diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dc5f97d3..c8b11192 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 # Change Log
 
+## 4.0-alpha1
+
+The goal of this release is to remove some of the templating functionality that makes `planaitrnet/the-build` and `palantirnet/drupal-skeleton` harder to use and maintain.
+
+* Removed gitignore template
+* Removed settings.php templating
+* Changed how host-specific settings files are managed
+
+`palantirnet/drupal-skeleton` now contains the `settings.php` scaffolding for Drupal.
+
+The plan is to remove more templating/wrapping before releasing 4.0.
+
 ## 3.0.3 - November 25, 2020
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a2f7dd19..1672e826 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ $> vendor/bin/the-build-installer
 This will trigger an interactive prompt to configure your basic build properties, adding the following templated files and directories:
 
 * `.circleci/`
-* `.gitignore`
 * `.the-build/`
 * `behat.yml`
 * `build.xml`
diff --git a/defaults.yml b/defaults.yml
index 4454f580..79c45968 100644
--- a/defaults.yml
+++ b/defaults.yml
@@ -14,13 +14,14 @@
 build:
   # The destination host, either 'acquia', 'pantheon', 'platformsh', or 'other'. This is
   # currently only used when setting up the settings.php file for a Drupal site.
-  host: other
+  host: acquia
 
 # Drupal configuration used by targets/drupal.xml
 drupal:
   # Relative path to the Drupal web root. This is co-dependent with the composer installer
   # configuration in your `composer.json`. Use caution when changing this value.
-  root: web
+  # **This is a required value but must be set in a project's own build.yml file**
+  #root: web
 
   # Comma-separated list of directories that should be present for Drupal development.
   create_dirs: "${drupal.root}/modules/custom,${drupal.root}/themes/custom,${drupal.root}/profiles/custom,config/config_split/development,config/config_split/staging,config/config_split/production"
@@ -52,8 +53,9 @@ drupal:
       dir: default
 
       # REQUIRED: Your site's URI; the default should be the URI of your local
-      # development environment.
-      uri: "https://${projectname}.local"
+      # development environment. This must be present in your
+      # .the-build/build.yml file.
+#      uri: "https://${projectname}.ddev.site"
 
       # Customizing the following values is OPTIONAL. If these values are not
       # explicitly configured, they will be set in the-build.xml based on the
@@ -109,9 +111,9 @@ drupal:
       database:
         # This value is required, but a default is set in the-build.xml.
         # database: drupal
-        username: root
-        password: root
-        host: 127.0.0.1
+        username: db
+        password: db
+        host: db
 
       # Configuration used by the default 'build' target.
       build:
@@ -240,7 +242,7 @@ phpcs:
   # use the extensions option (below). This option should not be used with Coder >= 8.3.7, which only
   # checks php, inc, css, and js by default.
   ignore: "*.md"
-  
+
   # Comma-separated list of extensions to check in the PHP_CodeSniffer review.
   extensions: "php,module,inc,install,test,profile,theme,css,info,txt,yml,js"
 
diff --git a/defaults/install/build.xml b/defaults/install/build.xml
index 653311a5..209c358c 100644
--- a/defaults/install/build.xml
+++ b/defaults/install/build.xml
@@ -43,21 +43,6 @@
         <mkdir dir="${drupal.root}/${drupal.site.settings.file_private_path}" />
         <chmod file="${drupal.root}/${drupal.site.settings.file_private_path}" mode="640" />
 
-        <!-- Copy the settings.build.php and services.build.php templates into place. -->
-        <copy todir="${build.dir}" overwrite="true" mode="544">
-            <!-- Copy the template files -->
-            <filelist dir="${build.dir}" files="${drupal.site.build.settings_template},${drupal.site.build.services_template}" />
-            <!-- Map templates to their destinations -->
-            <mapper type="firstmatch">
-                <mapper type="glob" from="${drupal.site.build.settings_template}" to="${drupal.site.build.settings_dest}" />
-                <mapper type="glob" from="${drupal.site.build.services_template}" to="${drupal.site.build.services_dest}" />
-            </mapper>
-            <!-- Substitute property values -->
-            <filterchain>
-                <expandproperties />
-            </filterchain>
-        </copy>
-
         <!-- Include styleguide resources in the theme. This approach will symlink
              resources in development environments, and copy them for artifact builds. -->
         <!-- <includeresource source="styleguide/source/assets/css" dest="${drupal.root}/themes/custom/example_theme/css" /> -->
@@ -175,7 +160,7 @@
 
