House - interior painted

2008-06-17T17:33:00.000-04:00

The inside is more or less done. What color should the outside be?

Technorati Tags: house plans, L House, modern design, modern house

0857 L House - window frames

2008-06-14T23:47:00.001-04:00

Almost done modeling, have to do the stair, its tedious, and the fireplace, it goes in the middle there between dining and living, and then its time to paint.

Technorati Tags: house plans, L House, modern design, modern house

New Mexico EcoSteel House - the observatory and the milkyway

2008-06-09T20:19:00.001-04:00

I received another round of progress photos of the interior of the New Mexico EcoSteel House today. It seems to be moving right along. Also included were some spectacular photos by the owner of the observatory against the night sky.

Be sure to stop by the flickr group of the house. There are two more panoramic photos of the observatory against the milky way sky, and a bunch more of the interior of the main house. Click through to the rest of the entry to see a photo browser of new images.

Technorati Tags: 6030 House, 6040 House, ecosteel, modern design, modern house, prefab house

0857 L House - first look standing inside

2008-06-04T10:50:00.003-04:00

The model is nearly all roughed out - stairs, kitchen, bathrooms next.

The living/dining room space.

click below for an additional image..

The upstairs hall, overlooks the living space, and takes light in from above.

The L House is part of the Zeitgeist Plan Group.

Technorati Tags: house plans, L House, modern design, modern house

0857 L House - window openings

2008-06-03T14:16:00.000-04:00

Technorati Tags: house plans, L House, modern design, modern house

0857 L House - model takes shape

2008-05-27T23:16:00.001-04:00

Building, building, building...

Technorati Tags: house plans, L House, modern design, modern house

Guess the upcoming house plan

2008-05-26T23:02:00.001-04:00

The next design print in progress.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, L House

Virgina Plat House - exterior complete

2008-05-21T11:08:00.001-04:00

A few new photos from the owner of the Virginia Plat House today. The siding is all done and the exterior more or less finished. The interior work is beginning now.

Here is the master bedroom side of the house. I liked this photo because it gives you a good look at the side overhang rafters. They did a good job with this detail which is always gratifying to see. You can also catch a glimpse of the creek in the distance - what a great setting for this house.

There are three new photos of the house posted at the flickr set for this project. Also remember to look at the LamiDesign Flickr photo pool to see all the photos from customers documenting the house designs under construction. Our thanks go out to them for sharing their projects with us.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Plat House

0751 Suburban House - fourth scheme

2008-05-19T17:28:00.001-04:00

Today we will look at the next scheme from the suburban house project. This scheme came later in the process and so the sketches are more fully developed than the other schemes we have looked at. In this scheme we returned to the idea of the gathering of spaces around the living room, with the secondary spaces seeking a physical connection back to the center of the house. We also struggled to find a way to make a positive solution to the need to elevate the plumbing in the house above the septic system without lifting the entire house out of the ground and compromising the connection to the landscape or bringing in large amounts of fill. What we arrived at was a rather complex interior space arrangement which followed a multi level path through the house, but existed within a simple massing under a simple roof.

I think the house is difficult to understand from floor plans, yet we'll look at them anyway. Those of you who can read plans well will enjoy the jump from flat-land to seeing the space in your mind. For everybody else we'll look at some better representation further down.

click below to continue reading..

So on the ground floor you arrive at the house at what is a very ordinary suburban situation - a garage door flanked by a recessed entry. This gives way to a small vestibule which is also joined by the entry from the garage. Adjacent to the entry is a nice sized home office/studio space. This is great for home office workers as it is removed from the rest of the house and is even workable for taking meetings without parading through the home. From the entry you proceed up a third of a level to the living room - a small stair.

You arrive in the living room space, a high story and a half space. Straight ahead is a fireplace with niche on either side (actually not drawn on plan), to the left is the kitchen and dining area, which is another level up, and to your right is a more intimate area with a lower ceiling that has a window wall facing out to the site. Take the short steps up to the kitchen and you have a large table area that overlooks the living room. The kitchen has a large island, and another counter at the wall. Above the countertop is a large window looking out at the front of the house. At one side is a pantry space and another short stair that brings you up to the bedroom level.

The bedroom level has short hall/balcony that overlooks the living room. The two bedrooms share a bath room and have windows overlooking the side of the house where the entry door is located. At the end of the hall is yet another small stair that takes us up to the master bedroom level. The master bedroom bridges back over the living room on the left, and to the right has a large area for closets and master bathroom. Unlike the other bedrooms it is very isolated and feels removed from the rest of the house.

