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Architect Georg Marterer wins 1999 DuPont Benedictus Residential Award for a pre-fabricated, single family house

The winter garden top floor of Marterer's prefabricated family house.

Architect Georg Marterer, together with the engineering firm of Gmeiner-Haferl, both of Vienna, Austria won the 1999 DuPont Benedictus Residential Award. Their design was for a pre-fabricated, single family house. After initial framing, the house can be assembled on location by two people with no previous construction experience.

The judges said: "Georg Marterer broke new ground by not only designing an economical detached house but also in assembling it … This technology defeats arguments against living in a glass house!"

The appearance of the house can be changed quickly and cheaply by two people by interchanging the wood and laminated glass panels.

The 'walls' of the house, located in Vienna, consist of a series of wood panels and floor-to-ceiling 'window panes' of laminated safety glass, each measuring 242 cm x 83 cm and constructed for ease of transportation and assembly. The panels and glass panes can even be re-assembled in different configurations quickly and inexpensively. The pre-fabricated sliding glass elements of a winter garden on the top floor were also assembled by the architect and the client.

Georg Marterer said: "The façade of a house is like an additional layer of clothing and in this case, I show very clearly the transparency of living. I want to introduce more transparency into society for greater honesty."