Green

A small box atop the home looks out onto a green roof, designed by local landscaping firm Toits Vertige.

The large patio leads to a newly landscaped back garden. An expansive glass wall promotes seamless indoor-outdoor living. Inexpensive brick pavers were chosen for the rear patio; they offer textural contrast with the steel of the door, brick of the rear facade, and pale gray wood of the interior floors.

Redesigning the cramped bathroom was one of the project’s biggest challenges. The original space had small and dated bath fittings, as well as intrusive plumbing pipework. The entire bathroom was taken down to the studs and pipes were redirected. The chimney was removed from the adjacent bedroom, increasing the available interior space. The tile floor in the bathroom is the only new flooring in the entire house.

Throughout the home, the original strip-wood floorboards were preserved and painted a soft, muted gray. The cool tones of the kitchen are punctuated by a bright yellow children's table by the bay window.

The superimposed images of the furniture look slightly surreal, as expected, but the ability to furnish a room with multiple items and choose from such a large array of brands makes it superior to the Home Depot’s similar app.

Covered with wire mesh, the green roof will continue to vegetate over time.

Reso Armchair by Skargaarden "Thin, wiry steel chairs are comfortable to sit in and work both indoors and outdoors," Hesser says. "This one is elegant—I love the fan shape of the back. You can imagine the Farm Table paired with either [the green or yellow chairs]."

CLOVERWARE LITE UTENSILS San Francisco outdoor gear company Alite just released these nifty camping utensils made from BPA-free recyclable nylon. A spork, knife, and cooking tool all in one, the implement is heat-safe up to 400 degrees, won't scratch non-stick cookware, and can be cleaned in a dishwasher.

TriScale Compact Folding Digital Scale by Joseph Joseph, $30 Cycle between weighing your ingredients in fluid ounces, grams, pounds, and millimeters, all displayed on an LCD screen. An integrated tare function deducts the weight of a container from the gross weight of what’s on the scale. When you’re finished cooking, it folds up to fit in a kitchen drawer.

Stick with a classic red, black, or mint green Smeg (pictured) $1,999

"This is the Beauvoir House, located in Las Flores Canyon in Malibu," says Bruce Bolander. "The color was influenced by the color of the new growth on the chaparral that surrounds the house. The house and kitchen are both very small; the house is about 1600 square feet."

One of the main goals of the construction was to do as little harm as possible to the existing environment, which includes waterways that salmon depend upon. Herrin and his team created a garden roof that covers the full extent of the home to meet this objective. “This helps control storm water runoff and also replaces lost insect habitat—insects being a critical food source for juvenile salmon,” he says.

"Turntable" slatted table.

Green tea and a sweet for a guest.

Onstage, Design Prize Switzerland representatives Michel Charlot, Beat Karrer (of FluidSolids), and Rolf Senti (of Bagno Sasso Mobili/Swiss Eco Tap) will explain their surprising concepts and how good design can benefit our environment. Pictured, a FluidSolids stool.

The Bruno sofa by Jasper Morrison for Maruni. See it at Salone in Hall 6, Stand D33.

The relationship between interior and exterior becomes crucial in the articulation of the residence.

Another view of the upstairs hallway, which features bamboo flooring. Photo by Ken Pagliaro Photography.