Higher cost
Greatest degree of flexibility and architectural possibilities
Requires a longer design process
Ideal for custom homes with ambitious designs
With our backgrounds in timber framing and fine homebuilding, custom homes are in our DNA, and building them with off-site construction methods is exactly what we did when we started out with prefab in 2014.
While back then, all of our prefab solutions were fully custom because we hadn’t yet developed the systems and optimizations we have in place today, even now we still see a need for custom solutions on a certain percentage of our projects, and welcome the challenge and opportunity of exploring different ways to bring the benefits of off-site construction to ambitious high performance designs. And while you won’t see us sacrificing certain elements we consider crucial to maintaining quality and performance of the building envelope, we’re willing to try new things and are inherently flexible because of our small size and thanks to the experienced carpenters fabricating all of our panels.
Doing custom projects isn’t a diversion from our core business – it’s often a necessary way to see new approaches that could be integrated into our future optimized systems, so we welcome new ideas and the chance to try, improvise, evolve, and learn from the handful of truly custom prefab designs we take on each year. In recent years, we’ve built custom assemblies with Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), wood fiber insulation, custom outriggers, and a number of other approaches not found in our “standard” details.
Achieving a unique custom design with a prefab approach is still best achieved with a team who has some familiarity with some form of prefab solution. We’re happy to recommend one of the 20+ designers who have designed projects using Collective Carpentry panels over the past several years, as well as builders, engineers, consultants, and other professionals who can help you achieve your dreams for a custom, comfortable, durable, sustainable, and beautiful home.