Location, location, location…pictured above is the first prototype house utilizing the Blue Sky Homes Building System.  The home sits on a site 4,000 feet above sea level in the rugged Southern California High Desert and was completed earlier this year in a pretty impressive eight weeks.

The structure is integrated into the landscape on a floating six-legged platform – thus avoiding the need to grade a traditional home pad which would have irreparably damaged the beautiful desert site.

The 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bathroom prototype house was designed by  Palm Springs – based o2 Architecture with the intent of maximizing both the benefits of the Blue Sky Homes Building System and the house’s spectacular location in the Southern California High Desert.

The home’s design is all about steel.  Other than cabinetry, a couple of interior doors and furniture, this house contains no wood at all.

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Designed by the creative minds at Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects, this herd of Rolling Huts offers a low impact, civilized approach to camping.  The simple modern structures which reside in a former RV camp in Mozana, Washington sit elevated on wheels and offer a cozy perch from which to survey the surrounding mountains.

The single room huts sleep 2 to 4 and feature a few amenities including: wi-fi, microwave, fridge and nearby shower and toilet.  All this for around $100 a night.

The owner has allowed the field beneath the elevated structures to revert to its natural state, creating an additional connection to nature.

available in both summer and winter – rental info @ rollinghuts.com

We’re delighted to hear that eco home company, Blu Homes just announced it has “acquired the assets of mkDesigns.”

As fans of the beautiful and affordable Glidehouse (above & below), mkLotus and Sunset Breezehouse green prefab homes designed by Michelle Kaufmann, we were not happy campers when we learned a few months ago that after being in business since 2002, her company had “closed shop.” Blu Homes will now make these sleek prefabs available across the U.S.; and Kaufmann will serve as a design consultant to Blu and join its advisory board.

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Want to work at home but not actually ‘in’ your home?  Here’s a small office structure for those who can’t afford to lose time and energy to their home’s sea of distractions.  The Moonroom is a creation of U.K.-based Roomworks, a prefab design and manufacturing outfit that specializes in small spaces.

This eco friendly, super-insulated tiny structure comes with 12 electrical outlets, wall lights and phone/internet hook-up.  The 2.8m x 2.5m Moonroom goes for around £5,000 and can be constructed in one day.  The green roof option will run you another £750.

related: OfficePod

U.K.- based, Hudson Architects‘, Cedar House is the prototype design for a cedar shingle-clad (even the roof), 2 bedroom, prefab, modern farmhouse.  Lots of windows, a simple floorplan, off-site construction and a form intended to integrate into the English countryside make this an eye-catching little home. The house, which is located in North Elmham, Norkfolk, U.K., was designed and built a few years ago to address the U.K.’s housing demand.

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The sexy itHouse is a design system created by L.A. based, Taalman Koch Architecture.  The eco-friendly home is comprised of a series components manufactured off-site.  The home, which is designed to be flat packed and easily shipped, is prefabricated to better control the construction waste, labor, and quality of the finished product.

Designed with glass walls and an open floor plan, (no neighbors, please) itHouse is intended to maximize the relationship of the occupant to the surrounding landscape while minimizing the home’s impact on the local ecosystem.

Passive heating and cooling, site orientation, cross ventilation, radiant floor heating, hi-efficacy appliances and the use of solar photovoltaic and thermal panels enhance the home’s energy efficiency and off-the-grid potential.

more pix after the jump

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The innovative Philly-based architectural firm, Kieran Timberlake, has created a vision in prefabricated home design, the Loblolly House.

Integrated into its environment, readily assembled and disassembled by a wrench – is this the future of prefabricated designer housing?  The Loblolly residence (Loblolly Pines proliferate in the forest surrounding the home) is composed entirely of off-site fabricated elements and ready-made components.  The Taylors Island, Maryland residence, situated between the forest and the saltmeadow marsh of the bay, sits atop tree timbers that reduce (more…)

Are the kids zapping your home office productivity?  Is your commute killing both you and the environment?  This small office concept from U.K.-based, OfficePod, is a one-room workspace that is designed to be placed in your backyard, garden or patio.

The Pod was created to create a physical boundary between home and work without the commute.  This garden office, which is designed strictly for work, is secure, eco friendly and an overall energy saver (air conditioning costs, commute, etc.).

find out more @ officepod.co.uk

more prefabs and small homes on altcon

The recession has claimed yet another victim.  Architect and sustainable prefab pioneer, Michelle Kaufmann, is closing her 17 person design firm.  The decline in housing sales, loss of manufacturing capacity and a dearth of mortgage financing have created are a combination the innovative home builder can no longer overcome.  Ms. Kaufmann, who last year had sold her manufacturing facility outside Seattle, will now explore multi-family home design.  See more of Michelle’s work @ Michelle Kaufmann Designs

more green building posts on altcon

Italian architect, Piero Ceratti has some great design ideas.  His h_18 home is a stellar example of compact, stylish, modern habitation.

The question: Why aren’t home designs like this more popular?  Is it the fact that, in America success is defined by excess and every family member including Fluffy the Shitsu needs 1,500 square feet of living space to feel fully self-realized?  In the U.S. we’re surrounded by mile after mile of bloated subdivisions stuffed full of giant, cookie-cutter McMansions.  Someday, “smaller” will indeed be deemed “better.”

more green building posts on altcon

Students and graduates of Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, have created an energy efficient prefab home prototype they call Mod.Fab.  This great looking one-bedroom, 600 square foot prefab is designed for sustainable desert living.

The Mod.Fab can tap into the local power grid or function “unplugged” by relying on low-consumption fixtures, rainwater harvesting, graywater re-use, natural ventilation, solar orientation, and photovoltaics to reduce energy and water use.

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Here’s a home design that will get you living “smaller” and in affordable style.  Stillwater Dwellings designs modular homes that strive to provide the perfect combination of style, cost and sustainability.  The Seattle based firm’s one story, “mini” line (sd-m) comes in two models, the miniONE (370 sq. ft.) and the larger, miniTWO (585 sq. ft. – see floorplan, below).  Designed as a first home, cabin or mother-in-law abode, these pre-built units (more…)

Love the look and love the name.  New York architect Jeffrey McKean has designed his Modesthouse and MH Mini homes to integrate seamlessly into their surroundings.  McKean’s designs feature lots of glass and light, sustainable building practices, green energy systems, and a wide choice of eco friendly materials and finishes. (more after jump)

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