Adobu and Koto Design collaborated to design a prefabricated backyard home with off-grid capabilities, marrying Scandinavian design with sustainability.

Based in the English seaside village of Westward Ho!, the architecture studio Koto Design captures the mellow vibe of a day spent at the seashore and translates it to the home space. Inspired by Scandinavian simplicity and Japanese minimalism, the result comes through breezy, open floor layouts and organic building materials.

Designer: Koto Design x Adobu

The architecture studio is known for its extensive catalog of sustainable, prefabricated tiny homes that can be transported to locations across the globe. In a recent collaboration with the USA-based, backyard home-building company Adobu, the two studios worked together to construct a tiny, prefabricated home that marries Scandinavian design with a Californian twist.

From the outside, the backyard cabin appears like one of Koto Design’s signature tiny homes, topped off with a slightly torqued roof. While its original look maintains an elemental, wooden look without any paint, buyers can choose from an array of different finishes. The organic facades merge with large, floor-to-ceiling windows that are meant to embrace a semi-outdoor lifestyle, a common touch in Californian architecture.

Inside, the large windows work to keep the interior living spaces airy and bright, like a day spent seaside. Integrated storage compartments line the perimeter of the interior rooms to maintain the flexibility that an open-floor layout provides. Additionally, built-in furniture, like a window bench in the dining area, creates space for guests and residents to relax without introducing more furniture pieces to crowd the floor.

Koto Design is committed to delivering sustainable, prefabricated homes that don’t compromise on comfort. Each tiny home built with Adobu takes around four months to finish offsite construction, while the onsite assembly is completed in some weeks. In collaboration with Adobu, the two studios can now offer carbon-neutral homes in the USA that have a 60+ year lifespan, on and off-grid capabilities, and are built to full housing standards.

Once the tiny home finishes offsite construction, Adobu can assemble the tiny home onsite in a matter of weeks. 

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