Lake|Flato Architects, a Lone Star State firm lauded for its enthusiastic embrace of sustainable design practices and emerging building technologies, is going full-on modular in partnership with a just-announced prefab homebuilding venture named HiFAB.
Launched by Dallas-based real estate development and investment firm Oaxaca Interests, HiFAB recently debuted its studio and manufacturing plant in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex focused on the production of Lake|Flato–designed prefab homes known as Haciendas. The sustainable, attainable, and fully customizable modular homes manufactured at the 7-acre HiFAB production facility located in the city of Grand Prairie will be available to both private buyers and developers. For now, Haciendas will be exclusively available via preorder in Texas, where Oaxaca Interests and Lake|Flato first tested the modular adobes at a residential development in Dallas. HiFAB homes will officially hit the market during the first quarter of 2023.
“Lake|Flato’s early house designs offered clients creative and economical ways to connect with the outdoors,” said Ted Flato, founding partner of Lake|Flato and HiFAB board member, in a statement. “They were inherently sustainable, taking cues from their surroundings by combining passive systems, natural materials and local building traditions to create uniquely crafted residences. Close to 40 years later, we are excited to continue this tradition of thoughtful design and building by partnering with HiFAB on its initial product line, Haciendas. With Oaxaca’s expansion into prefabrication with HiFAB, we are leveraging new technology to reach a broader audience through streamlined, scalable options that express those same enduring qualities of nature, place and restraint.”
HiFAB homes are available in two sizes, each with three different available floorplans: The Studios, two-bedroom/two-bathroom dwellings starting at $249,000, and The Standards, three-bedroom/two-bathroom homes starting at $375,000. Prices including design, assembly, delivery, and on-site set up. Harnessing an “interactive technology” that enables consumers to “customize their homes and watch the building process online from start to finish” including the selection of finishings, tiles, and more, the homes are, as mentioned, highly sustainable and feature ultraviolet-light air purifying systems, fresh air exchange systems, True Zero VOC paints, and other materials healthy for both the planet and the homes’ occupants. The zippy, high-efficiency prefabricated homebuilding process itself is inherently sustainable as HiFAB is able to circumvent the wastefulness associated with conventional stick-built construction.
HiFAB ultimately hopes to produce upwards of 300 homes annually at the new Grand Prairie plant. This, in turn, “will bring more homes online faster while positively impacting the community through the delivery of well-designed attainable housing,” the company said in its announcement.
“With HiFAB, we hope to lead the modular home sector in Texas,” added Oaxaca Interests and HiFAB founder Brent Jackson in a statement. “By collaborating with Lake|Flato again, we’ll be able to provide folks with highly designed yet functional homes that will be produced at our seven-acre facility.” On that note, much like the single-family prefab homes built on its grounds, the Grand Prairie manufacturing plant also emphasizes wellness by offering employees a “light-filled biophilic environment,” in-house “stretch therapists” to help alleviate stress, and other perks.
AN will circle back when the first Lake|Flato–designed HiFAB homes hit the market early next year.