     <!-- Default target: list -->
     <target name="list" hidden="true">
-        <exec command="phing -q -f ${phing.file} -l" passthru="true"/>
+        <exec command="${phing.home}/bin/phing -q -f ${phing.file} -l" passthru="true"/>
         <echo>Find more documentation for palantirnet/the-build on GitHub:
 
             https://github.com/palantirnet/the-build#using-the-build</echo>
diff --git a/defaults/install/drupal/services.build.yml b/defaults/install/drupal/services.build.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index d5954144..00000000
--- a/defaults/install/drupal/services.build.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-# See sites/default/default.services.yml for details.
-parameters:
-  twig.config:
-    debug: ${drupal.twig.debug}
-    auto_reload: null
-    cache: true
diff --git a/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-acquia.php b/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-acquia.php
deleted file mode 100644
index 311b60a1..00000000
--- a/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-acquia.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-/**
- * @file
- * Drupal settings file template for use on Acquia environments.
- */
-
-$settings['trusted_host_patterns'][] = "^{$_ENV['AH_SITE_ENVIRONMENT']}dev.prod.acquia-sites.com";
-$settings['trusted_host_patterns'][] = "^{$_ENV['AH_SITE_ENVIRONMENT']}stg.prod.acquia-sites.com";
-
-$settings['file_public_path'] = '${drupal.site.settings.file_public_path}';
-$settings['file_private_path'] = "/mnt/gfs/{$_ENV['AH_SITE_GROUP']}.{$_ENV['AH_SITE_ENVIRONMENT']}/files-private";
-$settings['file_temp_path'] = $_ENV['TEMP'];
-
-$settings['config_sync_directory'] = '${drupal.site.config_sync_directory}';
-
-// Enable/disable config_split configurations.
-if (isset($_ENV['AH_PRODUCTION']) && $_ENV['AH_PRODUCTION']) {
-  $config['config_split.config_split.production']['status'] = TRUE;
-}
-elseif (isset($_ENV['AH_NON_PRODUCTION']) && $_ENV['AH_NON_PRODUCTION']) {
-  $config['config_split.config_split.staging']['status'] = TRUE;
-}
-
-//// Add an htaccess prompt on dev and staging environments.
-//// @see https://docs.acquia.com/acquia-cloud/arch/security/nonprod/#cloud-set-basicauth
-
-// Make sure Drush keeps working.
-// Modified from function drush_verify_cli()
-$cli = (php_sapi_name() == 'cli');
-
-// PASSWORD-PROTECT NON-PRODUCTION SITES (i.e. staging/dev)
-if (!$cli && (isset($_ENV['AH_NON_PRODUCTION']) && $_ENV['AH_NON_PRODUCTION'])) {
-  $username = 'palantir';
-  $password = 'some mediocre password';
-  if (!(isset($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER']) && ($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER']==$username && $_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW']==$password))) {
-    header('WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="This site is protected"');
-    header('HTTP/1.0 401 Unauthorized');
-    // Fallback message when the user presses cancel / escape
-    echo 'Access denied';
-    exit;
-  }
-}
diff --git a/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-pantheon.php b/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-pantheon.php
deleted file mode 100644
index 0639ce7a..00000000
--- a/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-pantheon.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-/**
- * @file
- * Drupal settings file template for use on Pantheon environments.
- */
-
-$settings['config_sync_directory'] = '${drupal.site.config_sync_directory}';
-
-// Enable/disable config_split configurations.
-if (isset($_ENV['PANTHEON_ENVIRONMENT'])) {
-  if ($_ENV['PANTHEON_ENVIRONMENT'] == 'live') {
-    $config['config_split.config_split.production']['status'] = TRUE;
-  }
-  else {
-    $config['config_split.config_split.staging']['status'] = TRUE;
-  }
-}
diff --git a/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-platformsh.php b/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-platformsh.php
deleted file mode 100644
index ba04580e..00000000
--- a/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-platformsh.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-/**
- * @file
- * Drupal settings file template for use on Platform.sh environments.
- */
-
-$settings['config_sync_directory'] = '${drupal.site.config_sync_directory}';
-
-// Use the temporary directory set up in .platform.app.yaml
-$settings['file_temp_path'] = '/tmp';
-
-// Enable/disable config_split configurations.
-if (isset($_ENV['PLATFORM_BRANCH'])) {
-  if ($_ENV['PLATFORM_BRANCH'] == 'master') {
-    $config['config_split.config_split.production']['status'] = TRUE;
-  }
-  else {
-    $config['config_split.config_split.staging']['status'] = TRUE;
-  }
-}
diff --git a/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build.php b/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build.php
deleted file mode 100644
index 5287f758..00000000
--- a/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-/**
- * @file Drupal settings file template for use on development environments.
- */
-
-$databases['default']['default'] = array(
-  'driver' => 'mysql',
-  'database' => '${drupal.site.database.database}',
-  'username' => '${drupal.site.database.username}',
