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casual livingthe shackis backThe new breed of weekender is fun,funky and prefab, owing more to ’50s fibrosthan five-star resorts.S t o r y j a n n e a p e l g r e nEngineer Rob Booth’s newweekender shocked the localswhen it went up in a paddockoutside Halls Gap in Victoria’sGrampian ranges last year, and not justbecause of its unusual design, whichthe Melburnian describes as “a funkyshearing shed”.The house got neighbours talkingbecause, quite simply, one morning itwasn’t there … and by the sameafternoon it was. The 43-year-old laughsat the memory. “We sat down with acoffee and watched it go up.”The climbers’ retreat Rob andGenevieve Booth built is one of anincreasing number of prefabricatedhouses coming from some of the world’stop architects. This new breed of “fabpre-fabs”, as an international designwebsite has called them, are ingenious,environmentally friendly, quick to build– and cheap.But most of the architects workingwith prefab say their appeal is not justabout the money. “Beautifully designed,simple places” are the allure, saysMelbourne architect Andrew Maynard.Somewhere simpler than what youhave at home – a shack that catches itswater supply from rain on the roof andgenerates its own power. Somewherethat can be cleaned in a few minutesand packed up even more quickly. Andsomething that can be finished in eightweeks for around $100,000.“The pre-fab housing movement isgrowing around the world,” says RobColquhoun, whose company built theBooths’ Grampians house. Architectsglobally are rising to the challenge ofcreating affordable, functional andsustainable housing for some veryspecial situations. In Japan, Toyota isfactory-building typhoon and earthquakeresistant houses using automotivetechnology. Among Australianarchitects, Gabriel Poole’s prefabs havegone into remote Aboriginal communities,and housed park rangers. AndrewMaynard is exploring whether his prefabswill work in mining communities,or in markets such as India, whichclamour for affordable housing. SeanGodsell’s Future Shack uses a shippingcontainer to provide emergencyhousing after natural disasters.But most of Australia’s architectdesignedprefabs end up as weekendersat the beach or in the bush, where theycan go up with a minimum of fuss ordamage to their sites.When eco-tourism pioneer andarchitect Ken Latona designed cabinsfor holidaymakers on Victoria’sWilsons Promontory, so many guestscoveted them that Latona allowedbuilder Martin Upton to market themas semi-prefabricated weekenderscalled Smartshax. With the simplicityof your childhood beach-house, butsensitive and modern design, they areinexpensive escapes for coast andcountry, and can be built completely“off the grid”, with solar power,composting toilets and water tanks.Latona is a firm believer that Australiansneed to “reconnect with nature”,and intends that buildings like his Bayof Fires Lodge in Tasmania, as well ashis Smartshax, will allow that tohappen. One client, a Sydney banker,cited nostalgia for the Queenslandholiday house of her childhood, withits sleep-out, as the kind of feel shewanted for her weekend escape.Many such baby boomers recall withaffection the cosy evenings of theirfamily holiday shacks – before rumpusrooms and studies and home cinemasand wireless internet. So a house thatbrings people together, rather thanencouraging them to drift apart, is onmany buyers’ agendas. One Melbournearchitect working on a country housefor a wealthy client was given the briefnot to build a big house where “everyoneends up in their own room doing theirown thing, and I end up in the kitchenon my own”. The size of most pre-fabs(governed by the need for them to fit ona semi-trailer for delivery) makes themthe perfect cosy retreat.Sometimes such shacks are a toein-the-waterof a sea-change town, andwill be added to when the ownerretires. Sometimes they’re just an antidoteto the complications of urban life– and recognition that busy lives meanmany modern weekenders might belucky to get a visit one weekend out ofeight, therefore it’s foolish to investtoo much in them.So are big five-star-resort-styleholiday houses losing their appeal?Several architects said clients cited theexpense, work and energy required torun a big second home as motivation forbuying something simpler where theywouldn’t be cleaning guest bathrooms,or finding and packing belongingsstrewn around a big weekender. Is itsurprising we long for the old dayswhen leaving on a Sunday night meantshutting the curtains, turning off thepower and locking the front door?Queensland architect GabrielPoole says: “People don’t need thesebloody big houses, with theatre roomsJune 23-24 2007 / The Weekend Australian Magazine 41
