Berkshire House - 3 Bedrooms 2,227 sf Modular Home, West Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Floor Plans
About Resolution: 4 Architecture

Project	Berkshire House
Architects	Resolution: 4 Architecture
Manufacturer	Simplex Homes
Area	2,227 sf
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2
Modules	6 modules, Butterfly Roof
Location	West Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Year	2007

Description by architects

Situated three hours north of New York City and two hours west of Boston, the Berkshire Mountains have long been a vacation destination for urban dwellers. This particular escape was designed for a Brooklyn couple and their teenage son for use primarily on the weekends throughout the year. Raised slightly above grade, the house sits in a natural clearing on the edge of a plateau, overlooking a steep drop formed by the Housatonic River.

Leaving the car behind, visitors enter the house up a gently sloping ramp, transitioning to a large outdoor covered space. Designed to accommodate a future screened porch, this entry threshold frames views of the woods, valley, and mountains beyond. The single-story main volume of the home, clad in cement board panels and glass, is placed perpendicularly to the two-story cedar volume. Similar to The Dwell Home, this 2,100-square-foot composition is also a variation of the Two-Bar Bridge in the L Series typology. Both have communal loftlike spaces that are wrapped in floor-to-ceiling glass, surrounded by trees, and flanked by decks. An upper bar of private spaces bridges over the large exterior space, forming a portal to the site.

Whereas The Dwell Home contains a carport under the bridge piece, the Berkshire House includes space for a future screened porch surrounding the house's main entrance. Similar to The Dwell Home though, this home responds to its climate and site with a roof deck, a butterfly roof to collect rainwater, and clerestory windows that face south in the Berkshire's northern climate to maximize solar heat gain. Utilizing the constant temperature of the earth, the Berkshire House is heated and cooled through the use of geothermal energy, increasing the sustainability factor beyond that of The Dwell Home.

Simplex Homes

Simplex Homes is a modern, technically advanced, nationally recognized leader in modular construction.

Simplex Homes management team is among the most experienced in the industry. Simplex Homes are among the largest modular industry employers in Pennsylvania but remain a family owned firm. Simplex Homes craftsmen are among the most skilled in prefabricated modular industry and many have been with the company almost since the founding of Simplex Homes over 5 decades ago.

Simplex Homes concentrates their efforts on building the highest possible quality modular structures. Simplex Homes build first homes and dream homes as well as architecturally significant homes and commercial buildings that range from dormitories to hotels, from professional office space to light industrial buildings.

Shift | House - 1,600 SF 2 Bedrooms Modular House by Palette Architecture, East Hampton, Long Island, New York

Scheme
Floor Plans
Installation Process
About Palette Architecture

Project	Shift | House
Architects	Palette Architecture
Manufacturer	Simplex Homes
Contractor	Cedar Knolls Homes
MEP Engineer	RAAD
Area	1,600 SF
Bedrooms	2
Modules	3 modules, 5 panels
Installation Time	1 day (+days of finishing)
Location	East Hampton, Long Island, New York
Year	2023
Photography	Jody Kivort

Description by architects

Shift | House is a 1,600 SF, new house for a family of four. It is constructed of prefabricated, modular components that were factory fabricated and connected on site. 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.

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 us to design a second home away from their Brooklyn townhouse. They quickly settled on a tree lined subdivision in East Hampton, in relative visual seclusion from its neighbors. The house was to be modest in scale and budget, with an urgency to occupy it quickly.

Concurrent with the start of this project, we were navigating contractor shortages and long wait times on a number of our projects. We suggested prefabrication to achieve lower construction costs, an expedited schedule, and improved budget and schedule certainty. We embarked on a design process that worked within prefabrication’s limits, while pressing the fabricator to expand their offerings to meet our design goals.

Prefabricated Construction in the Residential Real Estate Market

March 2025

http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/remav-2025-0004

Authors:

Małgorzata Krajewska
Nicolaus Copernicus University

Ewa Siemińska
Nicolaus Copernicus University

Izabela Rącka
Calisia University - Kalisz Poland

Kinga Szopińska
Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology

Ivo Kostov
University of Economics Varna

PREFABRICATED CONSTRUCTION IN THE RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET

Małgorzata Krajewska¹, Ewa Siemińska², Izabela Rącka³*, Kinga Szopińska¹, Ivo Kostov⁴

1. Department of Geodesy, Spatial Management and Real Estate, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, 7 prof. S. Kaliskiego Av., 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland, (MK) e-mail: malgorzata.krajewska@pbs.edu.pl, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8541-2295; (KS) e-mail: k.szopinska@pbs.edu.pl, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2702-936X
2. Department of Investment and Real Estate, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, ul. Gagarina 11, 87-100 Toruń, Poland, e-mail: ewahsiem@umk.pl, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8885-0338
3. Institute of Social Sciences, University of Kalisz, ul. Nowy Świat 4, 62-800 Kalisz, Poland, e-mail: i.racka@uniwersytetkaliski.edu.pl, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2344-0901
4. Department of Business, Investment, Real Estate, University of Economics – Varna, 77 Kniaz Boris I Blvd., 9002 Varna, Bulgaria, e-mail: i.kostov@ue-varna.bg, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5623-471X
* Corresponding author

Abstract

Persistent housing shortages and escalating housing investment costs in numerous countries drive the search for technologies that enable faster, cost-effective housing development. Prefabrication technology has emerged as a promising solution, which enables buildings to be constructed in significantly shorter timeframes compared to traditional methods. This approach utilizes prefabricated structural elements manufactured in controlled factory settings, leading to a substantial reduction in the carbon footprint associated with the construction process.

This study focuses on two primary objectives: 1) Identifying the key factors for integrating prefabricated construction technology into the multifamily housing market, especially within the framework of sustainable development policies and the growing housing gap, and 2) Examining buyer preferences to assess their openness toward prefabricated construction in the multifamily residential market. Identification of the determinants of the implementation of prefabricated technology was carried out based on comprehensive literature review and critique of source documents. Additionally, buyer preference surveys were conducted among residents in post-communist Central and Eastern European countries (Poland, Bulgaria, and Ukraine).

$220,000 Four Story Four Apartments Prefabricated Modular Housing, Chile

Floor Plans
3D Renderings
Construction Process
About ELEMENTAL Architecture

Project	Chusmisa Housing Wildfire Reconstruction
Architects	ELEMENTAL
Area	252m² (4 apartments of 63m²)
Modules	8 prefabricated living modules and 3 prefabricated roof modules
Manufacturing Time	1 month
Installation Time	1 day (+5 days of finishing)
Project Cost	$220,000
Location	Viña del Mar, Chile
Year	2025

A year after the mega-fire in Viña del Mar and with only 26% progress in the reconstruction work in the area, the ELEMENTAL office and local authorities began the construction of a prefabricated modular housing project in one of the residential neighborhoods most affected by the catastrophe. It is a medium-density residential building with a modular metal structure that aims to serve as a starting point for other similar modular projects, in response to what is now considered one of the most catastrophic events in the recent history of Chile. The objective, declared by both Alejandro Aravena and the mayor of the city, Macarena Ripamonti, is that the technology and management model behind this prefabricated housing project serve as a precedent to deliver rapid and definitive modular housing solutions in emergency scenarios.