I ventured down to Scranton, Pennsylvania for a factory open house tour at the Simplex Homes production facility a couple weekends ago, and thought I’d share some photos here. Simplex produces modular units for builders putting together everything from single-family homes, to townhouses, four-story apartment complexes, and student dormitories. Modular construction is essentially just a construction technology that can be applied to many different structures and situations. Simplex specializes in wood-framed units with a surprisingly-complete level of finish already done before trucking and craning on-site. In addition to production efficiency, factory-settings tend to ensure better QC, material recycling, and environmental control.

Their production is most notable in the Ithaca area for Belle Sherman Cottages, an East Hill 19 single-family detached and 10-townhome project developed by Agora Development and built by Carina Construction. Project page and photos here.

When visiting, the crews were working on a ~300 box project for a four-story multifamily development for downtown Philadelphia.