-  'password' => '${drupal.site.database.password}',
-  'host' => '${drupal.site.database.host}',
-  'prefix' => '',
-  'collation' => 'utf8mb4_general_ci',
-);
-
-$settings['config_sync_directory'] = '${drupal.site.config_sync_directory}';
-
-$settings['hash_salt'] = '${drupal.site.hash_salt}';
-$settings['container_yamls'][] = DRUPAL_ROOT . '/sites/development.services.yml';
-$settings['container_yamls'][] = __DIR__ . '/services.build.yml';
-
-$settings['file_public_path'] = '${drupal.site.settings.file_public_path}';
-$settings['file_private_path'] = '${drupal.site.settings.file_private_path}';
-
-// Use the standard temporary directory on the development environment (update if the
-// project's development environment is configured differently).
-$settings['file_temp_path'] = '/tmp';
-
-// Enable/disable config_split configurations. To simulate other config split
-// environments, change "development" to either "staging" or "production", then run:
-//   drush cr && drush cim -y
-$config['config_split.config_split.development']['status'] = TRUE;
-
-// Disable the render cache.
-$settings['cache']['bins']['render'] = 'cache.backend.null';
-
-// Disable the dynamic page cache.
-$settings['cache']['bins']['dynamic_page_cache'] = 'cache.backend.null';
-
-// Disable CSS and JS aggregation.
-$config['system.performance']['css']['preprocess'] = FALSE;
-$config['system.performance']['js']['preprocess'] = FALSE;
-
-// Don't chmod the sites subdirectory.
-$settings['skip_permissions_hardening'] = TRUE;
-
-// Turn errors up.
-$config['system.logging']['error_level'] = 'verbose';
diff --git a/defaults/install/gitignore b/defaults/install/gitignore
deleted file mode 100644
index a731a2a0..00000000
--- a/defaults/install/gitignore
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-# This file should contain only rules that are specific to this project. For
-# ignoring OS and IDE metadata files, please configure a global gitignore on
-# your local machine.
-# @see https://github.com/sb2nov/mac-setup/blob/master/Git/gitignore.md
-
-# Include Drupal settings files
-!/${drupal.root}/sites/*/settings.php
-!/${drupal.root}/sites/*/services.yml
-
-# Ignore local and generated settings files
-/${drupal.root}/sites/*/settings.local.php
-/${drupal.root}/sites/*/settings.build.php
-/${drupal.root}/sites/*/services.build.yml
-
-# Ignore theme assets copied from the styleguide
-/${drupal.root}/themes/custom/*/css/
-/${drupal.root}/themes/custom/*/js/
-/${drupal.root}/themes/custom/*/svg/
-/${drupal.root}/themes/custom/*/imgs/
-
-# Ignore Drupal files
-/${drupal.root}/sites/*/files/
-
-# Ignore Drupal contrib downloaded by Composer
-/drush/contrib/
-/${drupal.root}/core/
-/${drupal.root}/modules/contrib/
-/${drupal.root}/themes/contrib/
-/${drupal.root}/profiles/contrib/
-
-# Ignore regular Composer dependencies
-/vendor/
-
-# Ignore virtual environment and artifacts
-.vagrant/
-/artifacts/
diff --git a/defaults/install/pantheon.yml b/defaults/install/pantheon.yml
index a3cad717..d20d944c 100644
--- a/defaults/install/pantheon.yml
+++ b/defaults/install/pantheon.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Pantheon configuration file
 api_version: 1
 web_docroot: true
-php_version: 7.2
+php_version: 7.4
 drush_version: 8
diff --git a/defaults/install/the-build/build.acquia.yml b/defaults/install/the-build/build.acquia.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 4fcfa84d..00000000
--- a/defaults/install/the-build/build.acquia.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-# @file
-# Configuration properties specific to the Acquia deployment.
-drupal:
-  twig:
-    debug: false
-  sites:
-    default:
-      build:
-        settings_template: .the-build/drupal/settings.build-acquia.php
-        services_dest: artifacts/dev/null
diff --git a/defaults/install/the-build/build.pantheon.yml b/defaults/install/the-build/build.pantheon.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 1729d3f6..00000000
--- a/defaults/install/the-build/build.pantheon.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-# @file
-# Configuration properties specific to the Pantheon deployment.
-drupal:
-  twig:
-    debug: false
-  sites:
-    default:
-      build:
-        settings_template: .the-build/drupal/settings.build-pantheon.php
-        services_dest: artifacts/dev/null
diff --git a/defaults/install/the-build/build.platformsh.yml b/defaults/install/the-build/build.platformsh.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index b7f10aef..00000000
--- a/defaults/install/the-build/build.platformsh.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-# @file
-# Configuration properties specific to the Platform.sh deployment.
-drupal:
-  twig:
-    debug: false
-  sites:
-    default:
-      build:
-        settings_template: .the-build/drupal/settings.build-platformsh.php
-        services_dest: artifacts/dev/null
diff --git a/defaults/install/the-build/build.yml b/defaults/install/the-build/build.yml
index e50c19cc..29486bb0 100644
--- a/defaults/install/the-build/build.yml
+++ b/defaults/install/the-build/build.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 # found in the-build's repository.
 # @see https://github.com/palantirnet/the-build/blob/release-2.0/defaults.yml
 
