Imagine a home that offers ultimate floor plan flexibility over your life time, can be built on nearly any site, and is so easy on the planet that it barely touches the ground, and you've got e-BODE.

The e-BODE, a product of Modabode, is a prefabricated, modernist dwelling that is both environmentally responsible and utilitarian. Available as an off-the shelf product in one or two modules, the house is a simple steel-framed structure elegantly protected by an over-sailing steel roof. The light-filled home is encircled by a delicate steel verandah and appears to float above the ground, expressing its minimal environmental impact by touching the earth very lightly.

e-BODE was assembled in a few hours for a Sydney Opera House "audition" on the plaza.

Each module measures 3.6 x 14.4 m and provides an internal floor area of 50 m². A single module could be a holiday retreat, a guest studio in the back garden, an office or an extension for elderly relatives. A floor plan that includes two or more modules makes a large family house.The basic pre-constructed dwelling is delivered right to the construction site where final elements are assembled. The only site works required are simple pad foundations and utility connections. Just 12 weeks are required from the time an order is placed until the owner is relaxing in a new home.

The dwelling's interior is surprisingly spacious and accommodating.

e-BODE's "e-features"

e-BODE uses a narrow floor plan, combined with large glazed areas to maximise natural daylighting and cross-ventilation. Louvred windows panels assist with air flow and the double roof provides shade and encourages passive cooling. Thick foil-coated insulation retains winter warmth while reflecting summer heat. The oversailing roof offers shade, protecting the modules from the sun's radiant heat, and supports a solar water heater. Photovoltaic panels can be easily mounted on the roof to not only supply the home's electricity needs, but feed energy back to the grid as well. Rainwater tanks collect water for toilet flushing and the garden. Overall, e-BODE reduces water consumption by 40% and energy use by 25%. And it can be easily removed, leaving no trace of its existence in the landscape.

Front view of e-BODE as it sits on the Opera House plaza.

Pack up and Go, Add on and Grow

The house provides ultimate flexibility to owners. Adding an office, extra rooms for a growing family, or even an extension for aging parents is a matter of adding new modules to the existing structure. And e-BODE is so portable that when the job takes you to another location, the outer structures are disassembled, and it and the main structures are loaded back on the truck and shipped off to the new address. The concept brings a whole new meaning to hiring a mover. e-BODE's portability was recently demonstrated in Sydney, Australia, where it was assembled in a few hours and occupied only a small space on the Sydney Opera House Forecourt as part of the Houses of the Future an exhibition to promote the benefits of sustainable building design, environmental innovation and design excellence. The exhibit included six different buildings made of cardboard, clay, timber, concrete, glass, timber, and of course, the steel e-BODE, called The Steel House (Click to view The Steel House fact sheet. The exhibition was later moved to the Sydney Olympic Park where it was open to the public for nine months.

Recently an Australia-based steel-framing company has contracted to construct the e-BODE. A single module can be purchased for an estimated €80,000 (plus tax and delivery). If you'd like to know more about e-BODE, visit http://www.modabode.com.au/.

Key information

Number of storeys	1
Living area (m2)	50 m2
New-build home

Location of steel solutions

External wall
Floor
Light steel sections
Roof
Water systems
Foundation