2013 has been an eventful year for Method Homes. It has been great looking back on all of the year’s events, photos, projects, and benchmarks. Method is thankful for our amazing team, partners, clients, and the opportunity to continue to break the bounds of what is possible with prefab construction. Here is a look at some of our 2013 highlights.
HOMB by Method Homes and Skylab Architecture
The year began with the unveiling of the Portland HOMB, the prototype for our joint venture HOMB Modular in partnership with Skylab Architecture.
Following shortly after was the construction and installation of the first commercial instance of HOMB, a high end custom ski lodge.
The Habitat for Humanity House of the Immediate Future, a net-zero hybrid modular prototype designed by The Miller Hull Partnership, reached several project benchmarks in 2013. Unveiled in 2012 at the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair, the home was deconstructed following the showcase and moved to its permanent location in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. Method was happy to celebrate the move and the completion of the home with a great team of project partners.
We had the opportunity to once again collaborate with Miller Hull, this time on a commercial project: the 12,000 square foot LEED Silver expansion of Seattle’s Taproot Theatre. (Photo credit above to Chi Duong of Miller Hull).
One of the first executed projects under the Method Prefab commercial umbrella was SEED, a portable classroom prototype developed by the SEED Collaborative. SEED Classrooms are designed and built to meet the rigorous standards of the Living Building Challenge. CEO of the Living Future Institute Jason F. McLennan, who created the Living Building Challenge, was able to attend the ribbon cutting for the first SEED Classroom, which was unveiled in downtown Seattle during International Living Future’s annual conference.
2012 and 2013 were busy years for Method projects, and we are happy to have collaborated with the talented Joshua Wells of Alpinfoto Photography to capture the finished results of many of them. Thanks for your talent, professionalism, and sense of humor Josh!
In June, the Method crew traveled to Los Angeles for Dwell on Design with our net-zero Paradigm prototype. It received a very positive response at the prefab showcase. It is always great to connect with Dwell and their audience as big supporters of prefab.
The late summer and fall were seasons of travel to a number of scenic and remote locations of our new homes, including a cabin built on an organic bison ranch in Oregon (above) and one at the foothills of an Alaskan ski hill in Girdwood.
Not a bad view: a look at the custom ski cabin underway in Girdwood, Alaska.Not a bad view: a look at the custom ski cabin underway in Girdwood, Alaska.
Also included on the itinerary were travels back East as we officially launched our East Coast division Method East, opening a new manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania. Our first official Method East project was a Method Cabin Model 1 in Virginia (above). Hello East Coast!
Method Homes Co-Founders
In October, Method landed a spot on Seattle Business Magazine’s Green 50 list and was awarded Silver in the Manufacturing Category. Pictured above Method Co-Founders Brian Abramson and Mark Rylant at the awards ceremony accepting the award. It is an honor to make this list as sustainability and innovation continue to be Method’s core values.
We have continued to see a great amount of interest in Method Homes from the California market and have ramped up our California work throughout the year, including a recent custom Tahoe project (above), and others underway for Sonoma, Tiburon, and Occidental.
In December, we came full circle back to Seattle where we installed our new custom townhome project by Chris Pardo Design: Elemental Architecture. The townhomes are now available for presale and will be ready for tours shortly.
We ended the year with a celebration of the completion of the Taproot Theatre project with the opening of their Christmas play. Stay tuned as we plan to organize an event in this space to showcase our commercial prefab work.
These are just a sample of our projects and events in the last year. Please check back on the blog and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest Method happenings.
Thanks to for the continued support of Method. Onward to 2014!
Hybrid prefab prototype built for Habitat for Humanity receives silver in Professional Builder's Systems Built/Modular category.The House of the Immediate Future was conceived to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the 1962 World's Fair. The project was meant to give a nod to the housing exhibits at the fair, which were neat but exuberant modular assemblages.
Read the full article here.
A few weeks back, we mentioned the site work prep for a new cabin headed for the B.C. Channel Islands. The 2,000 square foot cabin is a three bedroom, one bath custom design that will be used primarily as a summer getaway and fishing cabin. The waterfront site is 40 acres that is accessible only by boat or plane and sits off the power grid.