+projectname: ${projectname}
+
 # These properties are used when building the settings.php and settings.yml for your
 # Drupal site, and by some of the targets in the default build.xml file.
 # @see .the-build/drupal/services.build.yml
diff --git a/targets/install.xml b/targets/install.xml
index 578b9d44..3796640e 100644
--- a/targets/install.xml
+++ b/targets/install.xml
@@ -28,14 +28,28 @@
              -->
         <echo message="Configure the default environment..." />
 
+        <!-- Use existing configuration first (e.g. reinstalling the-build) -->
+        <if>
+            <available file="${application.startdir}/.the-build/build.yml" />
+            <then>
+                <property file="${application.startdir}/.the-build/build.yml" prefix="default" />
+            </then>
+        </if>
+        <!-- ... then load the defaults. -->
         <property file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults.yml" prefix="default" />
         <mkdir dir="${application.startdir}/.the-build" />
 
         <!-- Generate a hash salt for Drupal. -->
         <php expression="hash('sha256', print_r($_SERVER, TRUE))" returnProperty="hash_salt" />
-        <property name="drupal.sites.default.hash_salt" value="${hash_salt}" override="true" />
+        <mkdir dir="${application.startdir}/config" />
+        <echo message="${hash_salt}" file="${application.startdir}/config/salt.txt" />
+
+        <!-- Prompt for the site name. -->
+        <propertyprompt propertyName="projectname.new" defaultValue="${projectname}" promptText="Machine name for this project" promptCharacter=":" />
+        <property name="projectname" value="${projectname.new}" override="true" />
 
