Home Design

The prefab can be customized and configured to the client’s liking, and it can even be outfitted with renewable energy systems such as rooftop solar panels.

Consisting of three prefabricated units in West Seattle on a 5,000 square-foot lot, the Genesee Townhomes—by Method Homes and Chris Pardo Design—from 1,250-1,400 square feet, each with three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms.

Method Homes—also based in Seattle—builds prefab homes with unlimited customization. They work with local architects as well as their own to design sustainable prefabricated homes that can be built to obtain LEED, ENERGY STAR, Living Building Challenge, Passive House, and other environmental certification standards. They build off-site in a custom facility, and deliver throughout most of the United States, and even certain areas in Canada.

This one-bedroom NODE prefab slots perfectly into a Seattle backyard and produces all of its own energy—with enough leftover to power the neighboring house.

Pole Pass Retreat | Olson Kundig

The team shipped the FutureHUAS on five 43-foot-long trailers from Virginia Tech to Dubai, and installed it in less than two days for the 2018 Solar Decathlon Middle East. The open hatch is for drone deliveries.

Builders, developers, designers, and architects have developed a range of homes that are composed of prefabricated, modular, or kit-of-parts pieces that can allow for lower costs, faster and easier on-site construction, and even higher quality spaces. Here, we delve into the differences—and similarities—among these manufactured residences.

Using sensors, algorithms, and tiny RFID tags, the smart fridge of tomorrow could analyze its own contents and its owner’s consumption habits, then “talk” to the local grocery store or an online shopping service and reorder food as needed. For now, caregivers can see inside camera-equipped refrigerators by LG or Samsung and find out what they need to purchase before their next visit.

When the owners of this 850-square-foot apartment in Stockholm’s Södermalm neighborhood called upon local architect David Lookofsky to revive their 1920s apartment, they tasked the founder of the eponymous firm with incorporating more storage into the compact space. So, Lookofsky created a seven-meter-long kitchen wall with built-in cabinetry and a seating nook, all painted with a bright, egg-yolk yellow. “In smaller apartments, kitchens often become a kind of social hub, both in everyday life or when you have people visiting,” says Lookofsky. “You want these spaces to reflect the people who use them and support interactions and everyday life.”

Kara Van Dyke breathed new life into an A-frame built 30 years ago by her grandfather. The family home now features rustic modern decor inspired by Kara’s Scandinavian roots.

The upper floor wraps the main living space below, allowing for picturesque views from both levels of the home. Coffee bean tables by Holly Hunt sit atop a silk Tai Ping rust carpet, adjacent to a custom Living Divani Sofa.

"Our favorite room of the new FUSE might be the one that's outside… the large covered porch!"

The weeHouse exteriors are clad in corrugated Cor-Ten, but with a custom pattern of folds to create an organic randomness. The foundations were designed with a shallow recess around the top to make the modules look like they’re hovering. After they bought the property in early 2014, the Siegels camped there for two summers while they saved up money and planned a permanent structure. In his research, BJ came across this design, a customizable prefab house by Alchemy Architects. "Of all the things that I found, I was drawn to that one because it was absolutely the simplest and cleanest," he says.

In a family home in Mill Valley, California, Lauren Goldman of l’oro designs kept her clients’ goals of “modern yet accessible” in mind while also looking for opportunities to add functionality. This proved successful when she discovered that the empty space under the steel-and-glass stair landing was the perfect scale for children to sit and read under. The team was inspired to create a kid-sized library, turning a useless space into a perfectly cozy reading nook.