elizabeth cleavesbig enough to house a whole family in.If you build a big house, you should behousing three generations in it,” saysthe architect often credited withreinventing the Queenslander formodern times, and who now creates hisown line of prefabs. Poole believes we’llbegin to reject houses that cover thewhole block. “They’re houses forshowing off to someone else. I thinkthere will be a move away from them,and they’ll become difficult to sell.”Poole’s prefabs, called “Takeaways”are constructed in a Cairns factory andassembled on site. Between 25 and 35have been built so far in Queenslandand the Northern Territory for privateclients, Aboriginal communities andpark rangers. They’re cheaper thanconventional architect-designed houses,can go up on site in as little as 24 hours,and are able to use interesting greentechnology, such as a cooling systemwhich draws air up from pipes buried inthe ground below the house.Young Melbourne architect AndrewMaynard agrees people are being drawnto simpler dwellings for ideologicalreasons. “The green issue is coming to ahead for many people,” he says. Theywant energy-efficient houses withsimple but beautiful design. Through apartnership called Prefab House, he’s> The greenissue is coming toa head for manypeople. Theywant energyefficienthouseswith beautifuldesign. P r e b u i ltRob Colquhoun’s Victorian companyis the pioneer of modern prefab inAustralia. “None of our clients wouldconsider conventional kit homes,” hesays, hence the appeal of Prebuilt’soften edgy designs which are scatteredfrom the snowfields to the sea. Mostcarry price-tags from $90,000 up,though cheaper are available. Thecompany’s Kilsyth factory has eighthouses under construction at a time,they’re built in six to eight weeks,delivered and installed on site in a day,and finished in five. www.prebuilt.com.au> T h e e - b o d eHaving your architectural work ondisplay next to the Sydney Opera Housewould be daunting for many architects,but that’s just how Paul Lucas andSarah Bickford’s first prefab e-bodemade its 2004 public debut to promotea “houses of the future” exhibition.Their prototype is on display at Broke inthe NSW Hunter Valley, and their firstcustomer takes delivery this month(June) of an e-bode built by an Alburymanufacturer. The pair’s company,modabode, aims to deliver houses12 weeks from order, priced from$129,000. www.modabode.com.au> S m a r t s h a x“Camping with doors,” is how builderMartin Upton sums up Smartshax,designed by the architect and ecotourismpioneer Ken Latona. Deliveredto site partially pre-fabricated, erectedin six weeks by two builders, and pricedfrom $162,000 plus GST, Shax can bebuilt “off the grid” with solar power,water tanks and composting toilets.There are completed Shax now acrossthree eastern states.www.smartshax.com.au“We work on taking six toeight weeks to build thehouse, one day to install, andfive days to finish,” saysbuilder Rob Colquhoun.> P r e fa b h o u s eArchitect Andrew Maynard’s websiteshows one of his prefab houses perchedon top of a high-rise building, turninga dull rooftop into a penthouse suite.In reality, his first prefab will go up thisyear somewhere far less urban – off thegrid in Victoria’s Strathbogie Ranges.Maynard’s partnership is aiming for atimeline of eight weeks from order todelivery. He is currently taking ordersfor the houses, which are composedof modules priced from $33,000 to$47,000. www.prefabhouse.com.au> P l at f o r m 1 2 3 4The holiday cabins Rita Qasabiandesigned for her parents’ farm onNSW’s south coast inspired the sameemotion in many visitors – they wantedtheir own. So Qasabian’s architecturalfirm, Studio Internationale, began theprocess of creating a range of prefabswhich would satisfy the demand. Theirshowcase building will go up on theNSW south coast this year. Pricing andother details are to be finalised, butQasabian says it’s safe to assume goingprefab will cost $1000 per square metreless than a normal architect-designedhouse. wwwstudiointernationale.com> Ta k e a w ay s“They can be built almost anywhere,”says Robin Boyd medal-winningarchitect Gabriel Poole of hisTakeaways prefab kit houses, which aremanufactured in Cairns. Around 30 havealready been built in Queensland andthe Northern Territory. Known for hismodern tropical houses, Poole’s designsare also famous for taking advantageof nature to heat and cool them. Fullyfinished houses priced from $118,000;kits from $68,000.www.gatewaymanufacture.com42 The Weekend Australian Magazine / June 23-24 2007
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