Inspired by chameleons, the house sits in the middle of a meadow with each of its minimalist rooms oriented towards different areas of the garden. The skin of the house was covered in a semi-glossy coat that reflects the colors of its surroundings like an amphibian. The living room faces the apple tree, the master bedroom looks onto a cherry tree, the bathroom is orie...
Casa Trasanquelos comprizes two slightly shifted tubular volumes stacked on the other in order to maximize views of the surrounding landscape. This private residence was awarded the 2015 Bronze Award of Merit by the New York Council of The Society of American Registered Architects (SARA).The house almost disappears into the hill and creates several distinct spaces that f...
Commissioned by the Japanese real estate company Able, the award-winning concept features twelve different "bars" or walls that can be configured in multiple combinations to either save or occupy space. The twelve bars include a kitchen bar, a sleeping bar and a living bar that together create a customizable space that changes with the occupants’ daily needs. Furnitur...
Designed by stekke + fraas, the complex embraces diversity, and seeks to bring together residents of varying ages, social standing and occupation. Through shared spaces and amenities, Brutopia seeks to encourage enriched social experiences and connections in the thick of an urban landscape. Brutopia’s footprint is made up of two buildings, set around a large community...
They decided they needed some extra space, which they got with the help of Swedish prefab cabin builder Kenjo, who designed and built a small floating room out on the lake. The modern cabin is a simple design and is built from locally-sourced spruce and provides the perfect spot for lounging, playing on the lake and even an extra guest room. Solar panels on the roof prov...
This colorful residence, dubbed Mancave, is a sophisticated retreat in Sydney that perfectly unites privacy and open living. The 1060-square-meter warehouse, which once functioned as a food manufacturing factory, was altered to house a large living room, four bedrooms, kitchen, music room, and a large terrace and swimming pool. The most exciting addition is the sleepi...
The pair took to rebuilding it from scratch and what resulted was a new space (organized around their heirloom sectional couch) that includes a queen bed, space for 10 person dinner parties, and a built-in video projector. The project became a prototype for Bryn’s later work designing efficient laneway houses.
Located on a plot previously occupied by a derelict garage, the semi-detached properties were designed to blend in with the area's visual style. Clad in vertical cedar planks that will turn silver and age over time, the 'floating' paired homes are a testament to contemporary design that also integrates with the local architecture. The twin wooden cedar homes have narr...
The stone-walled mountain home in Mexico has large glass doors that pivot from the walls and open up towards the surrounding landscape, blending in and out, new and old. The house sits at the foot of Tepozteco mountain in Mexico, considered sacred by the villagers and visitors of the El Tepozteco national park. The architects chose volcanic stone for the walls of the ...
Built in a flood-prone area in Byron Bay, Australia, the handsome home is raised off the ground to avoid flooding. The airy home makes use of passive solar design principles, natural ventilation, and open-plan layouts for a comfortable subtropical lifestyle that embraces the outdoors and temperate climate. The sculptural Northern Rivers Beach House reinterprets tradit...
The Jewel Box Villa uses both passive and active energy sources, with a particular focus on solar and geothermal. It meets all local energy and eco-certification standards and acts as a sort of constructed landscape, reflecting its urban and natural surroundings and the client's experiences while living in Asia. Read more: Jewel Box Villa takes energy-efficient green...
South Africa-based architect Clara da Cruz Almeida collaborated with local design firm Dokter+Misses to create the modular nano-home, which is powered by solar energy and can be customized off-site to the client’s specifications. The minimal and charming mobile pod ships flat-pack and assembles onsite in a snap. If the POD-Idlala looks familiar, it’s likely you’ve see...
Designed and built by French architecture firm Atelier Koe, this home is so green that it emerges from the earth as an extension of it, rather than something imposed upon it. Constructed from clay harvested from the building site and powered entirely by solar and wind energy, the Khamsa house is a marvelous example of what happens when ancient building techniques are pai...
Despite its compact and portable size, the energy-efficient tiny home feels spacious, comes with a whole range of full-sized appliances, and can even sleep up to six. If the Escape Traveler looks familiar, it’s because the tiny mobile home came from the same minds—Kelly Davis and Dan George Dobrowolski—that created the Escape Cabin. Like its eco-friendly predecessor, ...
The vegetated semicylindrical shell acts as thermal insulation and glides gently to shelter the space while the rim surrounding the wooden shelf transforms into a big bench. The Wave Home has two floors. On the ground level the living room, kitchen and multimedia space open up towards the exterior by sliding walls. The upper level houses two bedrooms and a bathroom th...
The house, built using locally sourced materials and rock carved from a nearby quarry, boasts fantastic views of the ocean and combines different materials, creating a warm atmosphere perfect for honeymooners. The building includes only three rooms: a lobby, living room, small kitchen and a bathroom. It is self-sustainable since it harvests and filters on-site water, ...
Designed by Christopher Simmonds Architect, the timber-clad cottage embraces the outdoors with large floor-to-ceiling glazing and a cantilevered living room that overlooks lakeside views. The home is partially buried into the stony Canadian Shield and is located in the Val-des-Monts district north of Ottawa. The top-heavy retreat is split into two main volumes: the sm...
Meandering balconies flow around the main building volume, creating a wide variety of individual residential units, each with a uniquely-shaped outdoor space. The architects fought against the typical apartment complex layout with rows of identical spaces by creating a U-shape, with a central community "living room" in the center. With a floor area ratio of only 5.0 t...
