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The couple’s bedroom loft overlooks the living room and kitchen, and it includes a vintage nightstand that belonged to Audi’s grandmother.

“I suppose you could consider me part of a subculture who lived in various inner-city spaces,” says Simpson, whose previous homes include ad hoc spaces in industrial warehouses, floors of office buildings, and units above shops and bars. In designing his Island Bay home completely from scratch, he retained his experimental spirit: “We wanted a house that responded to our wider social, environmental, and economic concerns rather than something that blindly followed convention,” he says. Unassuming in sight, the home’s corrugated-metal cladding (above) recalls the tin shed, a vernacular housing type in the region.

As the most common type of kitchen sink, the top-mount sink is installed by inserting the sink into a pre-cut hole in the countertop. The wide rim around the sink supports it on top of the countertop, and is then caulked in place with silicone for a water-tight fit.

Simpson runs his practice, WireDog Architecture, from his home study, where custom bookshelves line the perimeter of the mezzanine for a storage solution that doubles as railing.

SOA Soler Orozco Arquitectos . Casa Molina

Hellstern designed the mohair sofa in the home's living area. The rug is by Tufenkian.

“During summer there is so much greenery, and it grows and changes every day. It’s very different in the autumn and winter—even the acoustics are different,

More than 60 plant species were used in the layered design.

When architect Antonio Monserrat transformed an old 800-square-foot Brooklyn loft into his new home, he imbued his love of colorful, multifunctional design into an eye-catching renovation. Once used as a bakery in the early 20th century, the postindustrial space came with great bones—original exposed timber beams, 12-foot ceilings and large windows—that Monserrat used as a backdrop for his playful color choices, small-scale studio prototypes, and contemporary furnishings. From the emerald-green entryway with a hot-pink ceiling to the sunshine-yellow Kartell storage pieces, the Spanish architect’s loft beautifully blends creative inspiration with functionality.

The room features walnut flooring and built-in closets of the same material that were custom-made by Kenwood Cabinetry.

Nina Compton in her New Orleans kitchen.

Guillermo used fast-growing, sustainable radiata pine for the cabins, both of which feature a living/dining area and kitchen on the upper level and three bedrooms on the ground floor.

Some bedrooms are just big enough for a mattress.

Guillermo, who left the land-scaping mostly natural, is now planting trees to help offset deforestation in the region.