Built-ins

One of the "Boxes for Living," featuring the ladder-accessible loft that doubles as a bedroom.

An apartment's bedroom space and box. "How much do people pay to try to get distressed brick in their room nowadays?" asks Melissa. "We wanted to highlight that and not break it up."

Glass sliding doors open up the primary bathroom to the surrounding landscape.

The formal entry space features a built-in bench and is defined by a timber detail that runs up the walls and across the ceiling. “Built-ins are an excellent way to bring a human scale to a project,” says architect Nicholas Fiore. “People seek an intimacy—a coziness—in their homes, and we think that niches, window seats, benches, nooks, and other ‘hand-scale’ details can satisfy that human need.”

The mudroom offers plenty of built-in storage, which was essential for the family with young children. The bold panoramic wallpaper is Forêt Noire by Nathalie Lété for Moustache.

During storm season, nature’s awe-inspiring light show is on full display through the oversized windows.

In the kitchen, a concrete Caesarstone countertop echoes the flooring material; the slatted pine mezzanine is a nod to the ceiling finish. “Everything is referencing something else,” says Armstrong.

Light oak panels by Finsa clad both the kitchen cabinetry and the built-in units that appear in the living room and entryway. "We used natural materials where we could, but we were also mindful of keeping high-touch surfaces durable," explains Anne-Marie Armstrong, co-principal of AAmp Studio.

The home's living room, adjacent to the three-story "void", enjoys plentiful natural light. A Beaubien Wall Double Shade Light by Lambert & Fils, and Arancini Floor Lamp by

A custom white oak sliding door fabricated by Markus Bartenschlager opens to a guest room with a Bilge lounge chair by Uhuru.

In Hampshire, PAD Studio replaced a rundown cottage with a new gable-roofed timber design that looks as if it’d been there all along.

The balance of old and new achieved in the project impressed the jury for the Australian Institute of Architects 2020 awards, which commended Bokey-Grant by saying, "JJ House is exemplary as an approach for altering and establishing a sense of individuality in the recognizable housing stock of our suburbs."

The corridor hosts the refrigerator and laundry units behind sleek white cabinetry fronts.