We will go more into detail on the custom finishes in an upcoming post. In the meantime, here are a few preview shots of progress over the last couple of weeks:
More pics coming soon…
On Friday November 29th, we celebrated the completion of the new Seattle Taproot Theatre Annex before the opening of one of Taproot’s premiers. The new annex is adjoined to the existing theatre space, so the grand opening was the literal opening of the door that connects the two buildings.
This is an exciting chapter for the Taproot Theatre Company, and Method is honored to be a part of this project team. Below are a few photos from the festivities courtesy of Chi Duong of The Miller Hull Partnership.
We will post more photos of the newly completed theatre in another post, and please stay tuned for details after the new year as we plan to hold tours and an event in the new space.
Seattle, Washington – Taproot Theatre Company has plenty to celebrate this holiday season. In addition to the world premiere of Le Club Noel, a Christmas play with music written by Candace and Sam Vance, it will open the long-awaited addition to its building, The Kendall Center, which houses a new café and wine bar, lobby, black box theatre, scene shop, and administrative offices.
Guests are invited to a ribbon-cutting and celebration in the new glassed-in lobby and future café – located next door to the original theatre – prior to the opening night of Le Club Noel. The celebration, “Christmas in Paris,” begins at 6:30 pm with Parisian desserts and a hot chocolate bar enjoyed to music from The Inverse Opera and Dickens Carolers. From there, patrons will continue their European experience as they take their seats to watch Le Club Noel, a Christmas play with music set in a 1933 Parisian Cabaret.
“We’re closing 2013 with a grand opening that brings Taproot full circle from what was a tragedy four years ago to the opening of a brand new building that will create dozens of opportunities for training new actors, developing new works, theatrical performances, concerts and all kinds of wonderful things,” said Scott Nolte, artistic director. “The café will be a vibrant hub for our neighborhood, and in the theatre building itself we are producing a world premiere written by artists whom we have invested in for two decades. The chance to see something that began as a disruption and caused so much chaos become something so positive puts us on the cusp of an exciting, new beginning.”
The Theatre’s new 12,000 square foot addition was constructed offsite by Method Prefab when Taproot opted for modular construction to expand into the space previously occupied by the Eleanor Roosevelt Building. The new building was installed in 21 modules over two days and took a total of 10 months to complete. Outside finish details by Buchanan unite the new modular components with the existing theatre building. Designed by The Miller Hull Partnership, the targeted LEED Silver building renovation and expansion takes design cues from the early 1900’s era neighborhood setting, adding improved energy efficiency, public green space in a congested traffic corridor, and the use of environmentally friendly materials.
About Method Prefab
Method Prefab (Method) is a custom manufacturer of precision-built prefabricated structures. The company offers fully custom prefabrication of any design by any architect. Founded with a mission of adding innovation to the future of construction, Method is guided by the core value of thoughtful, sustainable design. Prefabrication allows Method to reduce construction timelines and control costs while building custom projects in a controlled environment, minimizing exposure and waste. As such, Method can focus on sustainability and cutting edge design. Method’s structures ship 80 to 95 percent complete, resulting in project timelines of two to five months.
About Taproot Theatre Company
Taproot Theatre Company is a professional, nonprofit theatre company with a multi‐faceted production program. Founded in 1976, Taproot Theatre serves the Pacific Northwest with Mainstage Productions, Touring Productions and the Acting Studio. Taproot exists to create theatre that explores the beauty and questions of life while bringing hope to our search for meaning. Taproot Theatre Company is a member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), Theatre Puget Sound (TPS), Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Association (PNA) and the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce.
About The Miller Hull Partnership
Founded in 1977,The Miller Hull Partnership specializes in award-winning, performance-based design for public and private buildings that actively engage their communities through simple, innovative and authentic designs. Current projects include the Bullitt Center in Seattle–the first commercial building to target Living Building status, along with the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry border crossing between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico–the busiest border crossing in the world. The Miller Hull Partnership is the recipient of the National Firm Award from the American Institute of Architects.
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