// ARTICLE BEYOND THE BOX:


how modular design is inspiring a new architectural aesthetic


For years, modular and offsite construction have been pigeonholed as the plain, practical cousin of traditional building. Efficient? Yes. Sustainable? Certainly. But beautiful? Rarely. For too long, modular buildings have been typecast as uninspired boxes — functional yet soulless, more associated with temporary classrooms and budget hotels than with cutting-edge architecture.


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et something remarkable is happening. Across the UK and beyond, a new generation of architects and designers are tearing up the rulebook, using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) not just to solve logistical or financial challenges, but to redefine what good design looks like in the twenty-first century. The result is a quiet but profound shiſt — one that may change how we perceive modular construction altogether.


The aesthetic bias


The assumption that modular design equals blandness runs deep. Many early modular schemes prioritised rapid deployment and cost efficiency over creativity. Post-war prefab housing, though vital in rebuilding Britain, leſt behind a lingering association between modularity and impermanence. Even today, some planners and local authorities remain wary of “factory-built” housing, fearing uniformity or visual monotony.


But this perception is increasingly at odds with reality. The technology underpinning MMC has matured dramatically, and with it, so has design freedom. Advances in digital modelling, precision manufacturing, and material engineering now give architects far more control over form and finish than ever before. Rather than limiting creativity, modular construction is becoming an enabler of it.


Form follows fabrication


Traditionally, the phrase “form follows function” defined modernist architecture. In modular construction, perhaps the new mantra should be “form follows fabrication.” Designers are learning


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to embrace the logic of the factory — celebrating repetition, precision, and process as aesthetic virtues in their own right.


Take Urban Splash’s award-winning House by Urban Splash developments, for example. Working with architects such as shedkm, the company has created elegant, modular homes that offer customisable layouts and façades while maintaining design consistency across entire neighbourhoods. These schemes don’t disguise their modular origins — they express them proudly, using rhythm and geometry to create visual harmony.


Similarly, HTA Design’s George Street towers in Croydon, the world’s tallest modular residential buildings, demonstrate that volumetric construction can achieve both scale and sophistication. The twin towers’ distinctive façade patterning and varied tones lend them an identity that’s anything but boxy.


Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) as a creative tool


What distinguishes today’s modular design revolution is that it doesn’t just happen in spite of the manufacturing process — it happens because of it.


Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA), once seen as a purely technical discipline, is now being reinterpreted as an artistic framework. It encourages architects to think about how components come together, how repetition can generate rhythm, and how modular logic can be aesthetically expressed.


Consider the use of repeating panel systems or volumetric grids. When handled thoughtfully, these are not constraints but opportunities — a language through which texture, shadow and proportion can be explored. Architects are finding beauty in precision and poetry in process.


Moreover, because every detail is modelled digitally long before construction begins, DfMA enables an unprecedented level of design control. Materials, colours, and finishes can be tested virtually and adjusted in real time, ensuring design integrity from concept to completion. The end product is not a compromise; it’s a craſted object — a building that has been “tuned” in the same way a musical instrument is.


Beyond the aesthetic: social and environmental beauty


Of course, beauty isn’t just about how a building looks. It’s also about how it performs and how it makes people feel. In this sense, MMC has a strong claim to a new kind of aesthetic — one rooted in ethics as much as appearance.


A modular building’s beauty lies in its efficiency: less waste, fewer vehicle movements, and minimal disruption to neighbours. It lies in its ability to deliver high-quality homes quickly, addressing urgent housing needs without compromising standards. And it lies in the precision with which materials are used, reducing embodied carbon and ensuring long-term performance.


In a time of environmental crisis, this alignment between form, function, and sustainability carries its own aesthetic power. As the philosopher Alain de Botton wrote in The Architecture of


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