Museum revives prefab spirit

The buildings were meant to have a life span of just 10 years

A prefabricated building which was built from scrap metal in the 1940s has been restored to its former glory at a Welsh Museum.

When they were built the homes were at the cutting edge of design and were made to meet the urgent need to house thousands of people made homeless by the war.

They played a very important part in Wales and those areas which had suffered from enemy bombing during the war

Curator Gerallt Nash

An original prefab bungalow has now been erected at the Museum of Welsh Life in St Fagans, near Cardiff.

It has been restored to how it would have looked when the first families moved in more than 50 years ago.

The bungalow is deceptively simple from the outside but inside it houses all the mod cons.

Staff at the museum have been working to restore the prefab for two years.

Curator Gerallt Nash said: "They played a very important part in Wales and those areas which had suffered from enemy bombing during the war.

The prefabs had all the mod cons

"They were also important for people who did not have sufficient housing immediately after World War II."

Built from recycled aluminium and scrap metal from wartime salvage the prefab came in kit form.

The building in St Fagans had stood just down the road in Gabalfa in Cardiff, in a community reluctant to give up their bungalows, some people are still waiting to move into their new homes.

The prefab was designed for a short life of around 10 years - only a few remain as homes - but at least here there will be a permanent reminder of the tin towns of post-war Britain.