This section view above gives you a pretty good idea of all these level changes, but this cut away view is probably even better for understanding the layering.

And here is a rough walk through of the sketch model which will give you the best representation of the space and how the parts relate to one another.

I liked this solution as its simple geometry was efficient and economical yet it provided a very dynamic interior space that served the program. Right now its my favorite candidate for conversion into a stock plan.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house

A coherent account of the Housing Boom/Bust

2008-05-13T12:03:00.001-04:00

This is tangental to my blog, no doubt, but the state of the housing industry is relevant to our interest in the resurgence of modernism as a housing product. If you have money to build or are able to borrow in this credit climate, its actually a good time to build. And that's an opportunity for modernist to get a foot in the door, for developers flat out of luck its a market that still has demand. So read up, or listen up as the case may be, and learn what actually went down in the credit bust.

This radio program "This American Life" just did a review of the recent history of the ongoing credit crisis, and the housing crisis it spawned, and the overall stinky economy following on its heels. This is the best plain language, easily understandable account of what has transpired that I have heard to date. It was put together by a pair of reporters, one a financial correspondent for NPR, and the other a regular from This American Life. So it puts together accurate financial reporting with a human outlook and good story telling. If you think "yeah, I know there is a credit crisis but I don't really know what just happened" then this is a worthwhile listen. It puts it in very human terms as well - via the experience of a lot of people who participated in it.

I'd really love to blame somebody. Sure there was greed in there, but not nearly as much greed as sheer stupidity. You know, its like those C students I went to high school with, the ones that were not nearly as smart or responsible as me, but today make so much more money than I ever did or ever will. Its like these are the ones we leave our economy to. And they'll put it into a tree on a joy ride as readily as they did with their dad's Old's Cutlass back in high school.

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=355

These podcasts are only available as a free download for a week, starting this past sunday. So get it now or pay later.

Technorati Tags: modern design, modern house

0751 Suburban House - third scheme

2008-05-11T20:04:00.002-04:00

Time to look at another schematic scheme from the suburban house project. This scheme was centered around an interesting idea about how to organize the house, but also departed from the previous schemes because of this. Here the living+dining+kitchen space is imagined as a glazed rectangular volume set atop a plinth containing the rest of the functions of the house.

This may be a little bit harder to imagine because the schematic model really does not give a good representation of how this would be integrated into the landscape. The plinth would be masonry, sunk into the earth, the stairs at the front looking like a bit of a ruin, emerging out of the landscape (which with fill needed for the site would not be as long as shown in the illustrations). The bar atop is lighter, framed, with many windows, cantilevering off the base on both sides.

Click the link below to continue reading.

When you approach the house there are two ways to enter. If you go up these steps at the front of the house you then walk across pavers on a green roof to a "front" door in the living dining kitchen bar. There is a smaller volume extending towards the front of the house here which is relatively solid, and beyond it the volume of the bar is more transparent. You enter through the door and step into the broad view through the bar into the landscape beyond. Another green roof and roof terrace mediates between the room and the landscape.

The second way to approach is to descend into the grotto that exists between the pair of front steps which will take you to an entry door. This door brings you into a center hall at the lower level of the house. The home office and studio is to one side, and the entry to the house from the garage is at the other. Beyond is a stair with light descending from above, and further the two secondary bedrooms. Each of these rooms is at grade and has a small patio, its own private outdoor space sheltered by the bar above. At the end of the hall is the master bedroom suite which also has its own patio at grade extending off the end of the house.

I've tried to describe the house more as an experience, since this rough model does so little to describe the definitive characteristics of the house. This proposal did not meet the brief for the project in many ways, but it still remains an intriguing idea for me. Perhaps it will find its place as a house plan in the future.

Technorati Tags: modern design, modern house

0357T - Timber Case House, Construction Prints Done!

2008-05-04T22:31:00.002-04:00

This plan set has been kicking around on the back-burner for a few years now. I had created the Design Prints and started on the Construction Prints, but set it aside to develop other designs. Its nice to have four variations on the Steel Case House, but getting other designs published took priority. But I'm in spring cleaning mode now and it was time to finish this and get it online.

