The modern prefab you'll want to call home

Sana Salam Sana Salam
Prefabricated House, ALEXANDER ZHIDKOV ARCHITECT ALEXANDER ZHIDKOV ARCHITECT Minimalist houses
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On today's 360°, we take a tour of a classy, stylish and modern home in Ukraine that you'd find hard to believe is actually a prefabricated home. It's the home that will convert you non-believers who find prefab homes to be too assembly-line, into ardent supporters.

Because it's factory-built, the assumption is that prefab homes can look a bit, well, bland but over the years, creative design and the advantage of being relatively low cost has led to a rise in the demand for these homes. Besides being low cost, prefab homes also have the advantage of reducing your carbon footprint and wastage as they are manufactured at an offsite using cutting-edge technology. 

Designed by the talented young architect Alexander Zhydkov, today's home is a great example of how sophisticated prefab homes can be, and how far they've really come since their origins. Did someone say prefab-ulous?

Mod home

The first words that come to mind when you see the facade are: sleek, minimal and contemporary. This prefab home is a custom-built airtight design spread out over 112sqm. It also has a passive solar building design, which means that all surfaces are built to absorb solar energy and then distribute it as heat during the cold winter months (while keeping out the summer sun), minimising energy use. The extended roof and deck area also allows residents to step out of the house when the elements don't permit a stroll in the garden. 

The glass-clad exterior here focuses on the lush garden that has been landscaped to perfection. 

Little grand touches

Let's head on over to the front portion of the house. From here you can get a glimpse of the interior, the backyard and the expansive parking space. The driveway has been split up into two portions—the grey stone parking space and the wooden pathway that leads up to the entrance. 

To ensure privacy for the family residing here, the architect has incorporated wooden slats on the front portion. When it's lights out time or even when the family is away, the entrance portion can also be shielded from the outside world with the same wooden slats. 

Oh, and don't miss out on that larger-than-life house number sign that adds a stylish finish touch to the exterior of this house! 

Grey on white

Step inside the living room, and we immediately get an idea of the style that the architect was gunning for. The interiors are clad in neutral colours giving it a cool, contemporary feel that is also relaxing. Grey is the predominant colour here—both the flooring and the couch set sport the colour but the former is a tint or two darker the latter. Flooring and furniture can often sport the same colour, but slight tint changes or the addition of a different-coloured rug (as seen here) can make all the difference. 

The cool grey is also given a contrasting element by the warm wooden dining table and the breezy white curtains. 

Green living

A vertical green wall isn't the most common feature in a prefab home, but here you go! Whether you have a balcony/garden or not, a vertical green wall is a great way to bring nature inside your home—it instantly spruces up your home and serves as a great conversation starter while keeping the air inside clean and the temperature regulated. 

Here, the lush green foliage also doubles up as a fantastic focus wall for the simple dining table. And it breaks up the monotony of the grey palette. Speak to our interior landscape designers if you want to replicate this in your home. 

Contemporary cool

Nestled behind the living and dining areas is this minimalist and stylish kitchen. Here, the appliances are fully integrated to the extent that you could simply mistake it for a panelled wall. The stainless steel structure to the right houses both the refrigerator as well as a humongous television. Since the family enjoys cooking together, the kitchen was designed to be a communal space, full with a breakfast bar and a separate dining table. It also has the benefit of looking out onto that lovely garden that we saw earlier!

To see a completely different but equally stunning prefab home, check out A prefab home straight home from a fairytale.

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