Project Description

Stagecoach is the first in a planned rollout of manufactured modular housing. Two offset modules measuring 18'x72'x11' are joined at their long sides to create the house. Another pair of modules measuring 18'x18'x9'6, - are attached side-by-side to form the garage. Stagecoach synchronizes standardization with design flexibility in an entirely factory-produced modular system comprised of Vierendeel steel trusses that are carried by truck to the site and hoisted into place atop concrete piers by crane. The steel trusses are made from the latest in steel technology, they are corrosion-resistant and are derived using recycled metals. Each structure and module enclosure takes mere days to fabricate in the controlled factory environment and is then lifted into place by crane in a matter of hours. The factory-produced structure is made of Vierendeel steel trusses that supply rigidity and strength and support long spans without diagonal members that would obscure views.

The house rests on just four concrete piers per module. The exceptional strength of the truss was necessary to allow the enormous units to be carried by truck to the site and hoisted into place by crane. That process took less than one day with the first unit taking one hour to install and the fourth just seven minutes and eighteen seconds. The units arrived on site fully furnished with everything from kitchen appliances and cabinetry to lighting fixtures and blinds and had only to be plugged into utilities. Materials were left to speak for themselves: the steel is painted on the exterior but left raw at the interior, the concrete flooring is untreated and exposed plywood was left raw. The house is two stories with the lower level terraced into a hillside with a non-structural concrete retaining wall at the rear and a shaded terrace at the front. The home rests on the land very lightly.

By minimizing on-site construction, it was possible to maintain the site's integrity by leaving boulders and vegetation in place. Ninety-one percent of the site was left undisturbed. This manufactured housing has sustainability at its core. Waste was virtually nonexistent in the factory. With more houses planned the architects were able to buy materials in bulk, saving lost energy associated with repeated shipping and transport. Perhaps most important, the house site was left nearly as the architect found it before construction. Just nine percent of the property was altered to accommodate the house.