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FeedApostle of PreFab
By Jenny Woods
Photo by Eric Moore
Warner blends art and science in building design, apropos of his St. Paul company’s name, Alchemy Architects. Today he spends much of his time designing and engineering his company’s prefabricated home concept: weeHouses.
The ready-made weeHouses, so named for their minimal square footage, efficiently use space in modern, modular dwellings. Warner’s company works with factories in several states and Canada to fabricate the homes to Alchemy’s specifications, increasing affordability and greatly reducing construction waste.
“If you design [homes] well, you can make do with a smaller footprint, which is going to save money, it’s going to save resources. There’s a certain element of engineered thriftiness in that whole process,” Warner says. He playfully describes the weeHouse style as “tightwad panache.”
Affordability does not mean uniformity, however. A weeHouse in Two Harbors with rooftop deck and red siding resembles a tugboat sitting atop a hill. An Ontario weeHouse features oxidized-copper painted container siding.
Warner earned his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Minnesota, then spent three months in Italy on a fellowship studying the detailing work of architect Carlo Scarpa. When he returned, he worked at Architectural Alliance in Minneapolis and built furniture on the side. His furnishings have been shown at the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum.
He founded Alchemy in 1992. Eleven years later, he saw the potential for prefab architecture while working on a cabin in Pepin, Wisconsin, for a client who wanted a more-modest-means getaway abode. From there, he honed the weeHouse concept, which now offers customization to the base models, flexibility for additions, and several size options. The appeal of the weeHouse is spreading: They will soon be located from Anchorage to New York.
Last year the Pepin weeHouse was a featured prefab project in the Some Assembly Required exhibit at the Walker Art Center—a dream come true for Warner. “Growing up, I wanted to do something in the Walker,” Warner says. “That was really exciting—to be able to add something to an institution that was a big influence on my life.”
JENNY WOODS IS A GOLDEN VALLEY-BASED FREELANCE WRITER.
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