Flexible Prefab Infill: Exploring Relationships to Create Affordable Infill Housing through Prefabrication and Flexible Design Principles

Abstract

Austin Mitchell’s Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise is a view of what New Zealanders are seen to aspire to; their own house, on their own large section. But the development and growth patterns that have emerged from this vision have fuelled many issues, including the continuing unsustainable expansion of developed land known as suburban sprawl; a lack of flexibility in the existing housing stock; and the increasing un-affordability of housing. This thesis aims to address these issues by exploring the relationships between them and the potential solutions to each issue, combining them together to address all issues with a single design approach. It will discuss how the relationships between infill housing strategies, modular prefab construction techniques and flexible design principals can be explored to aid in the development of affordable, flexible housing within higher density suburban environments. A site in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah was used for the design exploration as it exhibits many of the typical conditions found when designing infill housing in Wellington. Modular prefab construction and flexible design principles together can create a highly flexible housing development, with easily interchangeable modules allowing housing units to adapt to their occupants’ changing needs. This modular design also allows for high-density stacking of housing units and efficient use of space, while reducing costs to make housing more affordable. The design component of this thesis explores these principals and presents one possible design solution, incorporating modular prefab design, flexible design principles and infill housing strategies to create a higher-density suburban environment with affordable and flexible infill housing.