REIMAGINING MODULAR
As architects, we pride ourselves on starting new projects without preconceived designs or solutions. But when we began building modular buildings, we realized that, with the construction methodology in its (relative) infancy, there was both a need and an opportunity to innovate at a systemic level, propelling forward both our own modular work and the industry as a whole. Now, in addition to setting standards in modular project design—with complex, record-breaking high rises whose designs belie their modularity—DF&A invents processes and products that transform the way modular buildings are built.
MODULAR INNOVATION
As part of a multi-year collaboration with MiTek, a Berkshire Hathaway company, our team is developing a platform approach to off-site construction resolving code compliance requirements, supply chain management, and scope definition for on-site and off-site fabricators/contractors.
We knew modular construction made sense. But we also knew it was time to rethink the way modules are designed and fabricated–and the way modular buildings get made.
SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
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STRUCTURAL
As part of a multi-year collaboration with MiTek, a Berkshire Hathaway company, our team is developing a platform approach to off-site construction resolving code compliance requirements, supply chain management, and scope definition for on-site and off-site fabricators/contractors.
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MECHANICAL & PLUMBING
As part of a multi-year collaboration with MiTek, a Berkshire Hathaway company, our team is developing a platform approach to off-site construction resolving code compliance requirements, supply chain management, and scope definition for on-site and off-site fabricators/contractors.
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BUILDING CODE & LIFE SAFETY
As part of a multi-year collaboration with MiTek, a Berkshire Hathaway company, our team is developing a platform approach to off-site construction resolving code compliance requirements, supply chain management, and scope definition for on-site and off-site fabricators/contractors.
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FURNITURE & INTERIORS
As part of a multi-year collaboration with MiTek, a Berkshire Hathaway company, our team is developing a platform approach to off-site construction resolving code compliance requirements, supply chain management, and scope definition for on-site and off-site fabricators/contractors.
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FACADE
As part of a multi-year collaboration with MiTek, a Berkshire Hathaway company, our team is developing a platform approach to off-site construction resolving code compliance requirements, supply chain management, and scope definition for on-site and off-site fabricators/contractors.
REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS
NOMAD MODULAR HOTEL
The challenge with this Manhattan project was as simple as it was daunting: build a modular hotel in one of the most tightly packed cities in the world — and make sure it doesn’t look “modular.”
Modular construction is a good fit for large hotels, which require duplicative symmetry and operational efficiency. But we too often see modular towers that look like stacked boxes in the sky. In DF&A’s design, high-quality consistency marries inventive architectural expression. A sophisticated balcony strategy shows that “pre-fab” can mean complex, and the gradated aluminum façade both masks the building’s modularity and visually elongates its form.
SAN FRANCISCO TOWER
For the only high-rise modular tower in a high seismic zone in America, our first priority is planning for an earthquake. But beyond that is where it gets truly interesting. We designed a tower to fit in . . . even while it stands out.
The project is located between two historic buildings —the Chancery Building and the Finance Building — and down the street from an architectural gem — Willis Polk’s Hobart Building. To keep from overshadowing our neighbors, we first broke our tower into four parts to decrease its visual dominance. Then we designed a façade patterned to emphasize depth, shadow, and texture, like the façades of our neighboring buildings, albeit with steel mesh instead of terra-cotta.
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN HOTEL
The Hilton Motto Hotel at 88 Schermerhorn will be an industry leader in its embrace of 100 percent modular construction as well as its sleek and slender profile and ultramodern underground bar and restaurant.
The challenge with this Manhattan project was as simple as it was daunting: build a modular hotel in one of the most tightly packed cities in the world—and make sure it doesn’t look “modular.”
For the only high-rise modular tower in a high seismic zone in America, our first priority is planning for an earthquake. But beyond that is where it gets truly interesting. We designed a tower to fit in . . . even while it stands out. The project is located between two historic buildings —the Chancery Building and the Finance Building — and down the street from an architectural gem — Willis Polk’s Hobart Building. To keep from overshadowing our neighbors, we first broke our tower into four parts to decrease its visual dominance. Then we designed a façade patterned to emphasize depth, shadow, and texture, like the façades of our neighboring buildings, albeit with steel mesh instead of terra-cotta.
Our prototype hotel room for MiTek’s modular initiative reflects our passionate belief that modular technology should serve architectural design, not supersede it. Creativity and formal expression are still possible within the parameters of factory production; efficiency does not preclude beauty.
