Penelope Collins and Huw Turner gleaned much of their prefab knowledge from time spent working for Sir Norman Foster’s architectural office in London. Their projects there included the new European headquarters for Commerzbank, the Reichstag renovation, and the new European headquarters for U.S. computer-game company Electronic Arts.

For the Bombala Farmhouse, their first independent project, the pair designed a high-quality prefab retreat for a family in New South Wales, Australia. Completed in 1998, the resulting pared-down form has become a prototype for future Collins and Turner projects. A set of kit houses based on the Farmhouse is slated for limited production by an American developer and will hit online shelves in 2004.

For the Dwell Home, the firm presented an elegant steel-frame volume clad in a translucent/transparent ventilated-cavity system, enveloped by a mesh veil that provides sun shading, insect screening, and sculptural bracing. This inventive ventilated-cavity façade is made of multi-cell polycarbonate combined with clear, double-glazed vision panels. Utilizing the “stack effect,” it tempers the internal environment, minimizing energy consumption.