House No. 9 by MOS Architects: A Unique Example of Modular Design

House No. 9 By MOS Architects 1
HOUSE NO. 9 BY MOS ARCHITECTS
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House No. 9 By MOS Architects 2
House No. 9 by MOS Architects
Modular design is a type of design technique where a system is subdivided into smaller
components referred to as modules. These modules are created independently away from the site
(usually prefabricated in a factory) and then delivered to the site for installation or assembly.
This design approach has been in existence for over a century now and has gone through
numerous transformations to meet specific needs in the engineering and construction industry
(Schuh, et al., 2014). The first modular building is reported to have been designed and
constructed in mid-1800s by Henry Manning, a carpenter. The building was called Manning
Portable Cottage. Its components were created in London after which they were shipped to
Australia for assembling (EarthTechling, 2014). In America, the first modular buildings were
those built by Sears Roebuck Company. The fabricated homes mainly targeted people who were
moving for the Gold Rush in California. The most famous building to be created using modular
design approach was Florence Nightingale, a modular hospital that was designed by Isambard
Kingdom Brunel and built at the time of Crimean War in 1855. The hospital was fabricated in
London and shipped to Crimea for assembly (Reds10, 2014). It helped in reducing death rate in
the region from 42 to 3.5% hence its popularity.
Use of modular construction has continued to evolve and spread to all parts of the world.
The modular buildings can be used either as temporary or permanent structures. Today, there are
several mega or multi-storey buildings, such as Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo, Japan, that
were created using modular design approach. Nakagin Capsule Tower comprises of 140
prefabricated capsules of eight different types that can be removed and replaced. It is a
fascinating building that has motivated creation of many skyscraper modular buildings.

House No. 9 By MOS Architects 3
Pod Brooklyn in Williamsburg is a stunning example of a modular building that
demonstrates the efficiency and other benefits of this design approach. The hotel has 249 rooms
and is an integrated system of steel-framed modules. The modules were fabricated in Poland
within three and a half months and then shipped to New York where they were assembled within
six weeks. The courtyards, roofs and exterior walkways were completed in 16 months (Lubell,
2018). Broad Sustainable Building (BSB), a Chinese construction firm has completed several
modular construction projects including: 57-storey building in 2015 completed in 19 days, 17-
storey skyscraper in 2014 completed in 2 days, 25-storey tower in 2013 completed in 17 days,
12-floor building in 2012 completed in 62 hours, 30-storey hotel in 2011 completed in 15 days,
and 15-storey hotel in 2010 completed in 48 hours, among others.
There are numerous advantages of modular construction. Some of these include: it is
speedy (Building Talk, 2017), it is less expensive (Otto, et al., 2016), it is greener or more
sustainable (Ahn & Kim, 2014), it generates less waste, indoor fabrication reduces risks such as
delays due to weather, damage of materials and safety of workers, high design construction and
maintenance flexibility (Zheng, et al., 2015), high quality, it is environmentally friendly
(Generalova, et al., 2016), it can be used even in the remotest areas, and it provides faster ROI
(return on investment). However, there are a few disadvantages of this approach. The
disadvantages include: manufacturing and transportation restrictions of the modules may limit
their sizes, some of the modules may be damaged during transportation, there are very few
financial institutions offering loans for modular buildings, some people have not fully accepted
the structural soundness of modular buildings, and sometimes modules may not be fully
compatible with each other (Shoval, et al., 2016).