While never in love with Los Angeles-based developer Steve Glenn's Living Home model (too expensive, too precious), his latest project does sound intriguing: Glenn's LivingHomes is partnering with Philadelphia-based architecture firm KieranTimberlake Associates on an “expandable” single-family (pictured above), prefab green homes that can grow from 900 square feet to 2,230 square feet. All parts of the home are made in a factory--and owners can essentially order more parts of their home as their family grows. Throw out the birth control--and you're getting a new wing!
Our coverage of the three-day design conference that is CA Boom wraps up with the prefab vendor section of the conference floor, and while the usual suspects aka Steve Glenn's LivingHomeswere present, where was prefab stalwart Marmol Radziner? One interesting new entrants was the the itty-bitty Modern Shed and its quaint homemade sale sign in the window: "$15,000 with deck. Free Local Delivery." The web site for the Seattle-based company notes prices range from $7,740 for a 48-square-foot shed to $18,200 for a 10 by 12 studio. Prefab marvel or glorified spider hole? You be the judge.
· Modern Shed [Official site]
· CA Boom: Prefab Zone [CA Boom]
· CA Boom House Tours: Santa Monica's House of Sand[Curbed LA]
Our good pals at LivingHomes have made this month's supersize edition of GQ (the one with Barack Obama on the cover). It was conveniently stuffed in our mail hole yesterday. In a featurette on green buildings, the LivingHomes house in Santa Monica, designed by Ray Kappe, gets listed as one of "the ten coolest eco-friendly buildings in the world" along side green juggernauts such as Thom Mayne's Federal Building in San Francisco, the Grand MOMA complex in Beijing and the Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China. No word on when LivingHomes house #2 breaks ground.
· LivingHomes Goes Platinum [Curbed LA]
· Curbed LA Goes to LivingHomes House [Curbed LA]
· Prefab Goes Live in Santa Monica [Curbed LA]
Steve Glenn's LivingHomes, mentioned before on Curbed LA, gets play by KNBC's Channel 4. Some hard numbers: This prefabricated square foot costs about $250, 30 percent less than a traditional stick-built site home, reports the TV station, information which seems to fly in the face of other reports about how expensive these homes can cost. Also, the TV report says it may be difficult for people to reproduce these homes (why? tell us why TV news guy!). But here's something cheap you can do: According to Steve Glenn, if everyone in the country replaces just one light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, it is the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road.
· Santa Monica Home Built To Eco-Friendly Code [KNBC Channel 4]
· LivingHomes Prefab Home is Wicked Expensive [Curbed LA]
Checking in with CA Boom! Curbed correspondent (and local architect) Steph-dog went to the house tours on Friday in Santa Monica and files this report on the LivingHomes house designed by Ray Kappe (pictured above): "There was a lot of oohing and ahhing among the crowd around me...Loved the feeling of openness, the walls don’t go up to full height, so you never feel claustrophobic. The outdoor spaces are interlinked and on slightly different levels so wherever you are in the house, you are aware of the exterior space. The rooftop garden is just getting started....Also loved the prefab metal stairs sheathed in perforated metal....and the bathroom and the detail of the tile work."
· CA Boom [CA Boom Official Site]
About Curbed LA
From the studio lots to the downtown lofts. From the beachfront bungalows to the canyon views. From the south bay to the valley, from the westside to the eastside—Curbed LA covers our sense of place, and the neighborhoods we call home. Read more about Curbed LA...
