MDesigns Mcube
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 8.07
Inhabitat turns us on to Mcube, a steel framed design with what looks like KalWall insulated fiberglass panels. They say "The system is based on a translucent 10′-cube module which can be stacked in multiple floors and units for residential and commercial purposes. Made from concrete, steel, and luminous fiberglass daylighting wall panels, the system can be fully erected in 90 days at a cost starting at $100 per square foot! (Yes $100 a foot!). Considering how expensive most sleek SoCal prefab systems seem to be - this is a price tag that really got our attention."
The price gets my attention too.
Jill and Emily at Inhabitat call it a prefab, but the construction photos indicate that it is no more prefab than any steel building, where all the members are fabricated off site. One could also point out that there is a lot of embodied energy in all that steel and concrete and that they are perhaps not the greenest of materials. Or that it looks really big. But that would be churlish; it's stunning.
Jill and Emily also suggest that it has underfloor radiant heating, but there are these long thin things that look like radiant heaters up above the exterior wall.
I can't find any information on the Architect's completely lame website, (why do people let architects touch website design?)
I love the industrial aesthetic, it reminds me of my beloved Chareau house in Paris. I also try to avoid the price per square foot game, "starting at" does not say what is included or how big it has to get before one hits that price, but nonetheless this is what everyone since Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Buckminster Fuller have been saying: Use industrial materials in a straightforward manner, drop your preconceived notions of domesticity, and good housing can be accomplished at a reasonable price. Read more in ::Inhabitat
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I'd be very surprised if they can do Kalwall at $100 per foot. Besides a per square foot price of anything is meaningless, especially to the "green" perspective!!
I want to love it but the translucent thing creeps me out. I'd feel like my movements were being tracked around the house by the neighbors. Also, no windows??? Creepy much? This design has potential but I'd have to pass unless it was being used as an efficient workspace or some type of business that need a large interior. But then, you could hire a barn-building contractor to erect you a decent corrugated structure for less than $100 per square foot, couldn't you?
these were on hgtv last year.. can't remember what show they are pretty awesome
In this application with Kalwall $80/sf is on the high side
This project is actually made from Guardian 275® panels from Major Industries. The architect actually did design the panels to open for ventilation, and standard glass can also be incorporated with the translucent glazing for outside views if that's part of the overall design plan.
And, yes, it was on the HGTV show What's With That House - it's quite an interesting design, and it also has some unique interior touches that lean more toward the industrial side. It's certainly a look that catches people's attention!