The idea of picking up a phone and having an entire pre-made building delivered to your door, ready to put up in an instant, seems a thoroughly modern one. You’d be surprised! While we at Monarch Oak like to think we’ve honed the art of prefabricated oak buildings to their very best, the first recorded prefabs we know about date from the Roman Empire, so we’re also carrying on a long and proud tradition! Today, we take a closer look at this surprisingly ancient idea
What even are prefabricated oak buildings?
‘Prefabricated’ buildings are those which are primarily assembled off-site. This is usually at the builder’s premises, a factory, or a lumber yard. This convenient ‘kit’ building is then shipped to its final site almost complete, so assembling it is now a simple and basic process.
Why do humans like prefabrication, though? There’s several key reasons:
- It’s super-quick to get up once on site
- The ‘hardest’ work can be done in advance, allowing it just to be shipped where needed
- It often cuts costs significantly in the production, without reducing quality or expertise. Less time on-site from the builders means cheaper end costs as well.
Historic prefabs: convenience wherever you are
Prefabrication-type techniques have been used since the dawn of civilization. We have some evidence of prefabrication from Ancient Mesopotamia! The very first people to embrace it on a large scale, however, were the Ancient Romans. They lacked proper factories, so the process isn’t prefabrication as we know it today, but by standardising what masons and carpenters did, they came close.
Almost everyone today knows of the might of the Roman war machine. Prefabricated forts were a big part of that. They had a specific methodology, taught to everyone in the army, to raise a camp swiftly and safely, no matter where they were. Key elements of these sturdy temporary forts would be shaped in main towns and permanent forts, and shipped out on the carts with the army when they ventured into foreign territory. Once they arrived at a desirable site, the training would be put into use and every man would work on erecting the fort. Because the same materials were used to create the same design every time, a man in the army would ‘recognise’ any fort and its layout, cutting down on errors when people were redeployed, and creating a key cornerstone of the discipline that would carry them to so many victories. It was the speed and efficiency of this process that made it most useful to the army.
Entering the modern prefabricated building age
This would be the largest deployment of prefabrication techniques in the ancient world. Once we entered the Industrial Revolution, and actual factory-style production lines dedicated to one aspect of a whole became a commonplace way to manufacture items, we would enter the true heydey of prefabrication. We know that a house created in England and shipped to Massachusetts for assembly as a panelled fishing office was the very first modern prefab.
By 1837, the UK was shipping prefabricated homes to the then-colony Australia, and two years later they’d be a key part of the California Goldrush too. The most famous modern prefab of all, however, is undoubtedly the Eiffel Tower. You may be surprised to learn that this icon of the Paris skyline is also a testament to the smart labour-saving techniques of prefabricated buildings, too! Between skilful grouping of similar construction types on the assembly line, and the quickness with which the parts could be assembled on-site, the task was far cheaper than anyone could have predicted. This forever cemented the prefab into people’s minds as a speedy, viable construction technique.
As soon as the ability to make concrete prefab structures was refined, a booming industry sprang up. Anyone with enough cash and access to the catalogue could order from 400 housing designs and have them shipped anywhere. Instead of needing talented builders in your hometown to design from scratch, there was access to smart, quick housing that anyone could put up, even just members of the family. This would become even more important post-World War 1, where there was a critical housing shortage, and during the Great Depression and stock market crash. This focus on quick, simple-to-assemble housing would grow and grow, culminating in the work-of-art that was Levittown, New York. Here a prefab home could be assembled in 16 minutes!
It’s this boom that led to so many homeowners in the US having ‘mobile homes’, and many Scandanavian’s benefiting from BoKlok houses. Yet with every boom comes a bust. Prefabricated housing was simple, cheap and convenient, but the modular design lacked ‘style’ in the eyes of many homeowners, and the 90s saw the idea decline in popularity
Rejuvenating prefabs with the prefabricated oak building
Of course, the world is a different place since then, and construction techniques have advanced greatly. Nowadays, there’s no excuse to short clients on style just because they use a quick-and-easy modular building process! Nowhere is this more obvious than in the gorgeous line of prefabricated oak buildings Monarch Oak offers. Using a DIY kit means we can ship your product faster than with a bespoke design, but with the same great features and high quality of construction. There are other huge benefits, however:
- No need for complex designs, structural equations or any other hassle. Simply fire up the website, choose the product most suited to your home, and place your order.
- Tried and tested designs you know won’t fail you, no matter what.
- Much of the complicated decision-making process needed in bespoke designs is removed from your hands. You’re free to pick solely based on looks and how right the design feels to you. Someone else worried about the practical needs
- You don’t need highly skilled labour to put it up. While you certainly can book one of our specialist teams to take the process completely out of your hands, you can also just follow the instructions and have a beautiful structure without hassle or fuss.
With the added style and warmth of oak, and the many advances we’ve made in design since the early prefab days, prefabricated oak buildings are among the simplest, yet practical and attractive, ways to make an addition to your home. Not sure where to start? Why not let the Monarch Oak experts help you find the perfect design to match your life and needs today?