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7 Australian Businesses Creating Impressive Prefabricated Homes

In a time where construction costs and timelines are on the rise, prefabricated homes have emerged as a pretty appealing alternative that might make building your own home a little more achievable.

Manufacturing parts of a home (or the full house itself!) off-site means a much faster construction time and fewer unexpected surprises during the build, which leads to significant cost savings, as well as less waste, and less impact on the environment, too.

There’s a whole range of innovative businesses that are producing well-designed prefabricated homes around Australia — creating everything from tiny retreats to full-scale family homes!

Written

Christina Karras

Project by Ample. Architecture by Agents of Architecture. Interior styling by Aimee Gleeson. Photo – Brook James.

Ample

Specialising bespoke transportable spaces, Ample modules are designed to suit your specific site and climate. Co-founders Greg Adshead and Aaron Shields launched the business after feeling frustrated with the quality of housing in Australia. They realised that by shrinking the size of a building, they could offer increased quality of materials and craftsmanship, which is what they do now with Ample!

The focus is on raw, locally-sourced materials and rich, detailed interiors that contrast beautifully with the farm shed-style exteriors. Pods start from $49,000 and can take anywhere from two to six months to complete.

Find out more about Ample here

The Shelby Lenehan cabin from Base Cabin. Photo – Brook James

The tiny home starts from $94,000. Photo – Brook James

Raked ceilings provide a sense of space inside. Photo – Brook James

Base Cabin

After spotting a gap in the market for design-driven tiny houses, co-founders David Clark and Ryan McCormack decided to start Base Cabin — offering fully customisable builds designed in collaboration with local Australian architects and designers bold enough to fit all the amenities of a typical house in just a compact floorplan of 15-square metres or less!

Billed as an affordable tiny home on wheels, their designs can be transported to create an ideal retreat anywhere you need, with many clients using them to set up a personal weekeneder or Airbnbs on rural properties, or as a self-contained studio for multi-generational living. Prices start at $84,000 for their ‘most adaptable’ cabin, complete with a bedroom, a bathroom, living space and kitchen within cosy ply walls.

Find out more about Base Cabin here

Taroona House by Archier is a prefabricated home on a steep and densely forested hill in Tasmania. Photo – Thurston Empson

Corner House by Archier. Photo – Rory Gardiner

Court House by Archier. Photo – Rory Gardiner

Archier

Award-winning practice Archier is known for designing incredible homes, but they also specialise in prefabricated projects. And after feeling frustrated by the shortcomings of the conventional construction business, Archier’s directors joined forces with others architects to launch Candour — a customisable prefabricated building platform that allows designers to tap into their streamlined system and digital tools for manufacturing housing, in any shape and size.

The overarching approach embraces a mid-century modern aesthetic, using natural materials like timber that make every home feel intimately connected to nature. Everything is fabricated in a Melbourne facility and the panels are shipped and craned on site for assembly under the guidance of master builders.

Find out more about Archier here

Courtyard House designed by CHROFI Architects, constructed by Fab Prefab. Photo – Clinton Weaver

Minima designed by TRIAS, constructed by Fab Prefab. Photo – Clinton Weaver

Photo – Clinton Weaver

Fab Prefab

Whether you’re after a backyard granny flat, a tiny home weekender or a custom-home build, Fab Prefab can have your new pad ready within 10-14 weeks. Their offerings start at just $131,665 for a tiny 25-square-metre floorplan, which typically includes materials such as Australian hardwood custom milled cladding and hardwood double-glazed doors.

Founding director Tony Olding is a veteran in the construction industry with more than 30 years of experience, before he established Fab Prefab in 2016. Thanks to his knowledge of common industry downfalls, Tony decided that the firm would produce homes in a controlled environment, and they now operate out of a solar-powered manufacturing facility in Sydney’s north.

Find out more about Fab Prefab here

Project by PreBuilt. Photo – Tom Blachford. Landscape Design – Andy Murray. Styling – Freestyle Interiors.

PreBuilt

A pioneer in Australian prefabricated homes, PreBuilt crafts contemporary builds, with the option to choose one of their four predesigned modular homes that simplify the building process or a custom project with any architect you engage. Then the firm produces the home using clean, green energy thanks to an array of solar panels at its Kilsyth, Melbourne factory.

A standard three-bedroom, two-bathroom house starts from $528,000. Their projects are available for delivery across Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales within 12-14 weeks after designs are finalised, and the installation only takes a couple of days!

Find out more about PreBuilt here

Om1 by Dimensions X. Photo – Alejo Achaval

Om1 by Dimensions X. Photo – Jedd Cooney

Dimensions X

Dimensions X started as a collaboration between architect Peter Stutchbury and the co-founder of youth media brand Pedestrian.TV, Oscar Martin. The pair set out to confront the carbon footprint crisis by reconsidering the housing industry with sustainable, energy-efficient and recyclable smart homes with solar and water collection, battery power, and low-energy fittings.

You can customise the design to create your dream home, even if it’s on a budget – default models start from $145,000 to $260,000 depending on size, and take up to 12 weeks for completion. Dimensions X also tries to source products and materials locally where possible — a win for Aussie suppliers!

Find out more about Dimensions X here

The Agricultural Lakehouse is a one-bedroom home by Arkular. Photo – Adam O’Sullivan

Inside the kitchen. Photo – Adam O’Sullivan

It serves as a tranquil retreat that’s a second dwelling on their client’s property. Photo – Adam O’Sullivan

Arkular

Victoria and Hobart-based business Arkular is on a mission to prove that affordability and architectural designs can co-exist. Their projects often draw inspiration from Scandinavian minimalism and the Australian landscape to create prefabricated homes adapted to their local environment, ranging from BAL-rated homes for bushfire areas, to cosy houses for Tasmania’s Arctic winds.

‘A significant advantage of prefab is its ability to significantly reduce building timeframes and the cost associated with holding expenses,’ Arkular communications manager Christine McCorkell says. Every house is fully customisable, with Arkular handling the design, and outsourcing the construction, and the cost of a typical three-bedroom family house starts at about $450,000.

Find out more about Arkular here