As part of a big data experiment, Hemnet analyzed over 200 million clicks on the most popular houses on their site. After crunching the numbers and boiling down trends, Hemnet tasked architecture firm Tham & Videgård to transform that data into the Hemnet House, Sweden’s statistically “most sought after home.” The Hemnet House is an innovative example of data-driven d...
Built in the bucolic landscape of Radovljica, Slovenia, the Simple House was designed by scapelab as a modern take on the archetypal Slovenian farmhouse. The home was constructed with a prefab timber frame and topped with solar panels to lower its environmental footprint and maintenance costs. Scapelab clad the Simple House’s basic pitched-roof volume with a contempor...
The tiny building is elevated from the ground, sitting on wooden columns, and was conceived and built by Nozomi Nakabayashi, who recently graduated from the AA's Hooke Park architecture school in Dorset, in in South West England. The home was built using a mix of materials such cork, locally-sourced Western Red Cedar timber for cladding and reclaimed materials for the...
La Casa project, located in Washington, DC, provides permanent housing and supportive services for 40 men, and it's design and social impact have been recognized by the The American Institute of Architects (AIA). Instead of functioning as a temporary shelter, La Casa offers permanent accommodations to the homeless. This model helps the tenants successfully adopt a lif...
Designed by Michaelis Boyd and Nick Plewman, the recently reopened Sandibe Okavango simultaneously blends in with the landscape and stands out from local architectural typology with its curvaceous timber-clad form. The striking and sculptural 24-bed lodge overlooks the banks of the Sandibe River, a waterway rich with the sounds and sights of animals ranging from frogs to...
The new structure, designed by Aslak Haanshuus Arkitekter, connects the three volumes into an airy, daylit retreat and creates a rustic living space worthy of a modern day Viking. The owner wanted to preserve parts of the three existing cabins and incorporate them into a much bigger space made up of two old volumes and a new addition. In order to create a consistent s...
Amidst the densely populated city streets, the brick home was designed as an urban respite, with private patios to enjoy the outdoors. Traditional brick is reimagined as a sunshade, staggered in patterns to filter light, create seclusion and push the limits of the materials to make a unique home in the Thai capital. With rising costs of land in Bangkok, Jun Sekino tur...
Designed by Seattle architecture firm Balance Associates, the two-story holiday home is primarily built of timber and concrete and topped with a metal shed roof. The house is set into a hillside and is designed to optimize solar orientation and panoramic views of the Cascade Mountains in Washington. Built along an east-west axis, the Nahahum Cabin partially submerges ...
Completed in collaboration with local developer Urbanica, the energy-positive townhouses were created as part of the city’s E+ Green Building program, an initiative to pilot net-zero energy housing prototypes. The energy-positive homes include many green technologies, such as solar panels, green roofs, rainwater harvesting, and triple-glazed windows. Roxbury E+ compri...
Instead, Swedish Murman Arkitekter camouflaged this home by wrapping it in a gorgeous evergreen foliage-printed vinyl. Located in a small clearing on Gotland, an island off the Swedish coast, the unique Juniper House stands as a playful example for the local authorities, whose aim is to 'not let modern architecture be visual in the landscape.' The beautiful Juniper Ho...
The gorgeous 'Casa Invisibile' is a prefab, modular, wooden home that can be tailor-made in size, materials, location and pricing. One of its many options comes complete with a stunning, mirrored-skin, which reflects the surroundings and the changing of seasons. Delugan Meissl’s idea of the future home was designed with flexibility and spatial quality in mind. Its mod...
Thirdstone Inc. designed the structure with floor-to-ceiling windows and the only element that gives a level of privacy is the surrounding garden area and an oblique fence that shelters - to a degree - the property from outside views. This narrow home, situated on a small 25′ x 140’ infill lot, measures only 17 feet in width. In order to maximize usable space, the arc...
So an architect hired Chevalier Architectes to work within the existing framework to create a bespoke new luxury home with a killer view. Hit the jump for the finer details and get inspired to renovate your own mountain mansion. Achieving a finely tuned balance between a contemporary and rustic aesthetic, not to mention material sustainability, Chevalier Architectes u...
The project, called Impossible City and run by Sawhorse Revolution, teaches teens basic construction and green energy skills to help them help their community. Together, they’ve created a series of efficient and comfortable tiny homes for the Nickelsville community that serves the homeless of Seattle. In the vein of programs such as Habitat for Humanity, Sawhorse Revo...
Designed by b.e. Architecture and located on the southernmost tip of Mornington peninsula, Whitehall Road Residence is comprised of a series of glazed pavilions peering over a stone parapet. This drystone wall, which takes its structural integrity from compressional forces and requires no mortar, protects the home from the elements while also giving it a natural groundin...
The East London architecture firm chose instead to sustainably upcycle a 1960 one-story structure into the Wrap House, a striking contemporary home clad in stainless steel. Located in rural surroundings near the town of Godalming, the Wrap House retained the structure’s distinctive silhouette and was recognized as a winner in the Architects Journal Retrofit Awards 2014. ...
The semi-underground home clad in glass and cast concrete features several sustainable mechanisms and, according to the architects, conforms to Passivhaus standards. The house, equpped with a rainwater collection system, heat recovery and several other eco-friendly features, was shortlisted for a RIBA housing award. The house is sunken halfway into the ground and prov...
Designed by James Russell Architect, the two-story family house is carefully oriented for protection against the harsh sun and storms in Clearfield, an inner north suburb of Brisbane. The energy-efficient home is powered by solar energy and constructed with locally sourced materials including clay and concrete. Backed up against a hillside, the long and rectangular Ch...
