There’s been a quiet revolution in the design of kit homes. No longer are they all cheap HardiPlank boxes or rustic log cabins, although these still exist. The new wave of contemporary, minimalist and flexible designs bears the stamp of some of the nation’s more innovative architects. Designs now available range from traditional, Queenslander and rustic to sleek and contemporary, running the gamut from understated to show-off grand.

It's said that the world’s first kit home was erected in Australia. The Manning Portable Colonial Cottage for Emigrants was designed and cut in London in the 1830s by H. Manning, a carpenter whose son migrated to Australia and took the pieces with him. The son sold many more such kits after his arrival and pioneered a form of affordable housing that has benefitted families around the world.

These days, architects have gone into the business of designing kit homes, and it shows. Queensland’s Gabriel Poole was one of the pioneers with his Takeaway, a lightweight, passive-solar design with an emphasis on sustainability.

A traditional kit home is built on-site using some pre-assembled components. Many of the new generation of kit homes, however, are built off-site and delivered in one piece or several modules. Hence the terms ‘prefabricated’ and ‘modular’.

The new, factory-built designs are not cheap by the normal kit home standards but are an economical alternative to an architect-designed, custom-built house. A basic kit home costs about $450 per square metre without foundations, labour, floor or wall tiles, kitchen, plumbing, electrical and a host of other components. A standard project home will be about $1000 per square metre. A custom-built architect job can be $4000 a square metre and more.

The smarter modular designs come complete (except for connection to services) at about $2000 per square metre: more expensive than a project home but much cheaper than hiring your own architect. They have open-plan designs that connect to the natural environment and, being built in a factory, there‘s better quality control and minimal waste.        

CASE STUDY 1: Happy Haus, Brisbane
Built and fitted out in the factory, modular designs give 'home delivery' a whole new meaning.

Launched in 2009, the two Happy Haus series of modular homes are the work of Brisbane architectural firms Donovan Hill and Owen and Vokes.

The Dhan series by Donovan Hill features a living pod that can be connected to one-, two- and three-bedroom pods, plus sheds for cars or covered outdoor living. Off-white interiors are framed with the warmth of timber doors, windows and pelmets. Plywood cladding, distinctive roof forms and painted solid timber casement windows characterise the exterior.

The White series, by Owen and Vokes, is based on the concept of a ‘working wall’ that contains all services as well as built-in joinery. “This unique planning bias leaves a singular space that can be divided to attain flexible room planning and habitation options,” says Stuart Vokes. Configurations include a suburban family home, holiday home and couple’s retreat.

The exteriors are finished in textured weatherboard. Interiors are lined in warm timber ply contrasted with white linings above picture-rail height, which accentuate the high ceiling space.

Manufacturing time for a Happy Haus building is six weeks. A studio including bed, bathroom, kitchenette and living room costs about $100,000, plus about $50,000 for delivery and installation within Brisbane. Delivery can be organised Australia-wide.

Two more firms, Durbach Block Architects in Sydney and Melbourne’s O'Connor+Houle Architecture, are currently designing future models for Happy Haus. Go to www.happyhaus.com.au.                        

CASE STUDY 2: Bachkit, Perth
Piecing together a modular living solution.

The elegant glass and aluminium modular Bachkit home “blurs the boundary between inside and out”, according to the company's Managing Director, Charlie Ball. The large roof overhang is matched with a deck of the same size, providing shade in summer and protection from the elements in winter. Double-skin walls house huge sliding glass panels that open every room to the outdoors, while aluminium louvres let the sunshine in but keep thieves out.

Bachkit homes originated in New Zealand 10 years ago but the fully insulated design, with five-star energy rating, has been carefully adapted to suit most Australian climates. There are five configurations, from a guest pavilion to a three-bedroom home with enclosed breezeway, all with hardwood decks and pre-finished solid timber floors. These basic elements can be combined like building blocks to create personalised designs, and extra modules can be added later.

Prices range from $120,000 for a guest pavilion to $340,000 for a home with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, laundry facilities, open-plan living/dining room and kitchen. Wind and solar energy packages can be incorporated with water harvesting and recycling to create a completely self-supporting house. Go to www.bachkit.com.au.                             

CASE STUDY 3: Modscape, Melbourne
Prefabricated construction can drive ecological sustainability as well as cost-effectiveness.

Delivered by semi-trailer and erected in a day, a Modscape home is the very model of sustainability. Low-toxicity paints, interior linings made from recycled materials, insulating glass, plantation timbers and double-skin walls and roof are just a few of its eco-friendly features. The screw pile foundation system minimises site disturbance and the use of a steel frame means no chemicals are needed to protect against nasty termites.

“Prefab is the ultimate medium for reducing the impact on the landscape,” says Modscape designer Jan Gyrn. “It is 95 per cent built in a factory, is a cheaper but not inferior product, and is more accountable in its materials use, with minimal waste. To us, prefabricated sustainable building was not a compromise because it ticked all the boxes.”

Modscape homes are clad in galvanised iron and eco-friendly plywood, with a Colorbond roof. Like the Bachkit, there are huge sliding glass openings to bring the outside in. Manufacturing time is 12 weeks and distribution is Australia-wide.

The modules can be connected side by side but the most clever arrangement is to place one on top of the other in a cross formation. In this way, the overhangs of the top storey form a carport at the front and a roof for the deck at the rear.

Modscape’s prices start at about $148,500 for a two-bedroom module. Go to www.modscape.com.au.