Prefabricated modernity - the solwood house

Abstract

Solwood Homes New Zealand Ltd was set up in the 1950's to bring modern houses within the reach of the general public. Sol wood used a prefabricated construction system designed by Napier architect Guy Natusch, of Natusch and Sons registered architects. The houses were carefully planned, constructionally innovative, well built and reasonably priced. They generated a huge public interest. Yet this system - superior to others of the time- was in production for less than ten years. The factors that contributed to the rise and fall of Sol wood affected all housing enterprises pursued in New Zealand during the 1950's. This paper uses the Solwood house as a tool to examine modernist prefabrication, New Zealand's post-war housing shortage and the implications of government responses to the shortage