Cost Effective Prefab Home

Architects and designers are increasingly considering how prefabrication techniques can be used to build fast, inexpensive and yet aesthetically pleasing apartments. That is why they are creating more and more such apartments, and today we share one of them.

Spanish architect Marc Mogas created this prefabricated vacation home in the Spanish Pyrenees as an affordable summer vacation. The pine-clad areas – one for the bedroom, one for the lounge and a third for a mezzanine on the roof – were joined together on site to form the 100 square meter Ripollès cottage. With the intention of keeping the works within budget, three decisions were made: minimizing land excavation, prefabricating the house and reducing construction aids. Soil excavated to embed the house into the hillside was reused to create terraces and the blocks were cut between existing trees.

To further reduce the impact on the construction site, retaining walls are made from reinforced concrete blocks so that no crane is required on site. The wooden modules sit on these concrete walls. In order to convey the idea of ​​a forest house, the project aims to cut down as few trees as possible.

Windows and doors are framed by white steel frames, and a cutout from the front of the living room creates an entrance hall. Inside, the pine structure remains free and the walls are painted white throughout to create a uniform, restrained appearance.

The combined living and dining area houses a wood stove in a seating area next to the door and a decoratively tiled kitchen is at the rear. In order to be able to make optimal use of the small floor plan, Mogas has developed some clever space-saving solutions. A mezzanine floor is let into the mono ceiling above the tiled kitchen, while a false ceiling in the hallway offers the perfect space for storing suitcases.

Three bedrooms are arranged along the length of an adjacent block, with the master suite at the end overlooking the hillside and a family bathroom at the rear.