         <!-- Prompt for the Drupal URI. -->
+        <property name="default.drupal.sites.default.uri" value="https://${projectname}.ddev.site" />
         <propertyprompt propertyName="drupal.sites.default.uri" defaultValue="${default.drupal.sites.default.uri}" promptText="Drupal URI" promptCharacter=":" />
 
         <!-- Prompt for the web host. -->
@@ -48,6 +62,12 @@
             <case value="acquia">
                 <property name="drupal.root" value="docroot" />
             </case>
+            <case value="pantheon">
+              <property name="drupal.root" value="web" />
+            </case>
+            <case value="platformsh">
+              <property name="drupal.root" value="web" />
+            </case>
             <default />
         </switch>
 
@@ -82,38 +102,35 @@
             </filterchain>
         </copy>
 
-        <!-- Move the drupal root, if it's not drupal.root.old -->
-        <available file="${build.dir}/web" type="dir" property="drupal.root.old" value="web" />
-        <available file="${build.dir}/docroot" type="dir" property="drupal.root.old" value="docroot" />
+        <!-- If the drupal.root directory doesn't exist, then we need to move it from the other location (web /
+             docroot). -->
+        <available file="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}" type="dir" property="drupal.root.exists" value="true" />
 
         <if>
-            <not><equals arg1="${drupal.root}" arg2="${drupal.root.old}" /></not>
-            <then>
-                <if>
-                    <and>
-                        <available file="${build.dir}/${drupal.root.old}" type="dir" />
-                        <not><available file="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}" type="dir" /></not>
-                    </and>
-                    <then>
-                        <echo msg="Moving the ${drupal.root.old}/ directory to ${drupal.root}/" />
-                        <exec command="mv ${drupal.root.old} ${drupal.root}" dir="${build.dir}" checkreturn="true" logoutput="true" />
-                    </then>
-                </if>
-
-                <echo msg="Editing your composer.json to install Drupal in ${drupal.root}/" />
-                <reflexive>
-                    <fileset dir="${build.dir}" includes="composer.json" />
-                    <filterchain>
-                        <replaceregexp>
-                            <regexp pattern='"${drupal.root.old}/(core|libraries|modules|profiles|themes)' replace='"${drupal.root}/\1' />
-                            <regexp pattern='"web-root": "${drupal.root.old}/"' replace='"web-root": "${drupal.root}/"' />
-                        </replaceregexp>
-                    </filterchain>
-                </reflexive>
-
-                <echo msg="Updating your composer.lock hash" />
-                <exec command="composer update --lock" dir="${application.startdir}" />
-            </then>
+          <not><equals arg1="${drupal.root.exists}" arg2="1" /></not>
+          <then>
+            <!-- The one that's available is the location we're moving from. -->
+            <available file="${build.dir}/web" type="dir" property="drupal.root.old" value="web" />
+            <available file="${build.dir}/docroot" type="dir" property="drupal.root.old" value="docroot" />
+
+            <echo msg="Moving the ${drupal.root.old}/ directory to ${drupal.root}/" />
+            <exec command="mv ${drupal.root.old} ${drupal.root}" dir="${build.dir}" checkreturn="true" logoutput="true" />
+
+            <echo msg="Editing your composer.json to install Drupal in ${drupal.root}/" />
+            <reflexive>
+              <fileset dir="${build.dir}" includes="composer.json" />
+              <filterchain>
+                <replaceregexp>
+                  <regexp pattern='"${drupal.root.old}/(core|libraries|modules|profiles|themes)' replace='"${drupal.root}/\1' />
+                  <regexp pattern='"web-root": "${drupal.root.old}/"' replace='"web-root": "${drupal.root}/"' />
+                </replaceregexp>
+              </filterchain>
+            </reflexive>
+
+            <echo msg="Updating your composer.lock hash" />
+            <exec command="composer update --lock" dir="${application.startdir}" />
+
+          </then>
         </if>
 
