Favorites

A view of the back of the structure, highlighting both the long entry staircase and solar panels on the straw roof.

To make the living area feel much more open and comfortable, the architects created minmal service areas are hidden when the batipin-plwood panels are closed.

Double fir rafters encase steel flitch plates, allowing for long spans of open space. Hemlock ceilings layer above, bringing warmth to the inside.

Architect Matt Wittman’s upbringing in rural Washington nurtured a respect for functional buildings that worked with their surroundings: a utilitarian perspective that would inform his Seattle-based studio’s modular home system. “While prefab houses are sometimes divorced from their context, Puzzle Prefab can be modified according to each site,” Wittmann says. “This system has the ability to create spaces that can expand or contract for a variety of environments, whether remote, suburban, or urban.”Architect Matt Wittman’s upbringing in rural Washington nurtured a respect for functional buildings that worked with their surroundings: a utilitarian perspective that would inform his Seattle-based studio’s modular home system. “While prefab houses are sometimes divorced from their context, Puzzle Prefab can be modified according to each site,” Wittmann says. “This system has the ability to create spaces that can expand or contract for a variety of environments, whether remote, suburban, or urban.”Architect and Majamaja cofounder Pekka Littow designed a seaside retreat in Finland to showcase the potential of self-sustaining homes. The first cabin was built in 2020, and there are now four along the archipelago outside Helsinki. Prefabricated elements like vertical wood cladding and crisp gables allow the cabins to be dismounted with minimal impact on the landscape.

The main space opens up entirely—visually and literally—toward the Pacific Ocean. It’s clad in large sliding windows that connect the interior spaces to the outdoors.

The project was completed entirely remotely. Since then, the husband-and-wife team have moved back to Santiago, where they had met as young architects working for local firms.

“The pitched ceilings and ribbon of clerestory windows make the interior feel more spacious than it is,” notes Gooden.

Acapulco chairs sit on the adjacent deck. The windows are by Milgard and the glass sliders are by Western Window Systems.

With views like these, the studio's rationale is simple, "We’re proud of how Darkwood’s stepped design makes the most of the view yet still feels connected to the nature around it."

The Smiths’ new cabin, designed by Risa Boyer Architecture and completed in 2020, sits in the same spot as their previous home, on five acres on Mount Veeder, in Northern California. Somehow, the red chicken coop, which is constructed of wood, survived the fire with the chickens still alive inside.