Prefab Masterpieces

The Museum of Modern Art in New York has long served as home to magnificent pieces by Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, but one of the museum’s recent acquisitions may be its most extraordinary: Rice University’s new college bathrooms.

Featured in the museum’s Cellophane House exhibit last fall, the 7-by-7-foot prefabricated lavatories were built in a factory and delivered to Rice’s Duncan College and McMurtry College construction sites as completed units, with showers, sinks, toilets and even mirrors in place. That means less traffic to sites, reduced construction waste and fewer subcontractors — all of which align with Rice’s goal of achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for every new campus building.

“Using prefabricated bathroom pods actually prevents waste before it is even created, thanks to the use of lean manufacturing processes,” said Rice Director of Sustainability Richard Johnson. “This fits the spirit of Duncan and McMurtry colleges, where we also are recycling on the order of 90 percent of all of the construction waste that is generated.”