Mint green-painted ironwork and tiles connect the indoors to the outside more fluidly.

The Max-A studio is also built with a pine frame, though it has pine panelling on the ceiling, while the main house ceiling is painted a warm white.

In Palm Springs, Sander Architects created an energy-efficient hybrid prefab home that’s designed to stay naturally cool in the desert heat, which often climbs to triple digits in the summer.

“Exposing the craft and detail of the materials was a key part of the design,” Flato notes. The texture of the house, he says, can be observed in the concrete retaining wall for the lap pool.

Wright Feldhusen Architects designed this house for a client that loves to swim. A lap pool connects the home to the ocean that lies beyond the property in Maroubra, Australia, a suburb of Sydney.

The lap pool, off the kitchen, is one of the home's most serene zones.

The home's abundance of glass creates a peaceful dialogue between the indoors and outdoors.

The pool feels as laterally finite as the house feels spacious—but the view goes up forever.

Sphinx, the family Carolina dog, scouts the perimeter of the Concrete Collaborative pavers in the backyard. The pavers were installed on a slight angle to channel water to the surrounding gravel, lawn, and planting beds. This substantially lowers the landscape's water demand. Perforated PVC pipes and a pump move excess rainfall (which would otherwise go to storm drains) into an underground basin where it can later drain off. Redwood fencing reflects the material palette of the interior and creates visual continuity around the backyard.

Wood decking extends out to the yard.

Cliff Dwelling | Olson Kundig

Amending Meeuwissen’s early request for an open bathroom space, the architects devised a more private chamber with an overhead skylight and walls in stone tile from Intercodam Tegels.

Day takes a swim in a new lap pool framed by a lush Southern California garden. The lower wall next to the pool is made from stacked Pennsylvania bluestone, which was used for all exterior stone as well.

Mila designed the home’s concrete pool, which is finished with a custom plaster. The pool area includes sleek chairs from Cast + Crew.

The addition’s roofline rises northward to capture daylight through a series of operable skylights.

After - living room (Rubio monocoat floors, Chantilly lace walls, used fireplace)

In this Australian project, a resort-worthy swimming pool sits beside the industrial-chic kitchen and living area. It's a joy to swim in, of course, but the body of water also provides evaporative cooling for the courtyard.

The skylight above the pool is an odd shape, one Corral describes as a "rectongulus." It’s this spot, in a home full of beautiful moments, that she likes best. Above you is the sky. The rammed earth surrounds you, the view is in front of you, and the shadows of the trellis dance on the gentle waves of the turquoise pool. "It’s the place where you have all the connections," says Corral.

99 by Von Tundra and Lydia Cambron $13,000 Oregon-based Von Tundra’s unit combines three different storage options—a rack, drawers, and boxes—into a multipurpose dresser.

“The main volume presents a traditional front and is wrapped on the west and south by a deep porch,” says architect Erin Sterling Lewis. “Living and dining spaces access the porch.” A standing seam metal roof with a Kynar finish and HardiePlank Lap Siding cover the exterior of this 3,000-square-foot home.

“The owners envisioned a place that engaged with the outdoors while providing accommodating spaces for their off-season training for triathlons,” Flato notes. A 75-foot-long lap pool on the west end of the home comes in handy during practice.

On the north side, you’ll find the lap pool which runs 10 feet deep to accommodate one of the homeowners, who insists on entering the pool with a dive every time.

Lodged in a hillside along the arid U.S.-Mexico border, an earthy family home absorbs grand vistas of El Paso, Texas, as well as Juárez, Mexico. A lap pool extends toward a canyon.

The study faces the pool area.

The pool juts out perpendicularly from the main house; the land was bulldozed to become level with the concrete pavers.

During the day, the pool enlivens the exterior with its dappled reflections; at night it casts a soft glow.

The Armadillo is parked on a 1,000-square-foot lot that gives the couple ample outdoor space.

The terraces offer its owners many different outdoors spaces where they can enjoy varied perspectives of nature around them.

A pool and outdoor lounge area that's shaded by trees.

HardiPlank lap siding wraps around the exterior of the home, while a combination of mahogany and cement-board rainscreens provide contrast.