Hexagonal tiles made by the Portland Cement Company continue the pattern in the bathroom, where the architect designed low drawers and cabinets that are easy for Luna to reach.

Many prefab architects and suppliers specialize in either modular or panelized construction. Minneapolis architect Charlie Lazor has worked with both mediums. This lake house in rural Ontario, Canada, is an example of one of his modular projects. It was built in a Wisconsin factory about 400 miles away.

The courtyard is just one of many open spaces that will be highly utilized—in the non-winter months anyway. Concrete worked well with developing the language of FlatPak. The second level is a wood panel that can be clad in corrugated metal or cedar—different layers that can be plugged in like covers on your cellphone.

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.

Gaffney's cousin lives in the house just in front. To give a bit of perspective, this photo was likely taken just feet in front of the waist-high wall that runs between the two houses's yards.

A familiar scene in the Benoit home: Peter paints at the Steelcase desk—"I do all my work here," he says—while Ando sits nearby, waiting for attention.

The Japanese-style bathroom, which is clad in teak, features a matching tub and sink by Bath in Wood.

An outdoor shower tucked behind a screen off the master bedroom neutralizes this threat. “We thought it sounded great for muddy kids to run up and shower off there,” Coco says.

The open observatory.

Madrid-based firm PKMN dreamed up this flexible concept for a client with a tiny home north of the city. Made up of three shelving units on track system, the All I Own House can be configured in countless ways, making space for a bedroom, kitchen, sitting area, changing room, and more. Shown here is a horizontal Murphy bed, which makes a great space-saving solution as well as a comfortable sleeping space.

Porches and rolling glass doors draw in the river breeze to keep the home cool.

In episode 5, Machnik and his teammates were asked to reimagine a pre-fabricated modular home. Lukas is commended for his idea to create a built-in daybed that saves space and provides a nook for relaxing. Photo courtesy of Lukas Machnik.

A glass-fronted walkway leads from the main house to the office/play area.

A bathroom sits at one end of the room.

Surrounded on all sides by a sweeping Canadian hayfield, the 23.2 House is an angular ode to rural life.

A good dose of inspiration from Luis Barragán turned a dark and beleaguered midcentury house into a family home for the ages. The paint colors chosen by the residents and architect Linda Taalman are American Cheese and Blushing Bride, both by Benjamin Moore, creating a tapestry of color and texture.

The back of the house has sliding doors that open far enough to expose the entire livingroom to the families' back yard.

Barely perceptible from the street above, the Kim Residence by Form Environment Research (fer) Studio is designed to blend into the shadows of the La Canada foothills. Photo courtesy of Jack Coyier.

A new addition to Sea Ranch’s enclave of utopian homes, this structure (and the separate guesthouse seen here) clad in rough concrete and Cor-ten steel seamlessly blends in with its half-a-century-old California neighbors. Designed by the dean of the Woodbury School of Architecture and the head of the University of Oregon’s architecture department, its spaces flow into one another underneath an angled plywood ceiling and illuminate built-in furniture crafted from vertical-grain Douglas fir.

X-Line 016 House in Lethbridge, AB is a cedar-clad passive home with a two-story living room, artist's studio, and three-car garage with windows creating a "chimney effect" ventilation system that allows the air to move without using power. Photo by: Clayton Strong

The Perth residence of Renee Coleman via the Design Files.

On one side of the house, a white central staircase leads to a split-level landing the Robertsons call "the reading room." "We needed a place to hang out and for the kids to read," explains owner Vivi Nguyen-Robertson. Awaiting the birth of the couple's son, she relaxes in a built-in reading nook in the library.

Roberto Burneo designed this home for his eldest niece, her husband, and their three young children in a suburb outside Quito, the capital of Ecuador. The house is set on a flat expanse of land with fruit trees, and Burneo's design "guides the social areas inward in order to link them to the gardens.”

The ground-floor sauna, one of the home’s central gathering spots, is built from stained alder. The electric heater is from the Finnish company Iki.

Burneo took advantage of the perpendicular orientation of the volumes to create outdoor spaces that look out to the gardens.

A corrugated metal roofing, pine walls stained a warm blonde hue, and an abundance of glass make this modern prefab feel much roomier than its 1,600-square-feet size.

Designed in 1960, the house was originally a lodge to accommodate horse trails. Throughout the years, the house has expanded with various additions and renovations.

Sawn wood planks add texture to the interior walls.

Burneo oriented the house in a pair of perpendicular volumes. The ground floor houses the public areas, including a study, while the top volume, housing the bedrooms and a family room, is oriented north-south, allowing for warm sunlight and a visual orientation toward the gardens.

When the Casali family gave Michael Krus and Prishram Jain of TACT Architecture free rein to work with unconventional materials, the architects responded by creating a geometric 4,300-square-foot smart home encased in aluminum panels by Agway Metals. The front facade features Cor-Ten steel fabricated by Praxy Cladding.

The custom kitchen counters are concrete, and the yellow dining chairs add a welcome splash of color.

“There’s a presence to that place—it’s vast, and constantly shifting,” Moffitt says. “It was clear that this house should be an observation shed for the changing landscape beyond.”

Burneo added exposed brick to his palette of interior materials.

The bedroom—accessible via the living room—is where the couple will place a bassinet for their newborn.

An Alvar Aalto table is surrounded by a quartet of the designer’s Chair 65.