The clients and design team chose to forego an open floor plan in favor of defined, separated spaces. In this scheme, the vertically oriented spaces act as a cinematic "hard-cut" to their horizontal counterparts. The custom hot rolled steel kitchen, one of these vertical transition spaces, receives light from above through a Velux skylight. A GE Profile Induction cooktop and oven and Miele refrigerator complete the space.

At the entry looking upward towards a Velux skylight, a vertical "sleeve" is made of stacked end grain plywood. The theme of vertical and horizontal architectural elements providing different environmental perspectives carries through to the rest of the home. Horizontal forms look out to the lake, while the vertical columns look up the sky.

For a cost-conscious 2,000-square-foot renovation located 30 minutes outside of Austin, Texas, architect Nick Deaver took a look around for inspiration. He spied galvanized metal cladding on the region’s sheds and co-opted the inexpensive, resilient material for his own design.

“Durability drove the selection of metal panels,” Schaer says of the home’s industrial exterior. Manufactured by AEP SPAN from corrugated cladding, it looks like zinc but costs significantly less. It also contrasts nicely with the natural siding and trim. “All of the wood inside and out is Douglas Fir, the predominant wood species in the northwest,” Schaer explains.

The metal cladding, inspired by a nearby zinc mine, continues seamlessly onto the house’s roof for a minimalist shed effect. “The drip edge turns to make the wall,” explains architect Brandon Pace, “but changes above the window to accommodate a downspout. Any place where the metal contacts glass, or where you walk underneath, we have an internal gutter.”

Part of the master suite, the bright bathroom embraces texture and pattern. The space clad in bold, graphic tile and features a custom steel vanity.

On the opposite side of the abstract front elevation, the home opens up and presents an entirely different viewing experience. “Like a flower leaning [towards the] sunlight, the architectural volumes pull and open up towards the views of the lake,” says Miller. A stacked timber retaining wall serves both structural and aesthetic functions; in addition to holding back the earth the home has been buried into, it visually defines the its perimeter.

As the home is approached from the street, the white aluminum facade projects out from the earth in an abstract composition of forms and volumes. There are no doors or windows at the entrance from the road, a calculated decision by the design team to avoid a structure that would read as manmade against the natural landscape. “We wanted it to feel ‘non-architectural’ in a way so that the natural view of the lake was not walled off by a privatized notion of someone’s home,” says Miller.

The home’s metal cladding is Pac-Clad, a material typically used for roofs.

The architect covered the exterior in Pac-Clad, a metal roofing material, because it's "cost-effective, durable, maintenance-free, and comes in various colors," says Church.

Several courtyards help bring greenery in. On the west side of the home, plants absorb sunlight and create another passive cooling feature. Crushed limestone pebbles and an exposed stone wall complete the lush space.

The voluminous black plaster cube appears to float over the open first-floor at the rear elevation. On the roof, solar panels generate about 80 percent of the home’s electrical and heating needs. The landscaped backyard was designed to resemble an orchard, and includes several defined areas for socializing and entertaining.

The home’s reflection is seen in the lake at dusk. The white aluminum sleeves dramatically break through the timber, creating visual portals to the surrounding scenery.

Fontanez solved LOT-EK’s conundrum of how to situate the bed against the center wall while still maintaining closet access by suggesting an automated dry-cleaning rack in the narrow closet. He and Russell access the closet from opposite ends. “We just have to make sure we don’t spin it at the same time,” Fontanez says. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

Churtichaga and de la Quadra-Salcedo purchased a parcel of former farmland to build their vacation home twelve years ago but only recently completed the house—a timber-clad minimalist structure expertly designed to disappear into the scenic landscape.

The architect incorporated a central courtyard in the house, an unusual but intelligent design response for the region with a temperate climate. “The house sets up an interesting tension between two established [courtyard and farmhouse] typologies,” Crump explains.

The architects pulled away the roof at the house’s center to create a courtyard where the residents can enjoy meals. The ground sits below floor level, which means that the wraparound eucalyptus deck can also serve as a bench.

“The intimate courtyard, with a concrete floor and plants, is an homage to many charming places in Southern California, where my wife and I lived for four years before getting married," says Priatman.

The two-tone corrugated metal cladding helps the sheds blend into the landscape, along with windows custom-colored by the manufacturer to match.

