Fox Johnston Architects designed this house in the Mosman neighborhood of Sydney, Australia.

With a view over national parkland and across the ocean to the horizon, this house is designed for easy living and to please the senses. Yet it is also practical – built with solid, durable, tactile materials. Bluestone, Anthra-Zinc, glass and wood are combined externally and internally in an environmentally responsive manner.

External walls and screens open and close, providing the rooms with privacy or shading. The narrow width and orientation of the building maximises cross ventilation and sunlight filtration throughout each space.

The building as a whole is designed to create private living spaces away from the street with a central focus on the outdoor living areas. It takes the form of a series of platforms, responding to the rhythm and topography of the site. The main living, sleeping and entertaining areas are contained in the long linear form to the west. An elongated pool bounds this form and transects the building through the entrance hall, forming a shallow pool in the entrance courtyard. The east wing encloses a living space that serves the barbecue and pool deck, with a separate bedroom and bathroom above.

inhabit is the new prefab, modular home by Seattle-based real estate company, Unico Properties. With a purpose of making city living more accessible, inhabit offers prefab, modular apartments for future city dwellers, who appreciate stylish, open living spaces and environmentally responsible construction.

From studios to one and two bedroom homes, these modern, prefabs apartments feature open living spaces with a neutral color palette design and double-paned, floor to ceiling windows, which increase the perception of space and expand the living area to the outdoors.

There’s also eco-friendly rubber flooring and recycled decking, programmable ventilation systems for energy efficient heating and cooling, water saving plumbing fixtures and Energy-star appliances and flat roof designs allowing for green roofs and storm water recycling.

“…rising costs have made it harder for people who work in the city to live in the city…We believe that one of the most promising solutions to these problems is modular housing. Modular construction embraces new materials and manufacturing techniques to produce iconic, modern homes. With modular construction, apartments can be built more efficiently indoors, in controlled environments.”