A Massive Metal "Caterpillar" Brings Eight Cost-Effective Apartments to Detroit
Prince Concepts slices up a prefab Quonset hut to create a series of light-filled dwellings.
Prince Concepts slices up a prefab Quonset hut to create a series of light-filled dwellings.
In Detroit’s Core City neighborhood, a new prefab Quonset hut hosts six apartments and two live/work spaces surrounded by a recently planted urban forest. Named Caterpillar after its long and slender shape, the gleaming 9,000-square-foot structure is the latest venture by Prince Concepts, a local real estate developer that has partnered with the city to develop roughly one hundred vacant properties in the district.
Caterpillar is the first major development to spring up in Detroit’s Core City neighborhood in 60 years.
Chris Miele
The urban woodland, which includes a mix of arborvitaes, river birches, and hornbeams, will provide a layer of privacy.
Chris Miele
"We decided against complex floor plans, expensive materials, and a diversity of units," says Philip Kafka, president of Prince Concepts. "Instead, we utilized the Quonset hut, a simple, elegant, cost-effective prefabricated structure. This allowed us to reallocate our savings to spacious, thoughtful interiors that prioritize natural light, and to surround the structure with an urban woodland featuring over 150 trees."
The developer created Caterpillar in collaboration with architect Ishtiaq Rafiuddin of UNDECORATED, Studio Detroit, and landscape architect Julie Bargmann of D.I.R.T. Studio. The team worked closely with Virginia-based company SteelMaster to modify a standard Quonset hut with custom details, including 36 openings on each side of the arched metal facade.
The trees are planted in a staggered pattern inspired by the sheet music for John Coltrane’s "A Love Supreme."
Chris Miele
See the full story on Dwell.com: A Massive Metal "Caterpillar" Brings Eight Cost-Effective Apartments to Detroit
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