Nestled in a forest, the residence consists of three volumes. The patio, enhanced by a German-made beer garden table, is an extension of the living room floor, creating an indoor-outdoor living space. “It’s one way a small space can be made to feel larger,” says architect Jason W. Hart. All of the exterior doors are painted marigold, providing a friendly pop of color.

The outdoor shower situated off of the master bedroom is enclosed to offer privacy and features a courtyard garden. Michael Arp of Lanoha Nurseries designed the house's landscaping.

Located in Montreal, Tuan Vu and Jean François's sleek modern home is designed to balance the need for privacy while maximizing natural daylight. The exterior is clad in a single material to maintain a unified aesthetic. "We wanted to keep the house light and we wanted to emphasize its overall form instead of its different elements so we found a metal cladding that could work on both the roof and walls," says Thomas Balaban, the architect who designed the structure. "It was very important for us that it be the same material for both. Where we did change material around the entry and the windows, we matched the color of the metal cladding so as not to disturb the reading of the uniform shape."

A covered walkway provides a sheltered passage between the main house and studio. The fire pit is used during social gatherings.

Marco V. Morelli says his Studio Shed is the perfect refuge. “It’s changed my life for the better,” he says. “I’ve gotten so much more work done, and I think my marital relations are much better because I have a place of my own.”

The home’s enclosed courtyard sits at “the heart of the structure,” says Baumann, who resides with his wife, Lisa Sardinas, and eight-year-old son, Oskar. “This is clearly the dominant space; everything flexes towards it.” Baumann cast the square concrete floor tiles himself, enlisting the help of his son. A small, neat patch of grass—a playful nod to the archetypal domestic lawn—is edited down to a charming folly.

At once part of the city and protected from it, the house benefits from plenty of open space and light and creates its own courtyard enclosure.

Stainless steel was selected for the kitchen countertops, and the pair relied on a local industrial sheet metal fabricator to help them prepare the material for residential application. The mix of warm and cool adds depth and dimension to the space.

Architect Michelle Linden worked with Brothers to create a minimalist house. Inspired by the inward-looking approach of Cistercian abbeys, Linden oriented the U-shaped structure around a courtyard.

Unlike its next-door neighbor, R-House, TED wasn’t originally planned to meet the exacting Passive House standard. The building’s green bona fides came largely from four roof-mounted thermal solar panels and a 120-gallon water storage tank that architect Tim McDonald attests would have met nearly all of the home’s heat and hot-water needs. After submitting the proposal, though, he completed a course in the Passive House standard. Inspired, McDonald modified the original approach, ditching the tank and thermal panels in favor of a highly insulated, airtight envelope—the equivalent, he says, of shielding the house from the harsh Syracuse winter with a fur coat instead of a windbreaker.

Thanks to passive solar and radiant floors, the metal-clad home is comfortable year-round.

Along with its durability, concrete requires very little maintenance.

The house is intended to be experienced as a continuous sequence from the public living areas to the private office and bedrooms. Instead of organizing the plan linearly, Priatman thought of it as a spiral that wraps around a central green space.

Light from a new skylight pours into the home's entryway and living room. Steel columns and beams were added for structural reinforcement, and the couple left all beams, old and new, exposed.

Since the sunniest part of the lot is at its center, Balaban designed the residence around a courtyard. "The outdoor space became the heart of the house," Balaban says. "You have the usual array of mechanical 'bells and whistles'—low-consumption fixtures, heat exchanger on the ventilation, radiant concrete floors, etc.— but the courtyard is the main green feature. It brings natural light to the basement and the center of the structure. It also creates a microclimate, protected from the wind. In combination with the stacked stair, it helps provide passive natural ventilation using a chimney effect through the house. The stepped courtyard also gives every space in the house direct access to a patio."

"I always wanted to have my very own yellow brick road," says Viviana de Loera, whose favorite part of the home is the playful staircase. The original stairs and handrail were preserved in the renovation.

Courtyard House by Jess Lumley and Alexander Koller Simplicity ruled for the English design team. They referenced and recast traditional elements, such as a brick wall, timber posts, and palm leaf matting and bamboo shutters, which created playful patterns of light. Photo provided by Building Trust International