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In the primary bathroom, a simple palette of concrete floors and dark-stained cedar falls to the background, allowing the trees and stumps outside—seen through a purposefully placed window—to take center stage.

Dubbed the Stealth House in part for its windowless perimeter, the project began as an exploration designing comfortable, private living spaces in dense urban areas.

Floor Plan of Stealth House by Specht Novak Architects

The existing brick was painted white, and is a repeated texture in the home, as is the fluted glass in the custom bathroom door.

“I’ve been really surprised at how well-designed space can positively make you feel,” Wayne says. “My productivity levels have shot through the roof.”

“I’ve been really surprised at how well-designed space can positively make you feel,” Wayne says. “My productivity levels have shot through the roof.”

The suburban backyard garage in Hertfordshire, England, that architect Olli Andrew of Hyper converted into a work studio is wrapped in charred larch wood pieces that give the impression of scales and foster biodiversity, providing a place for insects to nestle.

“The scorched larch timber protects against water and is a beautiful, sustainable process that avoids harsh chemicals and paints,” Andrew says.

Floor Plan of Dark Matter by HyperSpace

“The approval process wasn’t easy. It’s just a guesthouse, but we may as well have been trying to build an apartment complex in the backyard,” says Marks. Walls of board-formed concrete are warmed by the cumaru wood ceilings and decks.

WingSpan House floor plan

Owners Rachel and Nolan Ploegman's sons, Alex and Logan, run along the perimeter of their Parallelogram House in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its raw shell and stretched geometry were conceived by 5468796 Architecture and executed by Concord Projects. Brunswick Steel assisted with the bent-plate Cor-Ten columns. East St. Paul, Manitoba Dwell Magazine : November / December 2017

The Master Bedroom shed is surrounded by a covered cedar porch. Two 12' walls of sliding glass converge at a corner to visually and physically connect the room to the outdoors. The roof overhangs and porches offer exposed wood rafters and beams. The cedar rafters, beams, and posts as well as the stone walls complement and "warm up" the corrugated metal siding.