Concrete

Black-and-white walls, polished basalt floors, and oak ceilings give the interiors a simple, pared-back aesthetic that allow the nature outdoors to take center stage.

Clever joinery units throughout the home are strategically located to avoid unnecessary clutter. The long study on the ground floor—which runs in front of the children’s bedrooms—has plenty of desk space for all four children to do homework and study.

The bespoke bath rail in the master suite incorporates concealed plumbing, LED lighting, and functions as a shelf and towel rail.

One of the biggest challenges was prototyping, sampling, and testing to determine the correct formulas and process for the materials. “Concrete, for example, when poured in different environmental conditions produces different results,” says architect Tony Vella. “This doesn’t always work for a homogenous architecture.” As a result, the concrete was one of the most expensive elements of the home. “It was extremely detailed and very laborsome, but definitely worth the investment,” reveals Vella.

London-based practice Studio Ben Allen implemented prefab elements to recast a dark and dated Victorian terrace home for its longtime residents in just four days. The architects expanded the rear of the home, adding a new kitchen and two bathrooms. The entire update is swathed in a chromatic series of green-, blue-, and red-pigmented concrete.

Ben Allen renovated this old Victorian in London using a rainbow of colored concrete. One of the new bathrooms is cast in mossy green with an arch motif that appears throughout the home.

Three elements of the extension were built off-site: the exterior and structural concrete, which includes patterned brickwork, the nonstructural concrete elements (like the kitchen counter and bath), and the balustrade. An arch motif ties together the renovation.

Stepstone's narrow concrete pavers add a graphic touch to the garden.

Pros: Concrete countertops are durable, resistant to heat, and can be less expensive than natural stone, especially when completed as a DIY project. Cons: Concrete must be sealed before being used; otherwise, its porous nature means that it will stain very easily.

At Sea Ranch, a half-century-old enclave of rugged modernist houses on the Northern California coast, a new home captures the spirit of its surroundings. The client, a couple, were guided by the Sea Ranch rules—local covenants guide new designs—didn’t mean slipping into Sea Ranch clichés. Lovers of Cor-Ten steel, with its ruddy and almost organic surface, the architects made it the main exterior material, along with board-formed concrete and ipe wood. The Cor-Ten, which quickly turned an autumnal rust in the sea air, and the concrete, with its grain and crannies, mean the house isn’t a pristine box, Ramirez says. His Neutra house "was very crisp and clean," he says. "This house is more distressed, more wabi-sabi." Together, the Cor-Ten steel and board-form concrete give the exterior a weathered look.

A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.

Located in Austin’s historic Hyde Park in the company of 1920s-era bungalows, the Concrete Casita by Ravel Architecture is distinct with its contemporary, low-lying profile, yet feels at home with the neighborhood. Designs to become in-law’s quarters or serve as a versatile, indoor/outdoor space for an active Austin family, the 600-square-foot structure has a rugged makeup of board-formed concrete, rusted steel, and glass. Ravel Architecture partners Alex Finnell and Devin Keyes chose board-formed concrete for the exterior, scoring the vertical boards to "get a really nice texture and interesting dynamics," says Finnell.

About 100 miles southwest of Mexico City, nine black concrete blocks in a forest clearing make up one family's holiday home. Designed by Fernanda Canales with landscaping by Claudia Rodríguez, Casa Bruma makes elegant use of a construction material that's commonplace in Latin America

New, structurally sound walls allowed them more freedom to design the interior spaces.

A “sit-out” extends the living space outdoors. The long, narrow plan of this space intentionally extends the linear footprint of the home.

Designed by José Guedes Cruz, César Marques, and Marco Marinho of the Portugal-based firm Guedes Cruz Architects, The Wall House is laid out in an open-box plan, and is fitted with plenty of glass windows to enhance the synergy between its interior and exterior spaces.