Responding to this, Doug Sharp of BSB Design conceived the tiny Abod Shelter - a sustainable, lightweight home for slum dwellers that can be built by their owners in just one day. Originally from Des Moines, Iowa, Doug amassed a team of designers to help him with his latest philanthropy project – lightweight shelters that can be easily shipped and erected anywhere in ...
The transforming has a master bedroom that can be lowered down over a sunken living room area, while counters and dining tables fold up and to the side in the kitchen. The great thing about YO!Home is that the rooms can be reconfigured using sliding partitions which provide all the amenities of an average house squeezed into one space without generating clutter. This ...
Dubbed the Solcer House, the residence can produce more electricity than its occupants can use. Designed by Cardiff University’s Phil Jones and his team, the incredible three bedroom home hones enough energy from the sun to meet electrical needs of its residents and then some. Ready for the bad news? The house was revealed just in time for the British government to scrap...
While that might seem claustrophobic to some, Hanczar has managed to squeeze the bare essentials into his Wroclaw home, and still keep it light and airy. Hit the jump to see what Hanczar decided was indispensable (string hammock: check!), and what he felt he could do without in order to make this small space work. First the obvious: this tiny space is for single living ...
The designers updated the structure of Villa Le Trident by removing several interior walls to create a fluid transition between different areas. They also refurbished the swimming pool and main stairwell and introduced a variety of materials that compliment the architectural configuration of the house. The villa was originally built for a the architect, Barry Dierks, ...
When the owners of an aged Victorian-era home decided it was time to renovate, the innovative Australian architects saw the potential of moving the home's boundaries to create an ultra-luminous open floor plan. With just a little creativity and much strategic building technique, the Turnaround House now has a beautiful sunny, north-facing courtyard that extends from the ...
While the city of Venice, Italy celebrates its history by preserving and utilizing its canals, citizens have been forced to address some of the consequences of these famous water features: flooding caused by rising tides and sea levels. Act_Romegialli have taken on this challenge, titled the San Giobbe +160 project, by remodeling a workshop-turned-residence on Fondament...
Danish architecture firm EFFEKT rose to that challenge with their design of the Villa ONE, an affordable prefab house that can easily add bedrooms as the family grows bigger. Built on the outskirts of Copenhagen, the minimalist timber-clad structure was created to both match the cost and surpass the quality of Denmark’s cheapest kit homes. The architects designed the ...
The new building, which features a low-cost Eucalyptus screen that shields the interior from the scorching sun, is designed to accommodate and provide community spaces for doctors and nurses working nearby in the Rwinkwavu Hospital. The new building is expected to make work easier for the hospital staff by providing accommodation in the vicinity of the hospital. The c...
Named after the whaling ship in the 1851 novel ‘Moby-Dick,’ the timber-clad Pequod evokes a ship at sea with its porthole windows, wavy metal roof, and blue-painted base. Built for a family of four that sought “the best of the best,” this tiny house was commissioned without the typically constraining low budget. The result is a beautiful and meticulous design that pulls ...
Designed by Seoul firm Design Band YOAP, the timber-framed structure serves as the new home for the clients as well as a guesthouse for travelers and their dogs. The clients’ site is located on a hillside above the town of Sowon-myeon Padori in Chungcheongnam Province. The architects mitigated the slope by dividing the building onto two different levels built atop sto...
Spahaus and Trihaus provide the rustic atmosphere of a traditional log cabin, yet appeal to homeowners sensitive to design Both projects draw on the design principles of Loukas Yiacouvakis and Marie-Claude Hamelin, who started their business in the area nearly 20 years ago and promoted the idea of democratic design that everyone can enjoy. This notion of affordable de...
Made up of six 3D-printed modules, the house was assembled like LEGO bricks before a live audience who were then invited to explore the interior. The modular fireproof home can withstand a magnitude-9 earthquake and is made from a special construction material the company is keeping secret. The company completed approximately 90 percent of the construction in an off-s...
This LEED platinum-certified development, designed by William McDonough + Partners, is a small organic farm and residence dedicated to restoring native ecology of meadow grasses and coastal live oaks. Celebrating California’s natural hues and textures, different parts of the house echo the site’s local landscapes. Its rolling zinc roofs echo waves and wind patterns co...
Stationed in rural New Hampshire, the 160-square-foot mobile house can be rented for as little as $99 a night and is equipped with a composting toilet, solar electricity, and propane heat. Created to help grow the Tiny House movement, Getaway is the first project launched by the Millennial Housing Lab, a Harvard Innovation Lab project founded by Harvard MBA student Jo...
Located within a context of more traditional buildings, this modern holiday home adopts an unmistakably contemporary design approach, simultaneously incorporating key elements of the local vernacular. The request for a balance between old and new was a central part of the client's brief and the architects responded accordingly. The property's overall forms are clean ...
'It's dynamic by the water and there's the convenience of living and working in the same place,' explains Paul Williams, founding director of Stanton Williams, the Islington-based architects behind the neighbourhood's latest residential development. 'The combination of a vibrant community, great apartments, wonderful social spaces and gardens, and generous views is hard ...
Set within an aspect that combines the links golf course, a gravel road leading up to the property and the area's rugged coastline, the development is a peaceful retreat, built to house the clients' busy family life. The design was conceived to reflect the calmness and beauty of the location. The project's geometry is simple. A rectilinear plan contains the house's ke...
