Altadena Prefab Showcase

Alongside an incredible team of community partners, cityLAB-UCLA is exploring prefab housing construction as a way to help residents in Altadena who lost their homes return to their land and begin to rebuild their community. While many people are looking to Prefab buildings as a simpler, faster, and less expensive alternative, residents remain unfamiliar with off-site construction generally. Across two development phases organized on three vacant County-owned lots, cityLAB and our partners will showcase a range of prefab homes to help Eaton fire survivors better understand how off-site construction might play a role in providing an affordable and expedient path home. We understand that no two family’s rebuilding efforts are exactly alike, so across both phases cityLAB and our community and housing partners will exhibit a range of Prefab models to demonstrate a diversity of price points, construction methods, and home types, both in terms of scale and style. 

In Phase 1, a prefab showcase, residents will learn more about various prefab companies and products while seeing, touching, and interacting with the actual housing units that promise to make a difference. Alongside the showcase, cityLAB will produce a guide that shares neutral, unbiased research about prefabricated units so Altadenans can reasonably evaluate how off-site construction might ease their rebuilding process. Written specifically for the challenges facing the Eaton Fire’s survivors, our work will establish relative costs, acquisition processes, design and construction timelines, and future maintenance and adaptability in an accessible, legible tone and visual style.

In Phase 2, we will physically construct four permanent homes on two more vacant County lots around the corner from the showcase lots. These permanent homes will provide low-cost housing for displaced residents and demonstrate how prefab housing can be a viable, longterm solution in Altadena.

We expect the Phase 1 showcase to be open this Fall.