Das Quelle-Fertighaus

Abstract The steel prefabricated family house ›Quelle-Fertighaus‹ designed and constructed by the German company Quelle, is an innovative modular system commercialised in 1962. All aspects of the Quelle-Fertighaus are planned on the principle of minimal effort for maximal flexibility. The clever design of the ground plan based on a 4 m × 7 m module offers the flexibility for either one to three additional modules. The steel construction is innovative and unique, consisting of load-bearing portal frames acting as braces. The house design is furthermore characterised by a simple metrical grid layout and the practical placement of the foundation and basement, which allowed the very cost-effective production and the lowest price for a prefabricated family house in Germany during the postwar era. Nowadays its portal-frame-construction offers an interesting approach for its renovation and transformation according to present building demands.