Ikea, Skanska Unveil First Prefab BoKlok Show Home in Gateshead, England

In light of MoMA’s looming exhibition on the subject this summer, prefab housing is guaranteed to be a hot green topic throughout 2008. As such, Ikea last week unveiled its first BoKlok (“smart living” in Swedish) show home in England’s Gateshead (in the north, just south of Newcastle). The company actually started its line of prefabricated homes in cooperation with Skanska back in 1997, and received planning permission for ninety-three of the BoKlok dwellings in Gateshead last April. Ikea has already installed 3,500 of the homes throughout Scandinavia, which are offered in two- and three-bedroom arrangements. At Gateshead, the homes are targeted at people earning less than $60,000 per year and feature a modern design with high ceilings, windows on three sides, and Ikea kitchens. The $200,000 residences are built from two modular units that are manufactured with timber framing. The homes are sent to site with their interiors pre-installed, though the roof, exterior walls, and plumbing systems must follow upon arrival. Generally L-shaped and two-stories tall, each building offers three apartments on each floor. Live Smart@Home, which is supervising construction at Gateshead, hopes to expand into other UK markets soon, with Glasgow, Scotland next on its list. The first residents at Gateshead should move in sometime around Easter.

• Englishman’s Home is his BoKlok (Guardian)
• Ikea Enters U.K.’s Prefab Housing Market (AR)
• Green Meets Prefab in Midtown (gbNYC)