The simple prefabricated structures provide comfortable living quarters amid the trees, without disrupting the beauty of the landscape. Clad in timber, the guest houses feature floor-to-ceiling windows that mirror the forest around them. The newest addition to Relax Park Verholy, YOD Design Lab’s guest houses feature hotel-room sized accommodations, in the thick of th...
Designed by architects Alric Galindez, the Vizu Jaus in Bariloche, Argentina, is full of wonderful indoor and outdoor spaces to celebrate Patagonian life. Its archetypical shape is a modern take on the surrounding elevations as well as homage to the first drawing of a house that most people drew as kids. According to the architects, the house stands on a religious Bar...
Designed by architecture firm Plan Bureau, the asymmetric home was inspired by the topography of its mountainous surroundings. Geometric windows punctuate the timber facade to bring in natural light and frame views of the landscape. The 117-square-meter Valley House is top-heavy, with two diamond-shaped volumes stacked atop a triangular base. The entrance is elevated ...
This leaves homeowners with the task of reinforcing their homes. One family in southwest Japan has opted to hire Architecture Studio Nolla to build a hybrid house of both traditional lumber and glued laminated timber (glulam, for short), which provides protection from Mother Nature, cost-effective climate control, and - most importantly - peace of mind. Glulam is a ve...
The Quonochontaug House looks elegant and simple on the outside, but its surprising interior features a myriad of spaces that change with the shifting of natural light. The house, located in Charlestown, Rhode Island, has a ground floor that features a double-height skylight above the kitchen, living room, study and entry foyer. Parts of the ceiling are are high enoug...
The one-bedroom vacation home, in Garrison, New York, uses floor-to-ceiling insulated windows and sliding doors to bring the outside in. When opened on the first floor, the doors allow the living room to become one with an outdoor patio leading to a fire pit. On the second floor, the bedroom and bathroom open onto an elevated deck, exposing them to warm breezes and the l...
Located on Scotland’s west coast in Morar, this environmentally sensitive holiday rental home is built into the sloped landscape and overlooks views of the Small Isles. The project’s most eye-catching feature is the dramatically cantilevered first floor that extends the home towards the sea. Though contemporary in design, the Faire Chaolais alludes to traditional High...
Wrapped in a bioclimatic envelope, the no-frills French family home was completed for the relatively affordable price of $114,674 (approximately US$128,000). To balance out the tight budget however, the architects created a bares-bone building that looks curiously unfinished from the outside. This no-frills approach begs the question of whether the design takes utilitari...
“The demolition of the original extension and its replacement, called for an intervention that can be a part of the original main building without replicating classical vocabulary or gesture. Our intent was to keep a sense of memory, while simultaneously allowing the new intervention to have its own identity.” “The original extension had no distinct historical or arch...
Covering an elevation change of four meters, the triangular plot of land tapers from a width of 16 meters to just 4.5 meters. Roote mitigated the difficult terrain by building two intersecting volumes that still offered enough room for a spacious outdoor garden. From the outside, the four-person family N House appears to comprise two separate structures: a low-lying, ...
The detail-rich Cubo House has a signature "patchwork" look and unique elements made from the upcycled staircase and balustrades of the existing structure. The existing house was re-planned, introducing a new entry foyer, large staircase and environments bathed in natural light. A central multi-level void dominates the new house and provides natural ventilation. It ru...
The 267-square-meter house hugs the existing contours in the northwest-facing Tasmanian valley to maximize stunning views of the valley, nearby city, and river beyond. In addition to the low-impact approach to the landscape, Dingemanse optimized Valley House’s shape and openings for natural ventilation, natural lighting, and solar energy. Clad in profiled metal and ce...
People of retirement age in China grew up during the Cultural Revolution, during which they were taught the value of communal agrarian living. Community and the natural world became the inspiration for the Nanning retirement home, which provides residents with easy access to the outdoors and plenty of space to gather. Atelier Alter says the home aims to provide "a sense ...
The stunning plot of land inspired Saunders, to the point where the project became rather a labor of love, since the architect waived fees in order to be able to design the 160-square-foot (15-square-meter) cabin within a reasonable budget. The minimalist space was designed with the constraints of the site in mind, and is built around three mature plum trees, which serve...
Designed by WHBC Architects, the grid-like concrete shell integrates interior spaces with lush greenery and flowering plants, allowing the resident family to enjoy the flora in the cool shade. The home’s perforated concrete envelope blocks the harsh tropical sun, while encouraging plants to grow over it. Interior climate control is an important factor when designing h...
Dubbed "Green House", the structure is topped with a roof made completely of automated aluminium sunscreens that allow natural light to reach the interior during daytime, while sheltering the interior spaces at night. Sean Godsell Architects renovated the existing building in an attempt to give the little cottage some pizzazz in a limited space. The interior of the ex...
The cliff-side house comprises a cluster of 10 cubes, each oriented towards a different view of Spain’s Costa Brava. The Sunflower House’s funky form isn’t just for looks—the geometric design is a creative solution to the site’s challenging conditions. When the clients purchased the seaside plot, they expected that their future house would be “fully exposed” to the im...
Designed to nurture creativity and inspiration, this tiny observatory opens on three sides to a glorious view of wide open spaces. More about this mixed-use project right after the jump. Housing a library and a garage, the elevated addition is glazed to ensure plenty of natural light and unobstructed views of the verdant landscape. Despite the opportunities for distra...
