New Modern Thai Prefab Busts Out of Shipping Container Limitations
images via site-specific
Earlier this year we showed a container home designed by Thai architect Chutayaves Sinthuphan of Site-Specific; then this summer he showed us about a little container home built by a collaborator, BlueBrown. Now they appear to have got together and founded Prefab Company Limited, to "further research and develop technology for prefabricated construction system in Thailand."
Their first model is now on display; it is 34 square meters (365 square feet) and sells for 600,000 Thai Bhat (US$ 18,000) for a one bedroom unit.
They say it is "designed around the concept of shipping container but with improved dimensions allowing higher ceiling height and wider width."- the eight foot width of a shipping container is designed around cargo, not people, so they have built a steel frame using a 3 meter (ten foot) width as their module. That extra two feet of width and the extra height make a huge difference in the quality of the spaces.
Getting rid of the shipping container also lets you use a cladding with different thermal properties so that it doesn't turn into a giant oven- now the walls are made from "a wood product that has been engineered from saw dust and recycled milk bottles."
It is still a small space; they have been very clever in their display, painting in the furniture.