Humbly innocuous as it rests beside coffee-table books parading sprawling mansions, seaside resorts and fantasy-inspired estates, Prefab Green beckons as a gentle albeit hardnosed, honest recipe for the revelation of attaining nirvana at home, with your home.



Title: Prefab Green: The Work of Michelle Kaufmann Designs
Publisher: Blurb.com
Author: Michelle Kaufmann and Molly McGrath

Where glamor permeates luscious French chateaus and exorbitant villas — very much like feasting on a meal of rich, haute cuisine — Prefab Green: The Work of Michelle Kaufmann Designs in juxtaposition is the invigorating indulgence of a refreshing salad. It's all good for you.

An introduction to Michelle Kaufmann and her work would seem redundant, as her name has been synonymous with sustainable abodes since 2002, with the founding of her company Michelle Kaufmann Designs (MKD). Co-authored with Molly McGrath, with a chapter written by Kaufmann's husband, carpenter Kevin Cullen, Prefab Green aims not just to inform but to educate.

Sustainable design as a movement has gained momentum in recent years by bridging the gap of affordability and creativity for many who seek cost-effective housing solutions while maintaining the integrity of design. Prefab's humble beginnings as temporary shelter during the war-torn years of the 1940s has begun to metamorphize as contemporary architects of today like Kaufmann shape the industry. These days, prefab options are adjusted to better suit environmental concerns and expandable consumer wallets rather than being a one-size-fits all solution. As Kaufmann highlights, it is more about customizing an optimal solution for each individual. Like Starbucks, prefab has eleviated customization to the point of luxury.


Kaufmann with her husband, and their prefab projects.

Kaufmann carefully sidesteps a hard-sell by pouring care and love into the recipes for her customized homes, listing the necessary building ingredients (modular, panelized manufactured or component), guidelines to building, before the crisp pages turn to reveal the final effort.

Etched into lush, beautiful greenery, the MKD Glidehouse™ resembles a one-storey private resort craddled in the arms of nature.



Glidehouse™

Following quickly on the heels of Glidehouse™ is The Sunset Breezehouse™, built with nature in mind as each major room opens out to a private garden. This design also comes with a two-storey option for those shopping for elevated territory.




The Sunset Breezehouse™

Each chapter of MKD's very own prefabricated home comes with a pictorial detail of construction process, inventory of materials, floorplans of all the sizings available (such as 3 – 4 bedroom options), and a diagram of its final assembly drawn as if it could have been constructed together like a DIY playset.

As the pages turn, one is teased into the fantasy of owning their very own mkSolaire™, a spacious loft-like home, testament to the fact that prefabricated homes is still a burgeoning concept that knows no bounds.


Left: Sunset Breezehouse™, with its signature butterfly-shaped roof with solar panels
Right: mkSolaire™, designed to sculpt light & air into the centre of the home

Much like the guerilla force of the sustainable movement gaining ground internationally, Prefab Green was entirely conceived by Kaufmann and McGrath, a self-published book jump-started by using Blurb.com as a platform. Without pompous fan-fare, Prefab Green, in dignity, still manages to sweep the architectural royalty off its high-horse with its raw independence.

Alas, however, while Prefab Green makes up for a lack of obscenely rich material values with an abundance in spirit, the humble truth still sorely lacks punch on the page. No matter how richly dressed, the humble salad pales in comparison next to a wickedly exuberant foie gras. In essence, Kaufmann and her efforts needs neither reasoning nor excuses to define it. However, its poignant home-grown, text-book recipe stimulates only a small crowd amidst those hungry for extravagance, or to those where prefabrication stands neither as a notion nor an option.

If excessive luxury and an abundance of bedrooms is the norm of the rich and restless, Prefab Green is guilt-free living with a soul. Bringing new meaning to the terms “comfort” and “home”, poking at conscience and provoking one to take a second lingering look at living green, this sustainable sanctuary without compromise on comfort or style is the last overlooked retreat.


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