ARCHIMEDE INSTITUTE


THE 'HEART-LUNG'MODULE



Photo above shows three 'wet modules' being built at Louisiana plant. These bathrooms are fully tested before being loaded in a container. Their corner posts projecting downward allow plumbers and electricians to go under if needed. These 'high heels' are simply cut-off with a chainsaw before loading. Containing the service entrance panel and the back 'wet' wall to the kitchen, those compact modules are the coe of all Archimede houses, removing at leat 50% of all technical tasks at the building site, speeding up assembly immensely. Below, a 120 m2 (1300 ft2) 2-story house that can be built for well below $50,000. A few of these were erected in Venezuela in 1994.





























At the right, the 'San Isidro' version of the house above as being completed in Isla Margarita VE. Note that three or more houses could be shipped into 2 40-ft containers and that erection time of these prior to stucco finish is only a matter of a few days, thanks in part to the fact that the more technically complex wet module carries most of the wiring and piping. This is why we at the Institute call this concept by Poirier the 'heart-lung' module of any house we fabricated.
It must be said however that the fact that all of these pressure-injected foam core panels are already prepared at the plant with doors and windows, also with notching for roof beams and other task requiring precision. Making these in a weather controlled plant having positioning fixtures or 'jig' is the way to go!