He-Man sized Legos

Ok, I’ll admit, that was a very obvious plug for two of my favorite childhood toys. But really, if Legos were big enough to build entire structures out of, and we were strong enough to just lift, and arrange them as desired, wouldn’t this be a better method for constructing our homes, offices and schools? As it is now, we haul (expensive, and energy costly)tradesmen, and thousands of pieces of building materials to job sites and assemble all this stuff into individual building systems; i.e. structural framing, plumbing, electrical, and finishes. And a large portion of this stuff ends up as waste. Why not make all buildings like we do cars, computers, toys…basically EVERYTHING else? When all of the materials and labor centralized it reduces transportation costs, material costs, and better controls waste, typically in a safer weatherproof environment. Then we make one trip to the jobsite to deliver the modules, dropping them onto footings (which are constructed simultaneously with the structure) with a crane. Try pulling that off with conventional construction.

So the first time I visited the steep hillside lots in Prescott, Arizona my instinct was to invert the program. The main access road is on the top of the site, but there is a small dirt road that borders the bottom of the site in the valley below. Instead of providing vehicular access (i.e. garage) from the main road, dominating the panoramic view, I looked at the falling grade as an opportunity. If the garage and footings were below, the house could step up the hillside, reducing the amount of damage to the natural slope, and since the structure had to be repeated on the narrow lots, modular buildings delivered on cranes from the upper road made perfect sense. I had done a lot of research on the constraints of modular buildings and had been following the modern movement into this field of construction. Once I knew the module limits, I wrapped the desired program into neat factory buildable little packages. I tried to find other ways of reducing the economics of the project, like designing both structures over the identical lower footings (garage) and using a common kitchen layout for both plans. Plans are simple, but efficient allowing modern conveniences in fresh layouts and crisp finishes. To utilize the most of the views and climate provided by Prescott’s high desert, the common areas open to an expansive outdoor deck space that encourages outdoor living. The orientation and eaves are designed to admit maximum solar energy during the chilly Arizona winters, yet prevents direct sunlight from heating walls and windows during the summer, instead admitting diffused indirect light.

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