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The office is clad almost entirely in cork, which complements the oak that defines the scheme. “I want to cover everything in cork—there’s so much potential!” says interior designer Emily Lindberg.

The circle is painted with chalkboard paint. “We pin stuff up there for the holidays, like Chinese New Year, because you have to get up on a chair [to reach it] and you can’t do that everyday,” says Ren.

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.”

If striving for a lower carbon footprint with likeminded neighbors sounds like your cup of tea, BedZED has a place for you.

Reclaimed wood covers the ceiling in the main room and bedroom. The large white light fixture was reused from the barn’s previous incarnation, and the sectional is from Interior Define.

Madison points out that the pod concept would make it easy to add an extension if necessary. “We see it as a house that can grow with us—and that we can pay for as we go along.”

The Alerce shingles change color when it rains, moving from red to grey. “It’s alive,” says Marambio.

In the living/dining area, rough-sawn wood-plank screens cover a wall of windows. The removable panels keep the space cool in summer but are taken down the rest of the year so that the sun can heat the interior. The dining table is from Restoration Hardware and the wood chairs from Barnaby.

Writer Penny Craswell explores the potential of secondhand and upcycled materials to craft new homes.

The back of the property has a relatively private feel for a downtown location. The living room opens out to the garden through two glazed walls, while the trellis cladding of the mudroom echoes the screens at the front of the home.

Bouchain designed the sleeping areas in the larger buildings with hemp, jute, and sheep’s wool as a way to enhance the property's nature-inspired aesthetic.

Stuart got the idea to install cork countertops and flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms after visiting friends in the Hamptons.

The cabin is surrounded by evergreens and poplars that help to give a treehouse experience.