Once home to a shoe repairer and abandoned for the last two years, Central Hotel & Café received a much-needed makeover from owner Leif Thingtved, who is seen here peering out the one-roomed hotel located above the downstairs café. The single room comes with a bathroom, flat screen television, high-speed internet, Royal Eden bed, and mini bar. Photo by: Martin Kaufmann

A 500-square-foot outdoor space with a grill, a table, and a hammock sits just off the entrance level of the townhouse, offering extra room for dining, relaxing, and entertaining. The corner couch is a custom piece inspired by the large cushions of Moroccan sofas. The Fermob table is paired with Hay Hee dining chairs by Hay.

The 73-room Andersen Hotel earned a Green-Key in 2013. “Many of our employees live in our company-owned apartments next to the hotel—saving transportation—and we rent bikes to our guests,” says Sales Manager Anne-Mette Bendix.

Quaffing a perfect cappuccino is this writer’s true weakness.

On the outskirts of Austin, Texas, author Chris Brown and his dog Katsu head to the river; the path was once a dumping ground on top of a long-defunct underground oil pipeline. The green roof was conceptualized by John Hart Asher of the Ecosystem Design Group at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.

Spanish designer Jaime Hayon was invited to renovate room 506 in the Arne Jacobsen–designed SAS Royal Hotel, which is now called the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel. Hayon preserved the original interior architecture, but furnished the space with contemporary and reissued items.

“We didn’t go out and buy a living room collection,” Sofie explains. “In our home, we tried to avoid trends. The furniture we have are things we have collected over many, many years.” Vintage Eames for Herman Miller lounge chair; Isamu Nuguchi table; and Rocking elephant by Rocking Zoo.

Going Underground The site the Wadhams found for their home was designated as “green belt” land, which meant that there were restrictions on the size of the structure’s footprint. Because it’s critical for the pair to live on a single floor, especially as they grow older, Archer tucked the home’s three guest rooms—vital for four visiting children and eight grandchildren—all belowground. Not only does that keep the home’s layout trim, but with the living spaces and master bedroom at ground level, the couple will be able to stay in the house for longer, getting more use out of the energy and resources expended to build it.

Cassidy used the pool as an anchor for an overarching backyard master plan that pulled the parts together.

All kitchen waste at the newly refurbished Hotel D’Angleterre—an 18th-century property that reopened following three years of renovations in 2014—is converted into biofuel energy.

Another room is done up in shades of green.

Kate’s father predicted they would never use the crow’s nest–like tower, which is reached by climbing a narrow staircase.

With three sons in the family, the kitchen gets a lot of use. Hee barstools by Hee Welling for Hay slide up to a multi-functioning island where the family gathers to eat, study and play.

The top floor holds the Chiavellis’ bedroom suite, with a dressing room and built-in spa. “The farmers dried their crops up here,” says Chiavelli. “We knew right away this was the spot that we wanted to have our own room.”

“Who better than the farmer and the farmer's family to know how most effectively and easily to find efficiency?” says architect Alan Barlis. Regional architecture inspired the barn-life structure of the house, an open volume that aides in efficient heating and cooling of the space.

The idea behind Endémico is "luxury camping." Set on 40 acres of gorgeous, unspoiled terrain, there are 20 bungalows and a shared pool for guests to take a dip in. The Encuentro Guadalupe winery offers guests access to local wines as well as a peek at how they are processed through winemaking courses. Encuentro's restaurant will feature dishes that incorporate local flavors as well as a cooking school where people can learn how to prepare creative meals with the guidance of talented young chefs.

The house is filled with pieces from Small-Design, the children’s furniture company cofounded by Charrier, including the transformable Cube, which does double duty as a chair or table in the top floor kitchen-dining area.

Key green initiatives include smart light switches in public spaces, garbage that’s sorted into seven recycling categories, and a voucher to the ground-floor Vietnamese restaurant Le Le for guests that opt not to have their rooms cleaned every day.

In the open kitchen, stacks of cups wait to be filled, machines wait to serve piping hot beverages, and spoons ready to stir. Photo by: Stine Christiansen

The café's blackboard menu lists many global favorites such as an espresso, Americano, and iced coffee. Apparently some of the best coffee around is brewed here. Hotel guests are treated to a complimentary organic breakfast. Photo by: Martin Kaufmann

Arne Jacobsen designed nearly every element in the hotel, including the built-ins, textiles, and accessories. In addition to furnishing the rooms with existing pieces from his portfolio, Jacobsen created new items for the hotel, like the Drop chair shown in this archival photo.

Lisbeth Juul and Laust Nørgaard drew upon their years of experience living on the water to design and build an 860-square-foot floating home in Copenhagen Harbor. The home’s minimal form and furnishings reflect the residents’ desire to downsize following three years on land.

Since the front door is located in the exterior wall, residents first enter a vast garden before reaching the gable roof house.

Sofie and Frank built a box around an ordinary glass fiber shell bathtub, then covered it in a mosaic of shower tiles. Natural light from a large dormer window gives the tiles an almost iridescent glow. The toilet is Duravit.

Since Copenhagen is generally cold, the house was painted black to trap warmth. The result was that in its first year, it consumed so little energy that the client received a generous refund from the heating company. “Many wooden houses in Scandinavia use this trick,” Larsen says. “On sunny days it even radiates warmth, so that in spring and autumn you can sit outside by the wall and in this way extend the outdoor season by a few weeks every year. These weeks are valuable in places with little light.”

Green roofs are aesthetically pleasing and have multiple positive environmental benefits, even if they are small in terms of square footage. Here, a green roof blooms atop the detached garage of a home.

“We sought to create a house that would not damage the environment and not be too visible,” says architect Tina Gregorič. A single zigzagging roof stretches over 5,380 square feet, doubling the area of the interior spaces and serving as an ideal spot for sunset cocktails and whale-watching.

The large patio leads to a newly landscaped back garden. An expansive glass wall promotes seamless indoor-outdoor living. Inexpensive brick pavers were chosen for the rear patio; they offer textural contrast with the steel of the door, brick of the rear facade, and pale gray wood of the interior floors.

In 2013, the hotel renovated half its rooms to evoke Danish design in the 50s. Last year, the hotel refreshed the rest of its rooms to epitomize the country’s iconic 60s aesthetic.

“The kitchen is the room we use the most,” Sofie says. The dark gray walls and tonal accents make it cozy and cave-like, while natural illumination and light-toned accessories introduce airiness and circulation. Even in the colder months, the Egelunds spend most of their time there, and Sofie maintains that the stark darkness makes it a homey place to entertain guests and spend time with the family. “And,” she adds, “you can always go to the other floors if it gets too dark!” The kitchen island, shelves, glass, and ceramics are by Vipp.

Original 1925 details include stucco molding throughout the house. A Small-Design Circle table and stools echo outdoor greenery in the room shared by Elliott and Mateo, ages 12 and nine.

To raise awareness about biodiversity in cities and the benefits it delivers, the EEA façade, overlooking one of the most prominent squares of Copenhagen, Denmark, gets shielded with a vertical garden (shaped like a map of the European continent!) which uses a mesh pattern, similar to a cross-stich pattern, that fills in dirt and various flowers. Via WalkOnWaterOrDrown.

Designed by Atelier Lina Bellovicova, House LO marks the country’s first residential project to use hempcrete, a sustainable and fire-and-mold-resistant materil.

Original windows with weatherstripping, when well-maintained, can often be as energy-efficient as new double-glazed windows.

Balangan Vistas Resort Hotel

The master suite on the second level features a terrace and a lofted area.