via Jeriko House
Creativity Online: As a concept, prefabricated housing seems to make so much sense that it’s a wonder why all houses aren’t built with prefab techniques and methods. I thought the prefab manufacturing methods had finally reached a level of efficiency that would enable mass customization, but it was brought to my attention just last week, that one of the most well-known players in the prefab housing industry was shuttering its doors. So what happened?
The percentage of people that will buy land, and design and build a house themselves is very small. Most people choose to buy existing houses because the majority of people do not want to wait or deal with the complications of design and construction of a home, and in addition, they are not that creative nor do they want to be. Present somebody with a blank canvas and they’re not sure where to start, but show them an empty house and they can imagine living in it. It is much easier for people to visualize space when it is already built.
I was sure that prefab was the future a few years back, but now when I ask myself the question: if I had land and money to build a house, would I really choose prefab? The answer, despite my preferences for sustainability, is probably not. And why not? Somehow I feel restricted by the pre-designed concept, I feel as if I’d be ordering to build a house from Legos. It may be that I haven’t educated myself thoroughly on the possibilities of prefab, but for the time being, this is my instinctual reaction.