ideabox teamed up with IKEA and created an energy-efficient, ready-to-go prefab house called the aktiv. If you’ve ever visited an IKEA showroom, they normally display examples of living environments. This aktiv prefab is exactly that – complete living environments in one prefab house. The living space is 745 square feet and consists of one bedroom and one bath. Shown in the blueprint below, the floor plan is long and skinny similar to a cargo container. The nice thing about this prefab is it arrives at your build site with everything installed – the flooring, cabinetry, and counter tops. Priced at $86,500 (about $116/sq ft), it’s fairly affordable for a prefab.
Speaking about price and affordability, one benefit to building or purchasing a prefab versus a kit or house plan is that much of the work within the house is completed when it arrives. There’s not as much guess work when it comes to, “When will my counters be installed?” since it was already completed at the factory. Also, the chances of running over budget are reduced a bit since the house is built before it arrives at the build site.
If you’re looking for something a little bigger, ideabox offers a few other models as well, one which is over 1,400 square feet and averages only $105 per sq ft. They also offer “cubes” which allow you to piece a house together in pretty much any configuration you’d like.
If you were to build a house, would you consider a prefab?
3 Comments
That’s pretty cool. I would consider it if I have some land to build on. 🙂
It is need but you can get better deals around the country with houses that are currently on the market. Neat idea though!
@Lance -You’re right; prefabs really aren’t that affordable compared to most of the country. However, I think in more expensive areas, they’re about the same price – just brand new and energy-efficient which could save money down the road.