Founded in 2002 by Peter Strzebniok with a mission to explore the possibilities of prefab modular housing, nottoscale is a collaborative design firm wedded to the idea that prefab homes can be thoughtful, beautiful, sustainable and affordable. nottoscale developed its “Modulome,” a prefab modular home system designed to maximize the flexibility of modular construction while minimizing each home’s environmental footprint. nottoscale realizes this goal through an innovative prefab “building chassis” upon which its Modulome is set, as well as a highly efficient wood panel system based upon the principles of a 2-foot grid. This panel system enables each panel to be customized according to the fit, design and placement of windows, wall space and entryways. From here, the customizable panels create modules that form the body of each house.
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So says Anna Marie Hibble for SFGate (The San Francisco Chronicle) notwithstanding yet another Yahoo News feature indicating that the small house movement is thriving. Though neighboring Sonoma has become a “mini-mecca for the tiny house industry, with an assortment of new businesses launching over the last few years,” the question of where small houses would go in San Francisco is a conundrum considering a “famously difficult” building and permit process. Check out the comments – by the sounds of them San Franciscans are not ready for small houses yet anyway. Or are they just sick of living in small spaces?
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Just a few short years ago, living in a shipping container was considered to be a slightly upmarket version of living in a dumpster. Now, however, containers are being recycled for housing purposes across the globe, with a remarkably chic reputation being attached to the practice. Readily available, affordable, easily weatherproofed, roomy, conveniently expandable, and unsurprisingly easy to ship, they might just take off.
The derelict shanty cities of empty containers surrounding most major ports mirror the story of trade deficits. Their inexpensiveness is their downfall: across long haul trade routes, it’s comparable in price to buy a new container on one’s own side of the ocean than ship the old unit back empty. So their abundance, coupled with their stackable structural integrity, has stirred many an architect’s creative juices.
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