Having earned a worldwide following for its simple, chic stationary and home items, the Japanese company Muji now offers a more immersive experience of its design sensibility, with three prefabricated home designs—much adored by design blogs of late.
But Muji’s are hardly the only prefab houses on the market. In recent years, a slew of these customizable homes—whose parts are manufactured in a separate location and then pieced together onsite—have become available around the world. They come in various shapes and sizes, and tend toward the modern, eco-friendly, and minimalistic. Here are a few to consider, or just to daydream about:
Muji’s Vertical House
Though many of the current crop of stylish, consumer-focused prefab houses are meant for rural settings, Muji’s most recent addition to its prefab line, the Vertical House, was built to fit into tight urban spaces. By eliminating walls and doors, creators made small areas seem larger. And just because it’s prefabricated, that doesn’t mean owners can’t incorporate a bit of their style and flair: Muji said the homes, will be available in Japan (link in Japanese) in seven variations, each costing about 19,170,000 yen ($180,116).
ARKit’s Essendon Residence
Using sustainably sourced timber that isn’t susceptible to rotting and pest infestation, the 110-square-meter (1,184-square-foot) Essendon Residence was assembled in Melbourne by the architecture firm ARKit. Essendon features energy-efficient appliances and a timber sun louvre (an overhang that allows both sun and shade, displayed below). On the market, it costs $350,000 Australian ($307,630).
Square Root Architecture + Design’s C3
A prefab home located in West Town, Chicago, the C3—Cube, Cut, Copy—is another great fit in crowded urban areas. The C3 took 15 days to complete and currently costs $400,000; this factors in the kitchen, finishings, solar panels, and garage, but not internal furnishings and landscaping.
