MIMA House, a modern, flexible prefab | MIMA Architects

November 6, 2012

MIMA House is a small prefabricated dwelling manufactured in northern Portugal. It is unique for its ability to be reconfigured by the owners post-delivery. The interior walls consist of lightweight panels that can be easily relocated or removed by two people. MIMA House is the creation of architects Mário Sousa and Marta Brandão of MIMA Architects. They spent several years refining the concept in order to arrive at a finished product that would be quick to manufacture, easy to assemble, of good quality and affordable.

The house has a square plan with the four façades being nearly identical. Corner posts support the roof so that the intervening walls can be entirely glass. The exterior styling is ultra-modern with clean lines and crisply folded edges.

The 36 m² (387.5 ft²) of inside floor area is divided into a 1.5 m (4′ 11″) grid by integrated tracks in the floor and ceiling. The interior wall system consists of frames that are snapped into place in the tracks. As a result, the rooms can be expanded or reduced in increments of 1.5 m. Finish panels are then attached to both sides of the wall frames. The finish panels are available in a variety of colors or wood veneer. They can have different colors on either side, so the decor of the house can be changed just by flipping the panels over. Similar panels can be used to cover the windows as needed for privacy or to block out unwanted sunlight and views.

It seems like a great concept but the room-size increment of 1.5 m may be too big for a house this small. To accommodate a bed, the bedroom has to be 3 m long, which is half the width of the house. A smaller grid increment of 1.0 or 1.2 m might work better, offering the option of reducing the bedroom size in favor of more living area. However the system looks like it works well otherwise, and it would also be great for apartments and office buildings.

Customers choose a base configuration, then customize it with their choice of fixtures and finishes. MIMA house has a starting price of 43,000 Euros for the base configuration, plus shipping to your location.