Prefab

Since the front door is located in the exterior wall, residents first enter a vast garden before reaching the gable roof house.

The two-foot-thick stacked stone walls constructed by Reed Hilderbrand nod to the masonry-free walls common in Revolutionary-era New England.

For 2015, Vipp, the Danish industrial design company known for its iconic trash cans and all-black kitchens, introduces a 592-square-foot prefab unit called Shelter.

When Oslo-based architect Marianne Borge was approached in 2004 by a client who wanted an actual cabin rather than a second home, she was instantly inspired by the challenge of working on a smaller scale. The home, called Woody35, has a distinct shape that makes it stand out from its surroundings despite the modest size of the building.

Since Copenhagen is generally cold, the house was painted black to trap warmth. The result was that in its first year, it consumed so little energy that the client received a generous refund from the heating company. “Many wooden houses in Scandinavia use this trick,” Larsen says. “On sunny days it even radiates warmth, so that in spring and autumn you can sit outside by the wall and in this way extend the outdoor season by a few weeks every year. These weeks are valuable in places with little light.”

The outer wall means residents don’t have to worry about privacy when the sun goes down and the house’s windows begin to glow.

Photo by Patrick Barta

Vo Trong Nghia Architects utilized passive design strategies and a double roof, constructed from Nipa palm and corrugated cement, to ventilate the home, an important consideration in a humid, tropical environment.

Nestled in a field of praire grass in the Wisconsin woods, the Weekn’der is a dynamic contrast of minimalist black and white.

"How would a kid draw a house?" architect Per Franson asked himself when designing the Olivero-Reinius family home. The simple prefab structure’s unusual color comes from a traditional source: falu rödfärg, the historic mineral paint that gives the region’s famous barns their red color.

kitHAUS prides itself on its stylish, modern prefabs that are built on-site by a team of company employees. Their patented aluminum system takes only a few days to construct, and the homes boast superior energy efficiency, owing to insulated floors, walls, and ceilings as well as glazed doors and windows.

Large sliding glass doors allow daylight to fill the living room. Smaller windows are placed in the kitchen area and the sleeping loft. The exterior is clad in heart pine which needs very little up-keep and is known for its strength and hardness.

The main building sinks then elevates in full view of ocean.

The bedroom corridor cuts away to glass directly above the infinity-edge pool, delivering a design jolt akin to being dunked in water.