Ray Kappe-Designed Santa Monica LivingHomes Was Installed In An Amazing 8 Hours

Modern homes are to LA like snow is to the north pole, but that doesn't mean they're all the same. Santa Monica-based <a href="http://inhabitat.com/living-homes/">LivingHomes</a> builds modern and functional <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/prefab">prefabricated homes</a> designed by world class architects like Ray Kappe and Kieren Timberlake. The original Ray Kappe home was built in Santa Monica and took an amazing 8 hours to install. Talk about a quick build! Built-in furniture, environmentally conscious materials, and a rooftop solar system are all part of the package deal, which resulted in the first <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/LEED-platinum">LEED Platinum</a> certified home anywhere.

The RK1 is a 4 bedroom home with 2.5 baths, but can also be configured to have 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths.

Coming in at 2,560 sq ft, the modern urban infill home packs in a lot of details in a modestly sized space.

Energy and water efficient strategies ensure low utilities environmental impact that is even lower.

opped off with a canopy <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/solar-power">solar photovoltaic system</a> on the roof to provide a portion of the home's energy demand, while a solar hot water system makes hot water.

Grey water is recycled and used for landscape irrigation of the drought tolerant plantings.

<a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/green-materials">Eco friendly materials</a> are prolific throughout the home, which was built in a factory to minimize waste, maximize time and ensure the highest of quality.

After fabrication was complete, all the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/modular-housing">modular</a> parts were shipped to the Santa Monica location and craned into place - a process that took a total of 8 hours.

Once installed the construction crew went to work on the finishing details.

Overall, LivingHomes strives to achieve six goals for all of their homes: Zero Water, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/category/zero-energy">Zero Energy</a>, Zero Waste, Zero Emissions, Zero Carbon and Zero Ignorance.

The company recognizes that they might not actually achieve Zero Impact, but are working hard to do so.

The First LivingHome in Santa Monica is now home to <a href="http://inhabitat.com/new-years-resolutions-from-steve-glenn/">Steve Glenn</a>, CEO of LivingHomes.

LivingHomes has gone on to design and build a number of other prefab homes.

The Santa Monica house was their first completed project.