After reading about landscape designer Ryan McWhirter’s firm in a local paper, architect Karin Scott reached out about working on a San Antonio, Texas, lot where she and her husband were building their new home.
A low wooden bench running along both sides of the extension is both functional and attractive.
A steel brise-soleil in the hallway by the stairwell highlights the play of shadow and light as the sun moves. The stair is made from the same fallen silk oak tree as the dining table. Using this found timber not only created a relationship with the site, but helped to control the budget.
The home features silent and cozy radiant floor heating—a very forward-thinking feature—and there is not a single heating vent or visible outlet in sight.
The Japanese bathroom is well lit by many windows. The home's palette of Hokkaido Cedar wood, concrete floors and grey-textured walls is condensed into this intimate space.
The kitchen anchors the home as the central hub — cementing its importance in the family’s life. With light streaming in from the skylight above, a circular island includes recessed Bocci outlets at the perimeter to power dedicated workstations for Meera’s baking classes. “I love the kitchen. It’s probably my favorite spot,” she says. “Baking brings me joy.”
The floor-to-ceiling sliding doors and windows were the most expensive line item in the renovation. “The house would simply not be the same without them,” says architect Miguel Rivera. “When you are in the living area with the doors open, it creates one large indoor/outdoor space that is simply stunning.” Just beyond the kitchen, a bookcase in the hallway is painted to appear red from one side and gray from the other.
In the Roma district of Mexico City, Vertebral designed a four-unit apartment building that grants its residents access to verdant terraces.
In Bangkok, this family residence by Looklen Architects features four different courtyards with trees that stretch beyond its double-height interiors.
The tiny cabin currently sits on a friend’s property, but it’s designed to be mobile, should the couple need to move it. “It can be dragged away with nothing more than a tractor,” says Nathalie.
Architect Minwook Choi’s 710-square-foot Seroro House rises from a tiny urban lot in Seoul that had long been neglected because of its challenging size.
These projects cleverly address issues ranging from affordable housing to building sustainably in the face of climate change.
Turning a shipping container into a home is rarely as simple as it sounds, but design studio LOT-EK set out to prove that these vessels could become the raw material for an efficient prefab construction process with a house in upstate New York. Victoria Masters, Dave Sutton, and their daughter, Bowie, live in the six merged containers.
To turn a home into a permanent residence for a family of four, Rama Estudio attached a prefab glass-and-steel box that extends into the surrounding wilderness.
The urban woodland, which includes a mix of arborvitaes, river birches, and hornbeams, will provide a layer of privacy.
In the primary bedroom, daughters Ellis and Panda play on pieces of a 1972 Camaleonda sofa by Mario Bellini. A Davide Groppi Moon pendant, made of Japanese paper, hangs overhead.
"In some ways the strongest attributes of the house are probably the outside spaces,” says Court. The original cedar deck was replaced with Kebony decking that wraps around a century-old cherry tree. A pair of Andy rockers from Mamagreen face an ottoman by Kenneth Cobonpue. The accordion doors are a NanaWall SL-60 system that allows the main room of the guesthouse to open completely to the deck.
Located on the outskirts of Morelia, Mexico, the 5,920-square-foot UC House by architectural designer Daniela Bucio Sistos is grounded by a foyer with a raised, circular ceiling, which houses a tree that grows out from a hole in the floor at the center.
The VITA Fireplaces Aidan single-sided suspension fireplace adds a cozy, modern vibe.
The structure overlooks Lake Austin.
The stilts give the structure the appearance of floating above the site.
The steel supports also solve a major design challenge of how to get the electricity, water, wastewater in and out of the elevated structure.
The panelized building system places minimal impact on the job site and the surrounding nature. “DARIO is a better, more efficient way to build,
The homeowner's daughters have beds on the top floor of the Treehouse.
Large floor-to-ceiling glass cubes for the bedroom and bathroom spaces take advantage of the beautiful view of the lake and maximize the sensation of floating amongst the tree canopy.
The Escobedo Group used their recently developed panelized Dario system to put together a luxurious, modern treehouse overlooking Lake Austin, that took only 36 hours of on-site assembly to come to life.
Layout of Casona Sforza
“Providing people a home they love in a place they love is the most gratifying part of being an architect and a founder.”
A six-inch-thick concrete slab forms the sturdy roof, which doubles as a terrace and viewing platform. Since the client is the only person who uses the home, he opted not to have railings—but exercises plenty of caution when heading up to view the stars and smoke his cigars.
On the roof, Claudio and Aranza sit on salvaged blocks of wood around a “water mirror” that reflects the sky. On clear nights, you can gaze both up and down at the stars, an activity that gives Casa Cosmos its name.
29 more saves