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Architects Camilo Fuentealba and Eduardo Díaz created a split-level layout for their vertically aligned home near the Chilean resort town of Puerto Varas. Rooms branch off from a central atrium as you climb up stairs and ladders. “The idea was to replicate the way trees grow to look for light,” says Camilo.

One renovation request, homeowner Isaac Hase says, “was having a place to drop your shoes.” At the mudroom end of a run of kitchen cabinets, you’ll find another feature the couple asked for. “We wanted to have a dedicated, visible place for our little stash of cookbooks,” Karoline says.

Lisa added a trio of windows up the staircase so that sunlight would stream in behind the slat wall.

The group was budget-conscious when designing the kitchenette. They used Ikea cabinets with custom-built faces in a white oak, cabinet-grade veneer. Braithwaite extended the same material to the ceiling beneath the mezzanine to define the kitchen zone. As a result, “it feels like it is part of the same language,” he says. Instead of traditional plumbing, the group added a filtered water collection system to the metal roof, and opted for an incinerator toilet.

When Molly moved in, the kitchen already had cabinets, made of shamel ash from Angel City Lumber and topped with counters in terrazzo that Responsive Homes made using sediment from the Los Angeles River. She added an island to create “some separation of space,” she says, as well as open shelving.

Floor Plan of Tinyleaf by GO’C

Whether it’s cross-country skiing in the winter or trail running in the summer, the 330-foot home’s minimalist design encourages Catherine to be outside in the surrounding landscape throughout the year.

By the time he reached out to the architects, the client, Chilean real estate developer Andrés Galesio, had already identified a location for the cabin. It was right by the edge of a bluff on his steep, half-acre yard, set some 300 feet above sea level, with cypress trees all around.

The oval form of the dining table is inspired by the hull of a traditional Irish curroch boat, and it features a bowl carved directly in its top surface. The table is made from 366 pieces of CNC machined birch ply. Similarly, the Unfurl chairs are made by layering 26 individual profiles of CNC machined timber to create a form that echoes the shape of the human body.

Most of the artwork that adorns the walls is also by Mike and Jewlsy. The framed palm fronds above the credenza, for example, are inscribed with the original deeds to Jewlsy's family home in Kerala, India, and are approximately 300 years old.

“The floor is brought closer to the ground level. This makes the line of sight closer to that of the outside, creating a conscious connection with the outdoors,” said Sudo. This also helps create a higher ceiling level and reduce cost.

The hall workspace features a pegboard wall and a built-in bench with storage, in addition to open shelving. For the desk chair, Spot Lab refurbished and reupholstered a vintage chair that had been left on the street.

The project’s name, Loom House, is a nod to “weaving people and place,” says Karen. The couple hope their project contributes to spreading more awareness of the kind of systemic changes the LBC strives for. “With the Living Building Challenge, we liked that you not only create a healthy home,” says Todd, “but you consider how that healthy home is creating a healthy environment and community.”

Architect Jai Kumaran and his partner, Lindsay Merkle, transformed a badly neglected ridgetop property in Scappoose, Oregon, into a retreat, completing a 3,000-square-foot prefabricated workshop and studio suite as the first phase of a larger planned creative compound where they could live, work, and gather with family and friends.

The home is located in Todds Valley, a 10-minute drive from Nelson, where architect William Samuels grew up—and one of the least affordable areas in New Zealand. “The obsession with the price of housing is pervasive and can cloud our thinking when we consider the true value of a home,” he says. “In New Zealand, there is a tendency to think of housing purely as an asset, an investment, rather than a home, a place for life to happen.”