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“The idea was to create this total openness and informality and almost undomesticated domestic space,” says Leven. The concrete is textured by its forms on the outside but smooth where it cuts into the building—“almost as though you sliced into it with a knife,” adds the designer.

For a concrete guesthouse in Stone Ridge, New York, LevenBetts designed an onsen-inspired bathroom with a steam room and a hinoki tub.

A custom sink by Vola in the kitchen has a twin on the outside for washing vegetables from the roof garden before bringing them indoors. The shelves are made of wood from trees felled on-site. The main house, visible in the background, was the designers’ first residential commission.

The sunken living room is just one of many grade changes inside the structure. “We were adamant that we didn’t want something domestic,” says Andrew. “We wanted something surprising, that was hyper-animated, and that, when you moved through it, changed all the time.” The sofa, designed by the couple and Levenbetts, is upholstered in cotton velvet. The Habibi side tables are by Philipp Mainzer for e15, the fireplace tools by Fort Standard, and the doors by Fleetwood.

Blue Sky Building Systems worked with CB Architecture and Marchese Construction to create a steel-framed home for a family of four in Orinda, California.

This home's different roof heights required a customizable, flexible building component to make the drawings a reality.

The family wanted an open concept with minimal interruptions from the structure of the home.

As Nicolás Tovo and Teresa Sarmiento of La Base embraced modular design as part of their architectural practice, they noticed that prospective clients were wary of prefabricated construction. So the duo teamed up with Place, an Argentine prefab builder, to make a proof of concept just outside the Patagonian resort town of Bariloche.

Each of the restored caves maintains its original shape.