Prefab

When they are eventually integrated into the parks, the cabins are meant to stand in groups of ten to 15.

Where the floating outbuilding meets a grove of silver cedar, galvanized steel columns match the trunks.

NOEM, a Barcelona–based architecture firm, created a metal-clad house for a young client just outside Madrid. It’s raised 12 feet off the ground to offer better views of the landscape, lending it "the futuristic feeling that it just landed," says Pol Guiu, one of NOEM’s cofounders.

New pine and spruce wood from the Pyrenees (both recyclable and PEFC certified) were selected for the façade of the 1,000-square-foot prefab. Smart blinds cover the windows, rigged to open and close depending on the weather forecast.

Studio owner Joey Williams uses his space to work from home as an Austin-based media director.

Subtle features incorporated into the design, including an elevated terrace and jetty, help the home float above the island.

The roughly 160-square-foot modules, dubbed Mini House 2.0, were built in collaboration with Swedish manufacturer Sommarnöjen, and are delivered flat-packed. The homes are painted wood, and include a shaded deck space, plus full insulation and electricity, for a price of about $29,000. The modules come in various layouts, and can be configured and combined to include a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and living space.

The wood shed portion artfully encapsulates all the domestic detritus that would be anathema within the all-glass sleeping portion.

This dreamy, glass bedroom by the lake was created as an early prototype for the prefabricated greenhouse/she kits known as the Kekkilä Green Sheds.

Helsinki architect Ville Hara and designer Linda Bergroth collaborated on a prefab shed-meets-sleeping cabin, which can be assembled with little else than a screwdriver. Bergroth, inspired by nomadic yurt dwellers, wanted an indoor/outdoor experience for her property in Finland.

Embedded in the desert, this Marmol Radziner–designed prefab home for a Las Vegas casino executive features a James Turrell pyramidal Skyspace structure.

An Asymmetrical Prefab Home in Sweden It took a mere six months—three in the factory and three on-site—for this prefab to come to fruition on the shore of Sweden’s Müsko Island.

Photo by Patrick Barta

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.

An imaginary axis divides the floor plan down the middle, with the open plan living room and kitchen to the south and three bedrooms to the north. In the dining area, a freestanding island hides appliances and piping while also providing counter space. Floor-to-ceiling windows make the outside deck and garden feel like an extension of the interior.

The living room's double height makes the space seem larger that its actual size. Stairs leading up to the sleeping loft are placed next to the open fireplace. The plastered wall and the soapstone tiles on the floor add some roughness to the wooden interior.

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.

Organized around the staircase and entrance, or core, is a succession of communal living spaces that connect to the outdoors via seamless windows. Images courtesy Claesson Koivisto Rune.

“One of the goals of Zenkaya was to create employment in a country crippled by [an unemployment rate of over 25 percent],” explains the architect, who likes to call himself a social entrepreneur.