Northwest Woods was conceived as a place to step away from the pace of city life. For a Brooklyn-based couple balancing demanding careers with a growing family, the vision was a summer retreat where they could work remotely, their children could spend more time outdoors, and extended family visiting from abroad could comfortably gather. The clients also brought a pragmatic perspective to how the house should be built, embracing RESOLUTION: 4 ARCHITECTURE’s MODERN MODULAR methodology as a means of delivering a highly customized residence with greater efficiency and predictability in the high-cost, seasonal construction market of the Hamptons.
The 6,400-square-foot residence translates that brief into an L-shaped plan that screens the shared driveway and neighboring properties while orienting daily life toward the pool and surrounding woods. A sheltered entry porch creates a clear threshold between arrival and retreat, opening toward a sunlit pool terrace on one side and a light-filled interior on the other. Throughout the house, carefully positioned windows, long views, and fluid circulation establish a continuous relationship with the landscape. The surrounding woods become the visual boundary of the living spaces, reinforcing a sense of openness and seclusion despite the proximity of neighboring homes.
Building on decades of experience, RES4’s MODERN MODULAR is a systematic design methodology that leverages existing prefabrication methods to create custom homes tailored to each client and site. The dimensional, structural, transportation, and production parameters of factory fabrication are incorporated from the outset, allowing the architecture and delivery strategy to develop together. At Northwest Woods, ten prefabricated modules establish the framework for interconnected indoor and outdoor spaces tailored to the site and the way the family lives.
Individual modules are limited to approximately 16 feet in width, while transportation requirements generally establish nine-foot interior ceiling heights. Years of working within these parameters have informed how RES4 uses proportion, window placement, circulation, and connections to the outdoors to make spaces feel generous beyond their physical dimensions. In the principal living area, full-height glass and direct connections to the covered deck, pool terrace, and surrounding woods extend the spatial experience beyond the room itself. Throughout the house, daylight and long views animate circulation, while the plan avoids visual and literal dead ends, allowing movement between spaces to feel natural and effortless.
Architecture, structure, building systems, and fabrication are coordinated as one process. RES4 works closely with the modular manufacturer to refine and coordinate the execution of custom materials and details, while select elements better suited to specialized on-site craftsmanship—including both stairs and the walnut slatting—are completed on site. Mechanical systems are considered from schematic design onward: small-duct high-velocity distribution fits within the open-web modular framing to preserve ceiling heights, while a factory-friendly insulation assembly combines spray foam and batt insulation to create a high-performance envelope. Rooftop photovoltaics power high-efficiency electric heat pumps, reducing operational energy demand, while energy recovery ventilation supports indoor air quality within the tightly sealed home. The residence achieved a HERS Index of 25, approximately 45% better than an energy-efficient new home.
The ten modules were fabricated in Pennsylvania in approximately eight weeks, concurrent with foundation and site work in East Hampton. Arriving substantially complete on the interior, with cabinetry, fixtures, and building systems already installed, the modules were set on site in two days. Shifting this work to a controlled factory environment reduces exposure to weather and the coordination pressures of conventional site construction, while relocating much of the labor and purchasing outside the highly seasonal, high-cost Hamptons construction market. In a place where missing a summer occupancy season can itself carry substantial costs, that predictability becomes particularly meaningful.
Northwest Woods reflects the continued refinement of a design methodology developed over decades, using an increasingly deep understanding of modular construction to shape the proportions, spatial relationships, technical coordination, and detailing of a custom home. The result is architecture that feels open and effortless yet private, with the landscape continually extending the experience of space beyond the house itself.
