Espro Press by Espro, from $80 at espro.ca This French press coffee maker uses a patented double filter to deliver full-flavored coffee without the grit. The vacuum-insulated stainless steel keeps coffee hot for hours, making it perfect for all-nighers and other marathon study sessions. Available in 8 oz, 18 oz. and 32 oz. sizes.

Omaggio Coffee Press by Stilleben for Kähler, $125 from danishdesignstore.com Fresh brewed coffee served in a simple Scandinavian vessel. What more could one possibly want?

Bucket is currently trying to get funding for the Portland Press on the site Crowd Supply. Part of their pitch is that the Portland Press is a made-in-America product whose most delicate part is easily replaced. "The Portland Press is a french press for a Mason jar, made in the state of Oregon, out of materials sourced in the USA. It’s a simple, clean, practical design made out of fundamental materials: glass, wool, steel, wood. Most importantly, the Mason jar is easy to replace if it breaks, and the rest of the Portland Press is backed with a lifetime warranty."

The firm also designed the kitchen, which was fabricated by Thomson Cabinetry.

A small kitchenette comes complete with a cook top and oven. White oak wood flooring is used throughout, as a standard feature.

The "Tippy Cup Rain Chain" teaches the children about water conservation.

Visitors scale a series of outdoor staircases that wind their way up the structure. Volume and Studio Terpeluk turned the risers into a teaching moment about energy use and the impact of every day activities.

Mithun designed the tree house so that it would tread lightly on the land. The firm originally considered prefabricating the entire structure offsite but, in the research process, concluded that craning large modules into place would potentially harm the canopy. A combination of a bolted-together prefab structure and site-built wood housing yielded the least intrusive construction option. The Summit Bechtel Reserve is located in West Virginia's coal mining country. The architects looked to the local structures—bridges, mining apparatus, and other industrial buildings—to inform the tree house's design. A 166-ton Cor-Ten steel megastructure supports the 125-foot-tall building. The use of regionally appropriate materials, like steel and black locust wood, was important to the architects.

Mithun wanted to engage the scouts with all elements of the forest: the floor, the canopy, and a perspective above the tree tops. In one of the viewing rooms, visitors get the feeling of being fully surrounded by leaves.

The structure's mission is to teach visitors about the environment and sustainability. San Francisco–based studio Volume designed the exhibition program, which offers interactive displays about water conservation, energy use, recycling, and more.

Set on a 12.7 acre lot in the rolling forests of Columbia County, New York, the Gefter-Press House was designed by Columbia University professor and architect Michael Bell as a private haven.

Accessible by a winding gravel-and-dirt road, the 2,400-square-foot sanctuary feels deeply secluded, yet is only two hours from New York City. Click here to learn more or schedule a visit.

The kitchen features an array of modern appliances by brands such as Sub-Zero, Gaggenau, Miele, and Bosch.

Unlike other French presses, whose coffee cools quickly, the wool cozie on the Portland Press ensures another layer of insulation, and a better chance that cup number two from your pot won't be lukewarm.

The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home forms a natural enclosure around a gravel courtyard, perfect for outdoor dining during warmer months.

"The story about french presses always breaking and then you're without a coffee maker, is something that we'd really like to express to people," says Kappa. "We really think this product, despite it's initial cost, solves a problem and saves people money in the long run." He and Story expect the press to cost $119.

Bodum Bean French Press in orange, $29.99.

Charm Cards by Egg Press.

With every material and system in the self-sustaining six-story, 52,000-square-foot Bullitt Center evaluated toward the goal of net-zero energy, water, and waste, this Seattle office building is the largest certified Living Building.

The plan of the Ames center.

Archtober kicked off Building of the Day, a 31-day tour that highlights impressive architecture from all five boroughs, with the Collaborative Research Center at Rockefeller University. The modern biomedical research center features an airy seven-story atrium designed by Mitchell | Giurgola Architects.

One of Brooklyn's most acclaimed theater companies, the Theatre for a New Audience recently relocated to the Polonsky Shakespeare Center, an H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture–designed structure worthy of the troupe's reputation.

Wrapped in white and blue Carrarra marble, this public center has been called one of Aalto’s most important works in Germany, boasting a roof terrace that plays off the idea of a public square.

The Brooklyn Expo Center is the show's new home.

The Pompidou Center in 1977. Image copyright Martin Charles, courtesy of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Dedicated in 1897 as Chicago’s first public library, the Chicago Cultural Center‘s scholarly opulence more than fits in on Michigan Avenue. On an architectural level, the Beaux Arts-influenced design is as ornate as they come, complete with grand, red-carpeted staircases, Romanesque arches, and the largest Tiffany glass dome in the world, measuring 38 feet across. In addition to its intrinsic attraction, the center is one of Chicago’s most visited museums and features an eclectic array of art exhibits, live music, and dance performances. Admission is free. Photo by: Susan DeMark

Model of the center's floorplan.

One-inch-thick slate clads the fireplace in the living room, which opens to a terrace. The reclaimed coffee table is by Scott Chambers.

Bar

Four-year-old Ian plays in the courtyard, which is the center of family life in warmer months.

In the kitchen, custom cabinetry conceals a plethora of appliances for a streamlined look, including two integrated Liebherr refrigerators, one integrated freezer, one Eurocave wine cabinet, and two Blum Space Towers. The island is faced with gray birch veneer, and the sculpture is by Jeff Thomson.