Ruhl Walker Architects

After months of planning, the eight modules for the modern prefab house Ruhl Walker custom designed for a site in Lincoln, MA, were delivered from Pennsylvania and “set” (the term custom modular prefabrication companies use for the assembly of the modules) last week. The original set plan anticipated by Haven Custom Homes was for a single long day, but thanks to some unexpectedly difficult site constrictions and then a day of steady rain and thunderstorms, the set ended up taking three full days. Managing the process was the team from Sea Dar Construction, as well as a set crew from Haven, with Ruhl Walker Architects on site to help solve any architectural challenges that might arise (and we must admit that watching a “set” can be a whole lot of FUN; in fact, the whole studio turned out to watch).

In hindsight, it was brilliant that our clients decided NOT to build through last winter and its record setting snowfalls, but now it’s almost October, and it would be an understatement to say that everyone was more than ready for some serious action! Fortunately, that is one thing that you can rely on from prefab / modular: one day all you have is a foundation and piles of dirt, and the next day you have an almost entirely finished house, complete with plastered walls, interior trim, windows and doors, lighting fixtures and wiring, plumbing systems, sprinkler system, and in this case even a highly customized Listening Room / Home Theater.  There is still a lot of work to do to finish both the inside and outside of the house, but all of a sudden there is A LOT to get excited about.

DAY ONE:

Haven Homes has spent the last month fabricating the modules, including ordering and obtaining all of the custom selected materials, packaging / weather-proofing the factory built modules and making everything safe for the eight hour drive through four states, as well as strategizing the set. Every state has slightly different regulations regarding transporting prefabricated modules, including maximum widths, heights, and lengths and whether it is necessary to schedule State Police escorts. The modules left the factory on a Monday and were delivered to a temporary staging site in Lincoln on Tuesday, ready for the set to start at seven the next morning.

A team from Haven had previewed the route and mapped out a strategy, and the first day began with a dry run with one of the smaller modules.  All seemed fine, so they want back to the staging area (it is necessary to reserve / rent a staging area prior to the set unless you happen to have a huge, open, easily accessible area next to your foundation!) and loaded up one of the largest modules.  The plan was to start at the back of the house, work their way forward, then finish with the three modules on the second floor. However, Murphy’s Law holds for every type of construction, including prefab, and the first module to be delivered took many hours longer than anticipated to get around the last two corners. Trees were closer to the road than anticipated, a power pole was tilting at just the wrong angle, power lines were just a hair too low, and the rig pulling the modules had a turning radius that just didn’t meld with the side street’s geometry. Fortunately, modules two and three were shorter and went in much faster, but the day ended prematurely with the State Police closing the set down, forcing Haven to park module four overnight on a very patient and forgiving neighbor’s front yard so as not to disturb rush hour traffic…

The first module arrives, and everyone ponders how to make the turn without removing the power pole or the neighbors’ landscaping.	A small crowd of neighbors created an impromptu parade, following the first module backwards up the street.
The foundation and perimeter sill framing were ready just in time (or “almost too late” as some people who shall remain nameless prefer to say), as was the 115-ton crane.	The first module floats up and over several much loved trees to its final resting place, on the way having to be rotated 180 degrees in mid air.
Temporary support columns were installed to hold the first module in place until the other modules were assembled, at which time the permanent structure would be installed to fit tight to the modules. All beams are integral to the modules, so no beams impede headroom in the spaces below.
VIDEO: Module number one being lifted in place.

DAY TWO:

After overnight thunderstorms and heavy downpours, there was some question as to whether day two would be a total washout, but the rain had become a light drizzle by 9:00 so the teams reassembled and prepared module number four for its short trip from the neighbor’s front yard to our clients’ foundation. More good news was the discovery that the previous night’s efforts to make the installed modules water tight was a success.

Module number four is the longest of the eight modules, and includes the front lower section of the living room at one end, an open roof deck in the middle, and a guest bedroom on the other end. This inherent asymmetry made the prep work for being craned into place much more delicate than for the other modules. Instead of the usual two cables being fed through the perimeter floor structure, this module required four, and this work had to be redone several times to insure that the module was balanced perfectly. With a new band of thunderstorms on the way, the set was closed down after module number four was set in place, and the house was buttoned up for another rainy night.

The first three modules were well protected from the overnight thunderstorms.	Module number four was too long to fit into the driveway without posing a hazard to overhead wires, so much thought and time was spent figuring out an alternative strategy.
Eventually a backhoe was delivered and its superior flexibility allowed the Haven crew to fit the module into the driveway and out of the way of the overhead lines.	The main window of the living room will be installed on site rather than in the factory because it straddles two modules.

DAY THREE:

We awoke to an absolutely beautiful, sunny day today, and therefore the third day of set began on a high note. The final three modules are all substantially smaller than the others, and were to be installed above the modules from the previous two days.  The first module of the day was the Listening Room, which ended up resting gently within the edge of the canopy of an existing maple tree, which should provide spectacular views this fall! The second and third (final) modules house the upstairs home office as well as the upper half of the living room and main stair.  All three modules were installed by lunch time, and then the process of making the entire structure weather and water tight commenced.

The next steps are to install the roof parapets and final rubber membrane roofing, remove any temporary framing (for instance the temporary shoring at the double height living room and stair hall, as well as at the twenty-one foot long by eight foot high Nanawall opening), install the skylights and double height windows in the living room and stair hall, install all the exterior siding and trim, and finish off the interiors (tile, cabinetry, wood flooring, custom steel stair, etc.).

