Prefabricated modular design and construction have made notable inroads into such sectors as industrial, residential, hospitality and, more recently, office and healthcare. But Dafna Kaplan thinks that what’s held back the modular building industry from even greater market penetration has been suppliers’ insistence that they do everything: design, manufacture, logistics, land prep, assembly, even onsite construction. “That’s been their Achilles’ Heel.”
Kaplan is CEO and Founder of Cassette, a Los Angeles-based startup that designs and sells stackable apartment-living pods with move-in-ready 80-sf kitchens, 60-sf bathrooms, 130-sf bedrooms with double wardrobe, and 162-sf living rooms. Last October, Cassette unveiled its 600-sf, one-bedroom model unit designed by Craig Hodgetts and Ming Fung of HplusF Design Lab in Culver City, Calif., at a popup showroom open for tours.
Cassette started in 2019, but was stalled for a while by Covid-19 restrictions. During that lull, Kaplan—who previously worked in an advisory capacity with ConXTech and MATT Construction—did a lot of consulting. The Covid period also saw some high-profile modular manufacturers stumble and fall, which gave Kaplan insight into what did and didn’t work. During the year before Cassette introduced its product, Kaplan also benefited from conversations with industry leaders like RAD Urban’s Co-founder Randy Miller and FullStack Modular’s CEO Roger Krulak.
Her main takeaway from all this: “We learned not to do too much.”
Savings from modular construction come from process improvements
Proponents have long touted modular as an answer to helping lessen America’s chronic housing shortage and rising construction costs, and Kaplan is no different. Cassette’s “mission” is to reduce the cost of multifamily housing construction by 30% in three years, and double the speed of housing production. By focusing half of the building design toward a fixed product/fixed price model, Cassette would bring more predictability to construction.
“The trick to reducing construction costs is to get the entire system to function in unison,” Kaplan tells BD+C. The cost savings will come, over time, from process improvements “and getting better with every iteration.”
Hodgetts of HPlusF Design Lab, who holds two modular patents, adds that great design “doesn’t have to be expensive,” and asserts that Cassette’s formula of developing a product through a lens of manufacturing and prefab will “make modular construction a practical reality.” (The designers and Nick Butcher, Cassette's COO, knew each other previously and had worked together before. “It was a mind meld of mutual respect,” says Kaplan.)
Modular building units in production in 2023
Kaplan says that what separates Cassette from its competitors starts with price transparency. Modular suppliers are often circumspect about comparing their prices with conventional design and construction. Cassette states its pricing upfront, and while it doesn’t require minimum orders, discounts are available when customers buy more, ranging from $170,000 per unit for orders under 15 units, to $140,000 with orders of 101 to 300 units, with incremental price reductions in between.
Pricing covers predevelopment design team coordination, interior design, floor-to-ceiling window/sliding door systems, 100% preinstalled waterproofing, major appliances, tankless water heater, all fixtures and finishes, a split HVAC system evaporator coil, and onsite delivery, installation, and structural hookup.
When interviewed in November, Kaplan said her company was “in discussions” with a half-dozen general contractors. Cassette also has manufacturing contracts with factories in Malaysia and South Korea, and was in discussions with a factory in Mexico. (Kaplan notes that the supply chain, and not the logistics, is the most critical part of the modular business.) From order to delivery will take about six months, she estimates.
The 14.5x43-foot product is sized so that “you don’t need a police car on the road to transport it,” says Kaplan. The pods are stackable up to six stories and include bracket support for attaching balconies and corridors. (Sitework includes elevators and stairs, and there are extra costs for roof slope and membrane, foundations, public circulation areas, and additional exterior façade.)
Late last year, Cassette was taking orders, and Kaplan fully expects to be building projects in 2023. She didn’t reveal much, except to say that one project in Los Angeles County will be 30 units, and another 200. Cassette eventually plans to expand its assortment to include studio and two-bedroom pods. Kaplan is also keeping an eye on renter demographics to gauge future demand for different apartment sizes and features. “It’s all about good architecture and design,” she says.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Old factory converted from hearth to home
A former briquette factory in Cologne-Frechen, Germany, was converted into a mixed-use building by Astoc Architects & Planners, Cologne, in association with Rheinischen Amt für Denkmalpflege—the Rhenish agency for historic preservation. The roughly 172,200-sf building includes a mix of residential condominiums, lofts, and leased commercial space.
| Aug 11, 2010
And the world's tallest building is…
At more than 2,600 feet high, the Burj Dubai (right) can still lay claim to the title of world's tallest building—although like all other super-tall buildings, its exact height will have to be recalculated now that the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) announced a change to its height criteria.
| Aug 11, 2010
Luxury high-rise meets major milestone
A topping off ceremony was held in late October for 400 Fifth Avenue, a 57,000-sf high-rise that includes a 214-room luxury hotel and 190 high-end residential condominiums. Developed by Bizzi & Partners Development and designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, the 60-story tower in midtown Manhattan sits atop a smaller-scale 10-story base, which creates a street façade t...
| Aug 11, 2010
Mixed-use Seattle high-rise earns LEED Gold
Seattle’s 2201 Westlake development became the city’s first mixed-use and high-rise residential project to earn LEED Gold. Located in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, the newly completed 450,000-sf complex includes 300,000 sf of Class A office space, 135 luxury condominiums (known as Enso), and 25,000 sf of retail space.
| Aug 11, 2010
Triangular tower targets travelers
Chicago-based Goettsch Partners is designing a new mixed-use high-rise for the Chinese city of Dalian, located on the Yellow Sea coast. Developed by Hong Kong-based China Resources Land Limited, the tower will have almost 1.1 million sf, which includes a 377-room Grand Hyatt hotel, 84 apartments, three restaurants, banquet space, and a spa and fitness center.
| Aug 11, 2010
Brooklyn's tallest building reaches 514 feet
With the Brooklyner now topped off, the 514-foot-high apartment tower is Brooklyn's tallest building. Designed by New York-based Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects and developed by The Clarett Group, the soaring 51-story tower is constructed of cast-in-place concrete and clad with window walls and decorative metal panels.
| Aug 11, 2010
RMJM unveils design details for $1B green development in Turkey
RMJM has unveiled the design for the $1 billion Varyap Meridian development it is master planning in Istanbul, Turkey's Atasehir district, a new residential and business district. Set on a highly visible site that features panoramic views stretching from the Bosporus Strait in the west to the Sea of Marmara to the south, the 372,000-square-meter development includes a 60-story tower, 1,500 resi...
| Aug 11, 2010
'Feebate' program to reward green buildings in Portland, Ore.
Officials in Portland, Ore., have proposed a green building incentive program that would be the first of its kind in the U.S. Under the program, new commercial buildings, 20,000 sf or larger, that meet Oregon's state building code would be assessed a fee by the city of up to $3.46/sf. The fee would be waived for buildings that achieve LEED Silver certification from the U.
| Aug 11, 2010
Colonnade fixes setback problem in Brooklyn condo project
The New York firm Scarano Architects was brought in by the developers of Olive Park condominiums in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn to bring the facility up to code after frame out was completed. The architects designed colonnades along the building's perimeter to create the 15-foot setback required by the New York City Planning Commission.
| Aug 11, 2010
U.S. firm designing massive Taiwan project
MulvannyG2 Architecture is designing one of Taipei, Taiwan's largest urban redevelopment projects. The Bellevue, Wash., firm is working with developer The Global Team Group to create Aquapearl, a mixed-use complex that's part of the Taipei government's "Good Looking Taipei 2010" initiative to spur redevelopment of the city's Songjian District.