This studio was constructed in a Seattle backyard, where it can be used for work or recreation.
Although The Goat Heads are mostly clad in metal, it’s the plastic panel walls at the entries that really shine. “In the evening they act like lanterns and animate the courtyards,” says Rogers. Their glow is tempered by the concrete breeze-block walls. “It was important that the units weren’t too bright—part of the beauty out here is the sky at night.”
A new pilot program by the city to add housing has yet to catch on—but that could soon change. Here, a rendering by Via Chicago Architects presents a series of coach houses on an undeveloped city lot.
“We pulled apart one volume and staggered it along the buildable area of the property,” says architect Matthew Ahlberg of Portland firm Barrett Made. The home is clad in unfinished cedar, meant to weather over time.
Built on a shale ridge with a 35-foot drop-off, Scott and Julie Pelletier’s house in Maine comprises a succession of simple gables.
A few yards away from the tree houses, a wooden staircase connects with a path that leads through the wooded hillside to a parking area down below. Steeper sections of the mountainside trail are navigable by using steel staircases and hand-placed stone steps.
"It's not close to highways,
In British Columbia’s Soo Valley, only some 20 minutes from Whistler skiing, this off-grid residence designed by Perkins & Will is a pilot for Delta Land Development’s future alpine settlement. Principally powered by the sun, it’s built to Passive House standards, collecting its own water and treating its own waste. Heated by a GeoExchange geothermal pump, it also embraces natural ventilation with cleverly placed windows.
The kitchen runs under the black block that descends from the ceiling. The countertop is concrete and the cabinet fronts are hardware store shelves mounted on an Ikea base. Dried beach kale branches hang in the corner. The dining table is a piece of plywood painted black atop a base from Hay. Thomas made the bench using wood left over from the forms used to cast the concrete wall boards.
The owners built the house as a place to gather with their three adult children on Loon Lake, where they had vacationed at the husband’s family home for years. The modern Adirondack chairs are by Loll Designs.
Wrapped in glass on three sides, the Woodnest tree houses offer panoramic views of the surroundings mountains and fjord.
A distant view of the home provides a glimpse of visiting wildlife. Sitting on 1.7 acres, the heavily wooded lot offers the feeling of seclusion yet is within easy driving distance of the nearby university and capital city.
All the interior woodwork, including the bed and staircase drawers, was custom-made by Blind Interieur.
Featuring carbon fiber rims, fork, and frame, and a forward-leaning geometry, the Eeyo 1s is a sporty e-bike designed like a car.
The monolithic brick home in Mexico City by Esrawe Studio looks imposing from the street, but its enormous pivoting door opens to a courtyard that feels like a lush oasis.
The downstairs hallway flooring is Iranian travertine marble, while the stair and flooring in the upstairs hallway is oak. The walls have been finished with a polished concrete texture.
The sunken living room created an opportunity for a bespoke joinery unit that can be used as a bench overlooking the courtyard as well as a storage space for books and objects. Topped with the same Iranian travertine marble that is used for the flooring in the entrance, it extends the hallway along the courtyard into the living room.
The house has two modules: a living space on the left and a utilities, laundry, and outdoor kitchen on the right.
