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A picnic table in a matching hue to the Stealth Barn rests between the two structures.

A row of Penguin Classics in the window casts an orange glow on the Stealth Barn's small OSB-clad living room outfitted with more custom furniture from Turner.

Carl Turner and Mary Martin pose on the porch of the Stealth Barn, a multipurpose structure that plays as a guest cottage, office space, and escape from whatever may be cooking at Ochre Barn.

A guest room in this repurposed barn in the English countryside lets the ceiling do the talking. Photo by Christoffer Rudquist.

Inspired by the small scale of Japanese residences—in particular, Makoto Masuzawa’s 1952 Minimum House—architect Andrew Simpson designed his own economical 538-square-foot home set into a wooded site in Island Bay, a coastal suburb outside Wellington, New Zealand.

For the exterior and roof, Ewing chose Una-Clad corrugated-steel siding. The material, more commonly found on commercial buildings, is lightweight, durable, easy to maintain, and recyclable.

The floor-to-ceiling living-room window was inspired by Philip Johnson’s Glass House.

Low-maintenance, sustainable materials were favored throughout the house. Striking orange Pirelli studded rubber floors were chosen for the main bathroom. Clean white fixtures and black shower cladding complete the graphic space.

The top priorities for Chalet M—a small, plywood cabin in the suburban area of São Lourenço da Serra in São Paulo, Brazil—were to ensure the lightest possible footprint on its forest site, and to maximize the experience of being one with nature for its owners.

To save space, each child’s room has a mezzanine bed with the closet tucked underneath.

Pine plywood grown in New Zealand covers the interior. “It’s quite economical and also quite warm,” says Maclean. “I find the patterns on it quite interesting to look at.”

The kitchen cabinets are Birch plywood with medium-pressure laminate, and part of a cabinetry package for the house that amounted to $82,000 NZD, or $55,218 USD. The counters and backsplash are stainless-steel. The kitchen is a favorite spot for the architect. “We do a lot of cooking. We really enjoy our food. So, the practicalities of how the kitchen works is really key, with the nooks and crannies where we can put all our stuff,” says Maclean. Open cubbies keep tools and cookbooks close at hand.

The children’s bedrooms are side-by-side, with a shared playroom/study outside of the doors.

Supported on thin columns, the main volume hovers above the graveled entry, reaching out into the surroundings.

White, hexagon tiles frame a shower and bath block of space in the Master Bath.

The simplicity in massing and material create a sculptural blocking of interior and exterior spaces.

Rather than make several small rooms, the team opted to create open, central spaces that can be easily adapted to changing mobility issues. Carefully placed windows and skylights provide lots of daylight. Rafters were left exposed in the ceiling.

To accommodate the decreased mobility associated with aging, the living area needed to be one level.