Prefabricated housing often associated with blighted urban landscapes and monotonous grey
boxes has evolved into an approach to housing with a wealth of aesthetic and structural
possibilities. Modern methods of constructing and assembling prefabricated buildings - methods
that can be traced back to the 19th century - are going through a renaissance. This is true
across the world from Vancouver and New York to London and Berlin through to Astana and
Singapore. Moreover prefabrication now serves a wider range of purposes than ever before. In
Moscow Europe's largest metropolitan area it is primarily used as a means to provide
affordable homes. But in some countries prefabrication is surprisingly also used to build
exclusive upmarket properties. This construction and design manual presents a range of
different production and assembly methods currently used in the field of prefabricated
housing. It particularly focuses on efficiency sustainability and market relevance and
presents strategies for organising processes along with best-practice examples that reflect
the latest trends. The manual also explores the historical development of prefabricated
housing in order to discover its full architectural potential. Finally it outlines ten design
parameters for prefabricated housing and presents 15 noteworthy examples making a fresh
contribution to the debate on affordable housing today.