         <!-- Copy templates into place.
@@ -137,34 +154,8 @@
         <!-- Copy the CircleCI properties. -->
         <copy file="${phing.dir.install}/../defaults/install/the-build/build.circleci.yml" tofile="${application.startdir}/.the-build/build.circleci.yml" overwrite="true" />
 
-        <!-- Add host-specific files for settings.php templates, the-build properties, and hosting configuration. -->
-        <switch value="${build.host}">
-            <case value="acquia">
-                <copy file="${phing.dir.install}/../defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-acquia.php" todir="${application.startdir}/.the-build/drupal" overwrite="true" />
-                <copy file="${phing.dir.install}/../defaults/install/the-build/build.acquia.yml" todir="${application.startdir}/.the-build" overwrite="true" />
-            </case>
-
-            <case value="pantheon">
-                <copy file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-pantheon.php" todir="${application.startdir}/.the-build/drupal" overwrite="true" />
-                <copy file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install/the-build/build.pantheon.yml" todir="${application.startdir}/.the-build" overwrite="true" />
-                <copy file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install/pantheon.yml" todir="${application.startdir}" overwrite="true" />
-            </case>
-
-            <case value="platformsh">
-                <copy file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install/drupal/settings.build-platformsh.php" todir="${application.startdir}/.the-build/drupal" overwrite="true" />
-                <copy file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install/the-build/build.platformsh.yml" todir="${application.startdir}/.the-build" overwrite="true" />
-                <copy file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install/.platform.app.yaml" todir="${application.startdir}" overwrite="true" />
-                <copy todir="${application.startdir}/.platform" overwrite="true">
-                    <fileset dir="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install/.platform" />
-                </copy>
-                <httpget url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/platformsh/template-drupal8/master/.environment" dir="${build.dir}/" />
-            </case>
-            <default />
-        </switch>
-
-        <!-- Copy Drupal configuration templates (used by the 'build' target). -->
-        <copy file="${phing.dir.install}/../defaults/install/drupal/services.build.yml" todir="${application.startdir}/.the-build/drupal" />
-        <copy file="${phing.dir.install}/../defaults/install/drupal/settings.build.php" todir="${application.startdir}/.the-build/drupal" />
+        <!-- Add host-specific configuration files. -->
+        <phingcall target="configure-host" />
 
         <!-- Copy Drush configuration and aliases file templates. -->
         <copy file="${phing.dir.install}/../defaults/install/drush/drush.yml" tofile="${application.startdir}/drush/drush.yml" overwrite="true">
@@ -180,17 +171,11 @@
             </filterchain>
         </copy>
 
-        <!-- Configure the .gitignore for our settings.php structure. -->
-        <copy file="${phing.dir.install}/../defaults/install/gitignore" tofile="${application.startdir}/.gitignore" overwrite="true">
-            <filterchain>
-                <expandproperties />
-            </filterchain>
-        </copy>
-
         <!-- Set up the Drupal sites directory. -->
-        <phingcall target="drupal-sites-directory">
-            <property name="drupal.site.dir" value="default" />
-        </phingcall>
+        <property name="drupal.site.dir" value="default" />
+        <mkdir dir="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}" />
+        <chmod mode="750" file="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/default/" />
+        <mkdir dir="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}/files" />
 
         <!-- Run the first build. -->
         <phing dir="${application.startdir}" target="build" inheritAll="false" />
@@ -231,55 +216,43 @@
               $> phing test</echo>
     </target>
 
