prefab

Koto’s charred-timber workspace is an exercise in wabi-sabi design that embraces imperfection amid the natural world. The carbon-neutral structure is built from natural materials, and it can operate both on- and off-grid.

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 pilot home on Whidbey Island demonstrates the system’s potential: a 600-square-foot interior paired with nearly equal covered outdoor space, set lightly on a pin foundation that protects tree roots and cuts carbon by 77 percent. "Puzzle Prefab can be modified according to each site,

“I envision people writing their books, music, refuelling their creative flow,” says Castillero. He should know about its energizing power more than anyone, really: it brought him back to his love of architecture, after all. “It’s truly my new happy place.”

The home enjoys a connection with the surrounding landscape with views from every room that invite the 100-acre site into the interior. “The framed views from each room are a source of pride for us,” says architect Meelena Oleksiuk Turkel. “They illustrate the way in which we design for a specific site, bringing the outdoors into the home and making the most of what the homeowners love about their land.”

The home is currently being rented out to recoup some building costs, and the owners are considering a permanent move after their daughter leaves for college.

Located on New Zealand’s North Island along the Coromandel Peninsula, this timber-clad shipping container house by Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects captures the simplicity of living with nature. An open-plan layout extends the interior toward the surrounding landscape and ocean, while a built-in mechanism reveals a drop-down deck on one side of the unique holiday home.

A verdant oasis awaits in the backyard, complete with a bespoke jacuzzi and jetted pool.

This 530-square-foot prefab in East Sussex, England, was designed by Michael Kendrick Architects for a family who wanted to build a woodland retreat/rental on their property. Immersing the lodge into the forest reflects the family’s intent to, as the architects explain, “enhance the ecological biodiversity of the area, protect wildlife, and enable guests … to understand and appreciate the fauna, flora, and unique history and nature of the area, while supporting and promoting the local economy.”

Planning regulations required a gable roof, which the architects split into four shed roofs carefully designed to respond to heavy snow shed and meet spatial and aesthetic wishes.

“This is a creative space—with the connection to the land and air, I actually don’t feel like I’m inside at all.”—Austin Lowrey

When Hess learned that Charlie and Todd had spent a few years living on a boat, she decided to take cues from nautical casework for the cabinet design. "[It] has to be so considered and exacting and very utilitarian," says Hess of boatbuilding tradition.

Hess combined a John Boos butcher-block table with a piece carved by local wood sculptor Vince Skelly to create a sculptural kitchen island. "As soon as [Skelly] brought that in there, [Charlie and Todd's] little daughter hopped up on it and owned it. So, that's where she hangs out in the kitchen," says Hess.

Taking cues from nautical casework, Osmose Design crafted an undulating, white oak kitchen in an irresistibly quirky Tudor home in Portland, Oregon.

Colossus Mfg. outfitted the dining area with a round table from Burke Decor and leather-upholstered side chairs by Staffan Holm for Hem.