FlatPak is a menu-driven configurable prefabricated house that is modern, sustainable, and is a step in the direction toward an affordable custom house for the masses. A participant in the recent MoMA Home Delivery exhibit which sought to demonstrate how modern systems-built houses have benefited from the digital age, FlatPak is one design that seems destined to change many people’s preconception of not only prefab houses but what a house really is at the same time.

But it may not happen overnight. FlatPak, designed by Lazor Office (led by Charlie Lazor), has sold a comparative hand-full of houses, and so far it’s been difficult for most of the new modern prefab house designs to gain traction with the average home-buying consumer.

Part may be attributed to the building industry which is currently controlled by mega builders of stick-built houses who leave little room for tiny companies like Lazor Office to be heard. Part of it may also be attributed to the fact that the prefab industry is still trying to shake off the old notion of cheap materials cobbled together in a factory resulting in a house that is only slightly better than first generation mobile homes.

But those who still cling to that notion won’t find any similarities at all between the old manufactured house and today’s modern prefab houses. And surprisingly, many of the new prefab designs have done quite well considering the lack of marketing dollars needed to make buyers aware of less conventional choices. There’s also a whole new crop of young designers making it their mission to make prefab hip, especially for those not old enough to conflate the new designs with the old manufactured days.

In fact it’s somewhat a dichotomy that many of the same reasons why people once passed over prefab houses are now drawing an entirely new buyer. You can generally have one of the more recent prefab houses built in less time than a comparable size conventional built house, and in many cases the cost per square foot is less than you would pay a builder to construct your house from ground up (FlatPak starts at $200 per square foot).

The Menu
The process of building a new FlatPak house starts with the design. To get oriented you’ll need to get used to thinking in terms of blocks with 8 foot sections that go together in a pattern to ultimately make up the house’s footprint.

One of the things that makes FlatPak different from most other prefab designs is the degree of customization. In fact, the options can be almost endless as the whole idea of FlatPak is building a house that fits your family’s lifestyle. If you want four bedrooms and just one bath, you can do it. As long as you choose the components that go together everything works out in the end. Still, if you don’t trust your own design instinct FlatPak also has pre-designed plans – just select the one you like best.

Choose Your Entree
The exciting part of designing FlatPak for most people will be choosing the components. Once you have your layout, you determine the materials used for the exterior of the house. The outside can be any combination of concrete, wood, glass, and stone. Lego fans might even think they have graduated to life-sized Legos.

Unlike Legos though, with FlatPak you can configure more interior detail such as choosing between a solid wall, glass, partial glass, or frosted glass. Then, in addition to all of the previously mentioned design choices, FlatPak lets you get as detailed as stating how long your kitchen countertop will be, and even the number of shelves.

This is all possible because FlatPak is a system of prefabbed components for your kitchen, bathroom, cabinets, walls and more. All the choices are yours, but similar to deciding the overall layout you don’t have make these choices alone because a FlatPak designer is there to guide you if you need help. This ensures you truly end up with what you want to live in when the house is completed.

It Will Come, Then You Build It
After all the design decisions have been made that will determine the look of your FlatPak, the components get fabricated and shipped to the site location.

A local builder in the FlatPak network puts your house together – and then you move in. A FlatPak spokesperson said they “have relationships with key builders in the primary FlatPak markets,” and “a qualification process to identify appropriate builders” elsewhere. Lazor Office estimates total time to complete the typical FlatPak house will range from 6 to 9 months.

In addressing the quality of materials used for FlatPak, Lazor Office points out that the first FlatPak was built to withstand the cold and snow in Minnesota. R-Values for walls and roof are better than most stick built houses, and Lazor Office also says that the glass used is “amongst the best performing clear thermal glass available.”

Although FlatPak hasn’t obtained a third-party rating from LEED, the materials and shop methods such as reducing construction scrap, recycling materials, and creating a design that people will cherish and preserve can be as important as meeting LEED standards. While LEED can be an indicator, it isn’t necessarily the end all of sustainable modern design.

More importantly, FlatPak is a huge leap toward modern prefab housing that can be customized for each individual buyer. This means it can be an answer for the young professional or the retired set looking for their dream house customized to the hilt.

View the complete FlatPak slide show here.

Media: FlatPak