The Timber Case House differs from the rest of the Steel Case line in that it substitutes an engineered timber frame for the steel frame that gives the line its name. The SIPs entry wall and roof increase the performance of the building envelope making up for the vast glazed area on the back side of the house. If you have not studied this design in while now is a good time to take a second look.

0357T Timber Case House

A few more plans sets to go and the initial collection will be complete.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Steel Case House

Letters from Sweden - plumbing the prefab

2008-05-04T22:08:00.004-04:00

In our last "Swedish Prefab" installment we looked at the innovations in electrical wiring and compared the round Swedish outlet boxes and plastic flexible conduit with loose conductors to the American system of square boxes and shielded wire cables (Romex). These Swedish products are not in the US ... yet.

Plumbing is another area where there is noteworthy innovation in Sweden. However this innovation has made it the USA and is something that is rather common: Cross Linked Poly Ethylene or "PEX" tubing.

click the link below to continue reading

A brief history: German chemist, Thomas Engel, invented the process for making this tubing in 1968, which he licenced to the Wirsbo Co. in Sweden. Wirsbo introduced PEX floor heating in Europe in 1972, and for potable water supply in 1973. The US market didn't see PEX until Wirsbo set up an office in Minnesota in '85 to market their technology. In Sweden today PEX is used in almost every job – and radiant floor heat is installed in 50% of the houses. While becoming more popular radiant head is not nearly as common in the US. Wirsbo is now part of the Upnor company, and numerous other manufacturers make and market PEX tubing systems. More info can be found:

http://www.uponor.com/about/about_6_1.html

http://www.theplumber.com/plumbinginventions.html

http://www.ppfahome.org/pex/faqpex.html

While numerous qualities account for PEX market share growth in the US and elsewere, our concern is how this new kind of plumbing facilitates off site construction.

One way to look at this is to consider how traditional systems make off site construction more difficult. Rigid pipes, such as soldered copper tube, must be cut to very exact lengths and turns made with soldered elbows that can be unforgiving during handling. If a pipe was hit during handling joints hidden behind finishes could easily be damaged. Field joints in the pipes would either have to be stubbed out of panels and fed through adjacent work without damaging them, or left cut off within the wall panel, and that wall panel left unfinished in order to make the plumbing connections. All of which makes the process more difficult.

With PEX, the flexible plastic piping can simply be left in a small coil where it exits the panel and easily passed through a hole in adjacent work to be connected later. It is a very rugged mateial, and it flexibility contributes to it ease of installation and durability during handling. Because of this it is possible to plumb and ship the walls with the plumbing in place, and to easily connect the the piping after the panels or modules are installed.

Although the US didn't see this technology until 15 years after it was invented, almost every plumber is familiar with the system, as are inspectors – and the uphill battle of changing standard practices in construction was undertaken by Wirsbo who saw the reward of gaining sales in the US market. The nature of product vs. system type of technology is interesting to note here - since pex tubing can and is often connected to standard copper fittings for the final connections in US plumbing fixtures.

The Swedes also have a distinct approach to plumbing fixtures. This might not at first seem like an area that has anything to do with prefab construction, but in reality, the rationalization of the pipes and fixtures all fit within the "off site" and "low labor" model of Swedish building systems.

In Sweden plumbing fixtures are treated more like appliances than built in work. For instance bathroom sinks are commonly surface mounted, with the supply and drain pipes serving them all exposed underneath. Bathtubs typically don't have the filler spout and valves mounted to them - they are on an adjacent wall. The tub usually is not connected to a drain pipe either - rather the tubs which are often on legs like an old fashioned claw foot tub simply dump out the bottom to a floor drain located under the tub. They have no hard connection to the house plumbing at all. Home owners shop new tubs te same way we might bring a frig or microwave into our new house.

So a bathroom in a Swedish prefab when its delivered is typically an empty room with the various plumbing connections ready to receive fixtures. This greatly reduces the complexity of the finished product. No cabinets to install, no tubs to set, no tile to fit over the plumbing fixtures, no shower pans with numerous angles and intersections. There are none of the fussy rough framing issues, built ins, and other work that usually make bathrooms the most expensive part of completing a house. There is nothing in this method that would prevent a bathroom from being finished out in a way that was more familiar to Americans. But what is key is that in Sweden it is customary for the builder to prepare the house to receive the bathroom fixtures which the homeowner can select in a "plug and play" fashion from the range of possible products.

