Michelle Kaufmann Designs
Marries Innovation with Accessibility
By Russ Stacey
Many potential hurdles await new couples soon after saying "I do" - from decisions about kids to financial matters. But it was their fruitless efforts trying to find a suitable, reasonably priced, eco-friendly home soon after their nuptials that eventually led architect Michelle Kaufmann and her cabinetmaker husband, Kevin Cullen, to spearhead a new movement in green building. The result was the founding in 2002 of Michelle Kaufmann Designs (MKD), a full-service architectural firm dedicated to making sustainable, high- quality design accessible to more people by employing off-site manufacturing techniques.
Michelle Kaufmann of Michelle Kaufmann Designs (Photo by Bruce Schneider)
"Looking for a place to live," Michelle says, "we couldn't find anything we liked that we could afford, and nothing that was green." Taking matters into their own hands, she designed and he built a "small green home" that so impressed friends and colleagues that they asked her to do the same for them.
"I thought, that's a good question. Could we make this house in mass production?" Michelle says. "That's when I discovered this whole amazing world of off-site technology and realized, yes, we could."
Michelle capitalized on a chasm in the marketplace when launching MKD: Available models were either exquisite custom homes or something plunked down in a thoughtless subdivision - with precious little in between.
(Rendering courtesy of Michelle Kaufmann Designs)
"What we do is modular," Michelle explains. "Modular is volumetric - built in a factory as a series of modules with all the interior and exterior finishes, plumbing and fixtures in place that are erected on site. But the big difference between this and manufactured is that modular is built to site-built code, so in Northern California it's built to the UBC. When shipped to the site and attached to a standard foundation, it's considered real estate."
Desiring more control over the costs and timeframes associated with the manufacturing of their homes, MKD realized the need to have their own factory. mkConstructs is the first factory in the U.S. to blend prefabricated systems and renewable resources. Though still working with some additional factory partners across the country, mkConstructs manufactures all MKD homes throughout California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii.
(Photo courtesy of Michelle Kaufmann Designs)
"We have to change the way we build. We've been using technology and automation in almost every other industry to help bring good design to the masses. But we're still building the same way we did hundreds of years ago. There are so many inefficiencies. Modular outside technology, with the precision cutting and controlled environment, allows us to achieve 50-75% less waste," Michelle says.
Revamping an industry isn't without its challenges. "We're finding that there's definitely a market for green. But it's still not easy to design or build green because it's confusing and it takes time. What are the really green products? What are the green systems? It takes time to do the research and decipher it all."
(Photo courtesy of John Swain Photography)
(Photo courtesy of John Swain Photography)
Michelle is confident in the future of MKD and modular technology. "I think we'll see more of it as people become more savvy. I've heard this analogy before and I think it's a really good one: The idea that a high-quality home has to be site-built is sort of like asking for your car to be built in your driveway. It just doesn't make sense."
Not content just to provide affordable, sustainable homes, Michelle also wants to enlighten. The whole MKD team is excited about the two-story mkSolaire, one of the firm's home designs, being built at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. Part of the upcoming exhibit on green building, Smart Home: Green + Wired, the mkSolaire opens its doors May 8 and runs through January 4, 2009. "It's so cool because this is not only for adults, but also for kids. This house will be educational and will have the kids thinking and imagining and rethinking how we design and build."
(Photo by Bruce Schneider)
Often referred to as the "Henry Ford of housing," Michelle has received press in Sunset magazine, Dwell, Fast Company, the Chicago Sun-Times, Treehugger and has been included in CNN's and Business
2.0's Top 50 People Who Matter lists.
To date, MKD has completed 26 homes, but expects to have 50 within the next couple of months due to explosive growth.
(Photo courtesy of John Swain Photography)
(Photo courtesy of John Swain Photography)
"Sometimes people mistakenly think that living green just means using the latest products, when, in fact, so much can be achieved through good design and build practices: designing windows so they wash surfaces with light, higher ceilings for hot air to escape, things like that. I think that the best solutions for sustainability are the blending of some of those old, historic principles with the new products and systems. And that's really the winning combination."
Michelle Kaufmann Designs is located at 580 Second Street, Suite 245, in Oakland, CA 94607. Call (510) 271- 8015 or visit mkd-arc.com for more information. You can also read more green living tips from Michelle on her blog at blog.michellekaufmann.com
April 2008 Builder Architect Edition Issue
Posted by BA | Permalink
