Today’s Solutions: June 08, 2023

Prefab houses aren’t exactly a thrilling proposition to architects, but with urbanization in full swing, there is a great need for nice, quickly-constructed prefab houses. The good thing is that the architects behind these houses are finding ways to build prefab homes that produce clean energy, maximize sunlight, and do away with complete homogeny.

An example of this updated approach to prefab houses comes from Örebro, Sweden, where Street Monkey Architects have created a row of homes featuring angled roofs that slant downwards to capture maximum sunlight on rooftop solar panels. The sleek modern homes were constructed offsite as six separate modules that include walls, bathrooms, and kitchen; facades were added once the modules were transported on site.

In a clever move to create replicability without visual homogeny, Street Monkey Architects clad the east-west facing facades in white plaster and the north-south facades in steel or steel with a wooden lattice overlay. That same subtle customization is found on the roofs, which are designed to capture as much sunlight as possible. All of the solar panels are designed to face south, which meant the corner lot orientation of the row houses required two different designs.

Homes facing north-south have asymmetrical, mirrored roofs, while east-west facing homes have a sawtooth pattern. These design choices together inject some personality into what could have otherwise been a row of exceedingly cookie-cutter abodes.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

Raising diverse voices and celebrating progress this Pride Month

With the arrival of June comes Pride Month, a time to gather together to celebrate the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and reflect on the progress achieved toward ...

Read More

Transform your health with these 9 powerful habits

You are your best investment — and your habits are the key to how well you thrive in life. For a balanced lifestyle that ...

Read More

Lab-grown meat to become cheaper than conventional beef by 2030

From steak cuts to chicken burgers, lab-grown meat is showing promising potential to transform the meat industry and shift it towards a more ethical ...

Read More

What is degrowth and how can it help tackle climate change in an inclusive way?

We are indeed finding ourselves in a geological epoch – aka the Anthropocene – when human activity has become so earth-shaking it is throwing ...

Read More