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Three of the office’s six walls are floor-to-ceiling glass that deepen the user’s connection with the surrounds, whether that’s a remote piece of property or a backyard garden. “We use an insulated glazing from Saint-Gobain with metallic blue external reflection—it allows for privacy and has great solar control,” says Truup. Customizable features include the interior finishes, heated vinyl flooring, dimmable ceiling lights, wall-integrated speakers, electrical sockets in the walls and the floor, and an air conditioning module.
U.K. design firm Koto’s proof of concept for their new venture in architect-designed modular residences is in North Uist, an island in the remote Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The roughly 2,200-square-foot, four-bedroom home carries the company’s characteristic sculptural forms, jet-black yakisugi cladding, and Japandi aesthetic.
The prefab home was crafted with structural insulated panels (SIPs). “SIPs are relatively new to Australia and provides a more straightforward and efficient alternative to traditional framing,” notes the Archier team. “These panels not only offer a simpler construction method; they’re also thermally efficient and environmentally sustainable. Working with the standard dimensions of the panels and keeping the building footprint small proved cost-effective.”
Architects Gordon Stott and Jared Levy saw modular prefabrication as a chance to make high-quality residences more affordable—so long as the construction method was extremely efficient. In 2012, they launched Connect Homes with fifteen designs as part of its original Design Series. Since, Stott and Levy have made more affordable models as well as shelters and community buildings for unhoused people.
According to the architects iHouse Estudio, this prefab in Punto del Este, Urugay, aims to immerse the residents in the forested surroundings. “Continuing with this idea,” they add, “the house features a flowing interior with no interior walls. Inside, blocks contain bathrooms, a kitchen, and closets, freeing the rest of the spaces to connect with the setting. The forest is framed at all times."
Having bought and restored several quirky properties in Washington over the years, including a five-story tree house and a 100-year-old barracks, architect Jason F. McLennan and his wife, artist Tracy McLennan, bought the camp-like retreat in 2020—even though it had no power or running water at the time and is on a secluded island with no ferry service.
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