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Plant Prefab completes its first smart accessory dwelling unit

AN ADU YOU CAN TALK TO

Plant Prefab completes its first smart accessory dwelling unit

Plant Prefab, a Southern California-based construction company specializing in prefabricated residential design, completed the first accessory dwelling unit (ADU) designed by its in-house design studio. Named LivingHome 10, the ADU was first unveiled during this year’s Modernism Week in downtown Palm Springs and was shown to the tens of thousands of visitors that attended the 10-day event. LivingHome 10 was unveiled a year after Plant Prefab commissioned industrial designer Yves Béhar to design the LivingHome YB1, a fully-customizable ADU. While the lowest asking price for YB1 was over $296,000 when it was first debuted, LivingHome 10 is nearly half the price at $154,000.

With a mere 496 square feet of interior living space, the modestly-sized ADU tucks storage away using built-in furniture with concealed handles that make them imperceptible upon first glance. The self-contained living space includes a full-sized kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom large enough for a queen-sized bed, and a living room that spills out into an optional deck via a multi-slide glass entry.

Interior photo of a kitchen viewable from a bedroom
The kitchen is set in the hallway between the bedroom and the living room to make the best use of the home’s minuscule interior. (Sarah Rosenhaus/Courtesy Plant Prefab)

Smart home technology features are embedded throughout the home, including Sense Energy Monitoring, Lutron Smart Dimmers, and a voice-controlled smart home system from Amazon that will become a standard feature in every subsequent LivingHome model. “Following our investment in Plant Prefab last year,” said David Jackson, director of Smart Home at Amazon, “we are delighted to continue collaborating with Plant Prefab to deliver convenient smart home experiences in every LivingHome. From the day they move in, homeowners can rely on Alexa to help make daily household tasks more convenient, offer peace of mind while at home or away, and more.”

LivingHome 10 is among the first produced by the Plant Prefab to employ its Plant Building System (PBS), a patented method for prefabricating residences using a combination of modular units and a panelized construction system known as ‘Plant Panels.’ These panels are designed to be assembled like building blocks and include electrical, plumbing and finish materials along with framing and insulation. According to the company, the PBS system provides greater design flexibility than previous prefabrication systems, but can also lower overall costs while reducing building time and construction waste. And unlike traditional modular construction, which limits transportation and installation options by assembling the entire home offsite, the PBS system transports living spaces separate from plumbing and mechanical cores to allow ADUS to be delivered and assembled in more restrictive spaces.


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