Black and white photograph, c.1992
Survey by RCAHMS
As part of a threatened buildings survey in c.1992, RCAHMS recorded a number of prefab houses before some were demolished. This example of an 'AIROH' prefabricated aluminium bungalow in Moredun, Edinburgh, constructed in 1949, survived and remains occupied today (AIROH stands for Aircraft Industries Research Organisation on Housing).
Over 32,000 prefabricated temporary houses were built in Scotland to address the housing shortage following the Second World War. Partially assembled in factories, ‘prefabs’ used materials, such as aluminium, that were not in such short supply as traditional building resources. The 1971 census, the last to count temporary houses, showed that 3,505 remained in Scotland.
Unidentified Prefab House
Black and white photographs, c.1930s-40s
Francis Caird Inglis (d. 1940)
RCAHMS: Inglis Collection
These photographs, taken by the Scottish photographer Francis Caird Inglis, show the interior of a typical prefab house.
The rooms shown include the master bedroom, kitchen and sitting room. Prefabs were small in size and all available space had to be maximised, hence features such as the fold-away ironing board.
Prefab housing under construction at Arbroath, Angus
Black and white photograph, 1947
RCAHMS: RAF Collections
This photograph reveals prefab sections being delivered by lorry at Arbroath, ready to be quickly joined together to form new homes. These temporary structures would later be replaced by permanent houses.
The image was taken by the Royal Air Force as part of an aerial photographic survey of Britain after the Second World War. The RAF had many surplus wartime photo- reconnaissance aircraft and trained aircrew available for this task. The survey contains some 280,000 photographic images and offers a bird’s eye view into Scotland’s past.