Project Name: Shift House / Location: East Hampton, N.Y. / Architect: Palette Architecture / Location: New York City and Los Angeles / Size: 1,850 square feet / Interior Architecture: Palette Architecture / Landscape Architect: Whitney’s Landscaping / Photographer: Jody Kivort

Shift | House by New York-based Palette Architecture is a 1,600-square-foot prefabricated, modular home for a family of four. The firm says the design takes advantage of prefabrication’s economies in budget and schedule, without compromising on the overall design intent. “These tools are deployed in a house enriched by its natural surroundings and supportive of the family’s activities,” the architects say.

The architects explain that in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, there was a desire amongst many New Yorkers to supplement their homes in the city with ones more connected to nature. A prior client asked the firm to design a second home away from their Brooklyn townhouse, and they quickly settled on a tree-lined subdivision in East Hampton. Set in relative visual seclusion from their neighbors, the house was to be modest in scale and budget, and it had to be built fast so the clients could occupy with some urgency.

[ Read More: A Modern Home in the Hills, with Japanese Influences ]

An additional consideration for the project was the contractor shortages and long wait times on a number of the firm’s projects, which is why the firm suggested prefabrication to the client to achieve lower construction costs, an expedited schedule and improved budget and schedule certainty. They then embarked on a design process that worked within prefabrication’s limits, while pressing the fabricator to expand their offerings to meet Palette’s design goals.

Shift | House consists of three modules and five panels. The modules form each of the bedroom wings and the central kitchen, living room and dining room. Once fabricated, the house was assembled on site within a day, including the mechanical system, while the floor finishes, exterior cladding and selective millwork were installed on-site later in the project.

[ Read More: HW Studio Designs a Modern Home in the Desert ]

The firm’s “initial steps focused on overcoming the traditional shortcomings of modular construction,” Palette explains. “Transportation constraints typically provide less than ideal room dimensions, requiring overlapping modules at critical areas. Similarly, traditional module heights preclude grand spaces, which the firm overcame using prefabricated panels to extend the living module’s height. Dozens of configurations were developed and evaluated to balance spatial quality against constructability. Ultimately, the architects arrived at a scheme with two-bedroom wings that connected to a central, high-ceilinged living space.”

The L-shaped house anchors one edge of a grassy lawn in the back of the property, with the other edges defined by a minimalist swimming pool and rows of trees. An elevated deck forms a transition from the interior, while the lush landscaping of the rear contrasts against the front’s gravel and drought-resistant plantings. “This enclosed lawn is private and relatively secluded, encapsulating the home’s role as an escape to nature for the family,” the firm says.

[ Read More: A Century Old Urban Home Gets a New Look ]

The firm designed the interiors of the house to draw in views of the landscaped courtyard. Large windows occupy two walls of the living space, overlooking the rear, and bedrooms and bathrooms also look onto a courtyard, forming the backdrop to those rooms.

“Millwork elements were used as a means of creating a unique character element in each of the spaces, as well as a method for allowing the modules to connect more seamlessly,” the firm says. “Cabinetry materials were selected for natural textures, lending variation to each piece.”