When you look at the foundations for a Swedish house you see a slab with pipes located at the planned locations ready to connect using the flexible Swedish system – indeed the plumbing has been rationalized for prefabrication. As with the windows, wiring, and other systems we've looked at, everything is designed to work in concert with the prefab process.

With our slab ready to receive the walls, the next step is to deliver the house and connect all the parts on site.

Thanks to Scott for photos, links, and cross editing with me.
Previously:
Letters from Sweden - wiring zen
Letters from Sweden - a windows tale
Letters from Sweden - panel building in Sweden vs the USA
Letters from Sweden - Europe is different, Sweden is not, sort of..
Letters from Sweden - land of modern, land of prefab
Letters from Sweden - conversations with an expatriate builder

Technorati Tags: modern design, modern house, prefab house

Colorado Plat House - house complete

2008-05-02T18:10:00.001-04:00

We have not seen any photos of the Colorado Plat House since last August, so you can imagine my surprise to see a bunch of photos of the finished house in my inbox this week. I was blown away - what an amazing setting! There may be a few loose ends that we can't see, and there are no furnishing yet, but all the same its an amazing sight. Have a look below.

continue for more photos by clicking the link below.

In the photo below, which appears to be shot from a plane or helicopter, you can see the wrap around porch roof which is a unique feature of this build.

The owners have really had some fun finishing the interior - its like no other Plat House we've seen before. There is a corrugated metal ceiling and what appears to be cork floors. Look through the photo browser below to see some interior photos.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Plat House

Virgina Plat House - a quick update

2008-04-29T17:53:00.000-04:00

At the Virginia Plat House everything has been trimmed and is ready for the siding to go on. HVAC, plumbing, and electrical work should be under way as well.

The color stain on the trim looks like a nice natural cedar. The owner told me that the siding boards were pre stained to make the finishing go a bit faster. You can also observe the steel brackets for the overhang in the photos of the back side. One thing that is different in this build is the owner has opted for shingle roofing - obviously more affordable than the metal roofing shown in the illustrations. For that they had to extend the plywood deck out to the end of the overhand, and I am guessing they did this with a double layer to build up strength and some bite for the roofing nails. The underside of the plywood deck is exposed at the overhangs. I'm not sure what their plan is for this. They may put up soffit boards, or go with the ply face which is cool too.

There are three new photos of the house posted at the flickr set for this project. Also remember to look at the LamiDesign Flickr photo pool to see all the photos from customers documenting the house designs under construction. Our thanks go out to them for sharing their projects with us.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Plat House

0751 Suburban House - second scheme

2008-04-18T20:01:00.001-04:00

Today, the second scheme first shown on the original post introducing the Suburban House project. In this scheme the house takes on a "T" shaped massing, with the garage front and forward creating an entry courtyard between itself and the house.

Although this scheme was a different configuration than the first scheme, there was the same mission to attempt to gather the spaces around the living room. To that end the plan repeated some of the changes in level we saw in the first scheme, however with much less success.

click the link below to continue reading.

You'll see in the ground floor plan here that you enter a half level down from the living spaces, but on the same level as the master bedroom. The bedroom is remote from the door giving it privacy and a corner view out to the site, but this is essentially the same configuration as the other scheme. From the entry you would proceed up a half flight of steps to the living area. At the top of the plan there is a similar entry sequence coming from the garage which brings you into a mudroom entry of sorts, a half level down from the kitchen.

Meanwhile upstairs resides the two additional bedrooms, but they are reached from the stair at the far end by the kitchen which takes you on a long path, a gallery of sorts, overlooking the living space and kitchen to bring you to the secondary bedrooms which are also open and overlook the living space a half level below. From this gallery there is also a passage to the home office/studio over the garage. This passage on both levels distances the garage from the house creating the entry court.

the back corner where the master bedroom overlooks the site

the back wall of the house where the kitchen and living spaces would open out to a terrace

The conclusion was that while there were many interesting aspects to this plan it was simply stretching too much to try and make the multi level circulation work. It was set aside, but ended up re-entering the mix later on in a new form. We will get to that later.

Technorati Tags: modern design, modern house

0738 Palo Alto - Done! Construction Prints available now

2008-04-10T23:59:00.001-04:00

Construction Prints for the 0738 Spirit of Palo Alto House are done, ready for order, catalog page updated and ready to roll. Thank you everybody for your interest, and my apologies for the wait on this one.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Palo Alto House