See our post from April 8^th to see a digital preview of what the house will look like.  Lots to do before Thanksgiving…  Keep checking back to see updates!

It is absolutely critical that any insulation that comes loose during transportation be secured in place prior to the module being set. In this case the module was lifted up to the second floor and had to hover in place while one of the set crew climbed up and stapled the insulation back to the studs. Netting should probably have been installed prior to shipping.	The second to last module rises into place, with the final module resting on the ground below.
The final module is finally set in place. Some neighbors were surprised by how few windows were on the front of the house, but were relieved to hear that most of the green boards (“zip-wall”) will be removed for two enormous windows.	The final form of the house is beginning to take shape. The temporary structure at the middle roof deck will be removed; that framing was necessary for transportation.
The second floor finally comes into being. In the lower right is a temporary module, most of which will be removed once the final screened porch concrete slab is poured and the porch columns are built.
VIDEO: Module number seven being set.

In 2007, Ruhl Walker Architects was hired to design six faculty houses for St. Mark’s School in Southborough, MA, prevailing over three architectural firms with much deeper portfolios of previous institutional work.  We may have been the most surprised of anyone, but our decades of experience designing environmentally responsible single family houses, our initial concept that attempted to design not just a few small houses but also a coherent landscape and campus strategy, and our unusual design team – which included the prefabricator, Empyrean, as well as our “green” mechanical engineer, Sergio Siani of Norian / Siani, whose practice was all about sustainable design before such a thing existed in the press – managed to win the day .  How else was someone going to meet St. Mark’s “impossible” schedule – less than a year for design and construction – and “impossible” budget, without a prefabricator on board from day one?  And sustainability is a key element of the Head of School’s mandate to transform the 150+ year old campus. We embarked on this “impossible” project with open minds, and thanks to our fabulous team as well as an excellent general contractor – Cutler Associates of Worcester, MA – a super Owner’s Rep – Lee Sollenberger of Design Technique of Newburyport, MA – and a decisive Building Committee, were able to finish the project (see on our portfolio website) under budget and several months early.

As the faculty houses were being completed, St. Mark’s was also embarking on an ambitious master planning process. The planning goals included further campus consolidation and sustainability initiatives, in particular upgrading their main campus building, a meandering structure dating back to 1866 that includes classroom and administrative space, a chapel, dining and cooking facilities, dorm rooms, and faculty apartments.  In order to be able to begin renovating and upgrading the existing living spaces without reducing the size of the student body or number of faculty, additional faculty and student housing had to be built elsewhere on campus.  A previously undeveloped site within an existing row of faculty houses was identified, and the decision was made to reassemble our team to design a new two-family faculty house.  Due to the small size of the project, the decision was made to do the mechanical design as a design/build effort, but Rebecca Bachand of UBLA joined us again for the landscape design. 

The schedule we were presented was substantially tighter than the first project, along with an even more challenging budget.  So this time around, we decided to pursue custom modular construction rather than panelized construction, so that we could have the living spaces fabricated over the winter in a factory while site work was being completed, and this decision proved to be fortunate as we accumulated historic quantities of snow. Last week the eight modules were delivered to the site by Simplex Homes just as the local general contractor was putting the finishing touches on the foundation.  The modules came complete with all windows, interior wall finish and trim, rough and finish electrical and plumbing, kitchen and bath cabinetry, essentially everything except exterior siding and interior flooring. And we are on schedule to have the units ready for move-in by June.

Here are some images from the module “set”:

Module #2 being craned into place, including the kitchen and half bath.	Module #5 being set onto first floor module #1.
Module #6 being set onto 2nd floor, unfortunately backwards…	Module #2 just before being removed and turned 180 degrees…
Module #2, with kitchen on left and stair in the middle.	Prepping for Module #7 and #8.
Nor’easter blowing through a week after the set.

This house started as a substantial renovation of an existing 50′s vintage modern house in Lincoln, MA.  Because the original program included a large laundry list of renovations to the existing house systems, once we began working with general contractors on a budget for the renovation project it became clear that the cost of renovating was going to be comparable to the cost of building a new house.  In the interest of making as energy efficient a house as possible, maximizing long term value for the owners, and minimizing short term disruption to the owners, the decision was made to pursue a new house on the existing foundation, with the new house being built by a modular prefabricator for substantial time and cost savings. Both of the owners write software and manage companies from home, so minimizing disruption is critically important; pursuing modular construction will help minimize the time the owners will have to be out of their house during construction.  The basement level will be reconfigured to accommodate a new, expanded garage, an exercise room, mudroom, wood working shop, bathroom, and mechancial and storage rooms.  The main level will have a large, open living / dining room, screened porch with fireplace, enlarged kitchen with pantry, master suite, guest bedroom, and south-facing courtyard / roof deck.  On an upper level will be an A/V room, a large home office, and a bathroom. During the Permitting process, a group called Friends of Modern Architecture in Lincoln was consulted by the Town, to make sure that the modern house that was being partially demolished would be replaced with a suitably contemporary replacement, and we of course passed the test.  The house will be prefabricated by Haven Homes and site fabricated by Sea Dar Construction of Boston.  Landscape design will be by Matthew Cunningham. The house is currently in design, with shop drawings being prepared by Haven Homes, and custom interior and exterior detailing by Ruhl Walker Architects. Construction is expected to be completed by October.

Digital model image of the new house, built on the existing foundation.	Digital model image of east elevation with zen garden.
Building section showing steel stair, perforated stair wall, and living room fireplace.	Wall at stair.
Landscape plan by Matthew Cunningham.	Inspiration for landscape elements.
The existing home.