A Washington home construction company is adding a commercial division that will mean more work for its large manufacturing facility north of Ferndale.Method Homes, which builds prefabricated homes, recently launched a commercial division called Method Prefab. The new division will focus on custom design-build projects that include offices and commercial buildings.The commercial work will be done at its 55,000-square-foot facility off Grandview Road, said Courtney Peterson, a spokeswoman for the company. The facility recently doubled production space to handle the commercial division.The number of additional employees hired will depend on the number of commercial projects the company signs, Peterson said. The Ferndale facility currently has about 20 employees."We are fortunate to have a great diversity of (residential) projects in a wide geographic range. As we take on more commercial projects, we see this growing to be a good portion of our overall construction business," Peterson said, adding that they expect 2013 to be a growth year.
For Method Homes, everything is centered around two ideas--sustainability and craftsmanship. Grounded in those principles, Method has worked with a range of architecture firms since 2008 to design a variety of modular homes. "We can build anything in our factory," co-owner Brian Abramson said. "We can build super modern homes or traditional ones. We really have few limitations."
A 772-square-foot home might not sound impressive until you hear its list of attributes. Renewable and recycled materials, rainwater collection, two outdoor greenhouses, solar panels and a graywater reuse system are just part of the Paradigm prefab design, which made its debut on November 14, 2012, at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in San Francisco
If you're in need of a 700-gallon rainwater harvesting tank, ultra-low-flow toilets or porous driveway pavers, then Moscone Center is the place this week.
The occasion is Greenbuild, a conference organized by the United States Green Building Council and being held for the first time in San Francisco. With 35,000 people expected to attend and more than 1,000 companies exhibiting what they claim are eco-friendly products, the event also testifies to the ever-widening cultural presence of sustainable design.
As part of Greenbuild 2012, the Paradigm modular home – the prototype in a new series from Method Homes – will offer a unique design approach allowing architects and designers more choices about plan and building configurations.
With the housing industry still struggling to recover from the recession, it may be surprising that the fastest-growing private company in Washington state this year is a home builder. Revenue for Seattle-based Method Homes LLC grew by 784.6 percent, to $4.6 million in 2011 from $520,000 in 2009, putting the company at the top of the Puget Sound Business Journal’s list of 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies.
To spur that growth, Method Homes’ co-founders, Brian Abramson and Mark Rylant, repeatedly took advantage of the opportunities they identified in their niche to create new lines of prefabricated modular homes. Lately, the company has expanded into apartments and hotels.
Based on hexagonal grid patterns constructed of 30-degree triangles, HOMB represents the ultimate in flexibility. The HOMB building model creates a modular system capable of lifespan space addition and subtraction, residential and commercial applications, flexible and custom floor plan layouts, and eligibility for organic, steep sloped, or small lots.The first HOMB was set in Northeast Portland last Thursday. The 3,900 square foot residence (2400 square feet of modules) is a custom version of HOMB, configured of 28 triangle units. With elements including half-hexagon and triangle custom skylights, 100 square foot cantilevers in front and back, floor to ceiling glazing, custom poured tile, and a double vaulted section that will make up the home’s great room, this home will act as the showcase residence for the HOMB brand.Another core element of the Portland HOMB is the great amount of structural detailing involved: custom steel structural members, detailed structural connections, and an intricate ceiling beam system form HOMB’s frame. All of these elements center around the first component of the project to be set: a custom 26-foot prefabricated steel staircase that was installed the day before the modules. Method worked with site contractor Rainier Pacific to lift the modules over the stairs during the one-day set, with strategic accuracy. The first HOMB will be open for tours following the Portland AIA’s Design Matters tour.Learn more about HOMB Modular
The benefits of prefabricated homes abound—expedited construction schedules, rainproof building conditions, and, usually, energy-efficient elements such as radiant heating and reclaimed materials. Even so, prefab isn’t typically a priority for most homebuyers. Sheri Koones, author of Prefabulous and Almost Off the Grid, her sixth book on the subject, estimates that prefab housing makes up just 3 to 5 percent of the housing market. To her, it’s a matter of education. “Anybody who researches and sees what can be done with prefab usually builds prefab,” she says. “There are a lot of misconceptions that it’s synonymous with cheap and junky, but prefab houses are indistinguishable from site-built houses.”Read the full article here
