Being a big fan of prefab homes, I was excited to come across the work of Melbourne firm Archiblox, who specialise in beautiful, affordable and sustainable prefab homes that are modular in design and architecturally inspired. Designed in their Richmond Studio and pre-fabricated in their Wonthaggi facility, Archiblox designs can be designed, built and delivered within in 12 – 28 weeks (Australia wide).
This is the home of one of the owners of Archiblox, architect Bill McCorkall, where a modern two level addition was added to the rear of the existing home in Balaclava in inner Melbourne. Town planning restraints required a bespoke solution for the ground floor addition, with a modular addition above.
The end result for this Melbourne prefab is a lovely modern, light-filled interior with every opportunity taken to capture views both through the garden and over the adjoining rooftops.
Polished concrete floors to the rear dining and kitchen area are set against honed block walls, the block walls carry past the ceiling level and into a void intersecting the skylight that runs the length of the space. The ceiling is lined with staggered plywood panels and joints expressed with a black textile recessed between the panels.
The recessed black lines are carried throughout the house including the black grout of the concrete blocks, the grouting of the wet area tiles and the rear façade of the board and batten upper level. Custom-made joinery by Archiblox is featured throughout the interiors.
Sustainable Features
- Modular construction
- Thermal mass though the use of concrete floors
- Natural cross-ventilation
- Solar passive orientation
- Water harvesting
- Sustainable materials used throughout
- Archiblox also plants 100 trees for each home built to offset the timber used in the building process.