-
-    <target name="drupal-sites-directory" hidden="true">
-        <fail unless="drupal.site.dir" />
-        <fail unless="build.host" />
-        <fail unless="drupal.root" />
-        <fail unless="build.dir" />
-
-        <!-- Make sure the sites directory exists. This is not necessary for the 'default' site, but is required for creating additional multisites. -->
-        <mkdir dir="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}" />
-
-        <!-- Use our own basic Drupal settings.php file. -->
-        <chmod mode="750" file="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/default/" />
-        <copy file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install_site/drupal/settings.php" tofile="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}/settings.php" overwrite="true">
-            <filterchain>
-                <expandproperties />
-            </filterchain>
+  <target name="configure-host" description="Add host-specific configuration files.">
+    <fail unless="build.host" />
+
+    <switch value="${build.host}">
+      <case value="acquia">
+        <!-- Site-level setup -->
+        <!-- @see https://docs.acquia.com/cloud-platform/performance/memcached/enable/ -->
+        <httpget url="https://docs.acquia.com/_downloads/cloud-memcache-d8+.php" dir="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}" filename="settings.acquia-memcache.php" />
+      </case>
+
+      <case value="pantheon">
+        <!-- Project-level setup -->
+        <copy file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install/pantheon.yml" todir="${application.startdir}" overwrite="true" />
+
+        <!-- Site-level setup -->
+        <httpget url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pantheon-systems/drops-8/default/sites/default/settings.pantheon.php" dir="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}" />
+      </case>
+
+      <case value="platformsh">
+        <!-- Project-level setup -->
+        <copy file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install/.platform.app.yaml" todir="${application.startdir}" overwrite="true" />
+        <copy todir="${application.startdir}/.platform" overwrite="true">
+          <fileset dir="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install/.platform" />
         </copy>
+        <httpget url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/platformsh/template-drupal8/master/.environment" dir="${build.dir}/" />
 
-        <!-- Use the default Drupal services.yml file. -->
-        <copy file="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/default/default.services.yml" tofile="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}/services.yml" overwrite="true">
-            <filterchain>
-                <striplinecomments>
-                    <comment value="#" />
-                </striplinecomments>
-            </filterchain>
-        </copy>
-
-        <!-- Add host-specific settings.php and deployment files. -->
-        <switch value="${build.host}">
-            <case value="acquia">
-                <copy file="${build.thebuild.dir}/defaults/install_site/drupal/settings.acquia.php" todir="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}" />
-            </case>
-
-            <case value="pantheon">
-                <httpget url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pantheon-systems/drops-8/default/sites/default/settings.pantheon.php" dir="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}" />
-            </case>
+        <!-- Site-level setup -->
+        <composer command="require" composer="${composer.composer}">
+          <arg line="--working-dir ${application.startdir}" />
+          <arg value="platformsh/config-reader:^2.1" />
+        </composer>
+        <httpget url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/platformsh/template-drupal8/master/web/sites/default/settings.platformsh.php" dir="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}" />
+      </case>
 
-            <case value="platformsh">
-                <composer command="require" composer="${composer.composer}">
-                    <arg line="--working-dir ${application.startdir}" />
-                    <arg value="platformsh/config-reader:^2.1" />
-                </composer>
-                <httpget url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/platformsh/template-drupal8/master/web/sites/default/settings.platformsh.php" dir="${build.dir}/${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}" />
-            </case>
-            <default />
-        </switch>
-
-        <echo msg="Set up the Drupal sites directory at '${drupal.root}/sites/${drupal.site.dir}/'" />
-    </target>
+      <default />
+    </switch>
 
+  </target>
 
 </project>
diff --git a/targets/the-build.xml b/targets/the-build.xml
index 53e0038f..da0a7e57 100644
--- a/targets/the-build.xml
+++ b/targets/the-build.xml
@@ -34,9 +34,6 @@
     <!-- Alias the build directory to the Phing start directory. -->
     <property name="build.dir" value="${application.startdir}" />
 
-    <!-- Use the project directory name as the project name -->
-    <basename property="projectname" file="${build.dir}" suffix="local" />
-
     <!-- Provide the path to the-build's code for loading templates and defaults -->
     <!-- Phing maps the project name "the-build" to "the_build". -->
     <resolvepath file="${phing.dir.the_build}/../" propertyName="build.thebuild.dir" />
@@ -87,6 +84,8 @@
         </then>
     </if>
 
+    <!-- Use the project directory name as the project name, if it's not configured. -->
+    <basename property="projectname" file="${build.dir}" suffix="local" />
 
     <!-- Configure the 'drush' Phing task. -->
     <property name="drush.bin" value="${build.dir}/vendor/bin/drush" />