This company is building prefab cabins built to last 100 years

To adapt with owners’ needs and desires, these prefab cabins “grow” and change. Russian architectural company Strawmodul offers multiple options for its modular homes, and the designs boast energy costs that are at least three times less than those of a regular house. The insulation is comprised of renewable natural resources, such as straw, and each cabin offers an estimated lifetime of 100 years.

The Twin 80 design initially begins with a total area of ​​about 130 square meters, complete with an open kitchen and living area, a bedroom, a bathroom, a corridor, a boiler room and a staircase terrace. The Twin can then be modified into an overall area of ​​253 square meters by adding on a laundry room and extra bedrooms.

Clients can also choose to begin with the much smaller Module S tiny home of just over 47 square meters with the option of adding on more space over time to turn it into either a 86.8- or 170.4-square-meter house. These changes are meant to work without any additional repair or damage to the existing structure.

Before beginning a project, the soil around the property site is studied to determine the best foundation strategy. The exterior walls are made using pressed straw that has been compacted into a wooden frame at 450 mm thick and then completed with a lime-sand plaster on the outside. The pressed straw does not burn or emit harmful substances, and the production of the straw panels leaves behind zero construction waste. The construction overlap and partitions include wooden frames that are made out of dry pine and hemp.

Prefabricated homes are typically built up to 90 percent of the way in an off-site facility before being transported to be finished and installed at the client’s property, reducing construction waste and taking less of a toll on the environment.

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center, prefab construction reduces the waste produced both on the property site and in the building factory, because the waste of these projects is often recycled for other uses. Pollutants from construction trucks and machinery can have adverse effects on the ecosystems around building sites, but with prefabricated design, the home will not only take less time and resources to construct but will most likely be manufactured in an environmentally minded facility.

Photography by Ilya Shevchenko via Strawmodul

Written by Katherine Gallagher