The 16,000-square-foot home base for the Boston Society of Architects features a grand green staircase that connects levels and is visible from the exterior.

The building was built in 1910. "It’s a pretty raw space with rough exposed brick, barrel vaulted ceilings, original hardwoods, and exposed ducting," Greenawalt says. "We tried to use industrial materials—stainless steel, perforated steel, brick—in a more refined way for the kitchen."

Architect Grant explains that the recessed orange wall with built-in storage shelving is a counterpoint to the view of Boston in the opposite direction.

To update the kitchen for this apartment in the Leather District, Chris Greenawalt of Bunker Workshop and contractor Michel Beaudry created a clean-lined space. The space is designed to accommodate the client's busy schedule, which affords him little time for cooking.

During the renovation, Grimley and Smith added built-in storage to keep clutter in check.

Boston Public Library in Boston, USA-Opened in 1848, the Boston Public Library is the second largest library in the United States, with over 24 million volumes. It was also the first public, free-to-all library, and the first to lend books out to patrons. So, if you've ever had to pay a 13-year-old library fine for those Goosebumps books you borrowed when you were 11, you know who to thank. Photo: R..D

The backyard sports a sequence of raised flower and vegetable beds and two green roofs—one atop the workshop and other atop the back entrance.

Lineal Comfort stools upholstered in white leather by Andreu World sit across from turquoise glass vases from Neiman Marcus. Cumar supplied the white carrara marble for the island.

Linens from Society Limonata hang in the shop.

Makeshift Society is opening a Brooklyn outpost in early 2014, which will feature co-working spaces for creatives.

A Boston loft in a former textile factory receives a minimal, efficient kitchen at the hands of Bunker Workshop. In the kitchen, the island features a stainless-steel countertop with a gas cooktop, oven, and a brick half wall.

Architect Brian Zulaikha.

The Asia Society Texas Center, which was established in 1979 in part by former First Lady Barbara Bush and former Ambassador Roy M. Huffington, is today housed in an otherworldly, Yoshio Taniguchi–designed building. The Japanese architect is best-known for his renovation of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

A Coral pendant lamp by David Trubridge hangs in the dining area.

A floor plan shows an example of the space's configuration.

Here's a snapshot of the 1,000-square-foot San Francisco location.

To allude to the nearby ocean, the architects designed a seaweed patterned for the interior of the garage door (seen here raised). It successfully reads like a leather padded wall and makes “the cube” feel that much more customized.

Oman and his partner Andrej Gregoric had the cupboards, stairs, and bed all custom-made. The interior casework provides storage and adds warmth to the concrete walls.

The home's exposed concrete skeleton, wrapped in oak, creates a warm, layered space for living. Oman split the floors by function, with common areas on the ground level, followed by the kids' rooms and then a third-floor suite for the parents.

Felt-covered sliding doors made of acoustic substrate separate the children’s room and living area.

The office, which is also Lily’s room, features a Babyletto crib and a Smileywalls wall decal applied atop Normandy paint from Benjamin Moore.

In renovating the 90-square-foot kitchen of a Boston apartment, architect Chris Greenawalt drew upon both spatial and material solutions to create a pleasing and wheelchair-accessible space to accommodate all three of its tenants.

Since a sophisticated, modern look was imperative to the architectural design, the same was expected of the furnishings. A B&B Italia Charles sofa, chaise lounge, and Piccola Papilio chairs fill the living room. Trípode Floor Lamps by Santa & Cole frame the sofa.

Boston's E+ // 226-232 Townhouses were created as a replicable prototype for family-friendly, energy-efficient urban townhomes under the City of Boston’s Energy Plus (E+) Green Building Program.

The facade of a house in Belgium consists of "knitted bricks." “In this part of Belgium, 90 percent of the houses are built with brick,” says architect Tom Verschueren. “It’s a classic material that we tried to use in House BVA in a totally different way.”

The seeds for Frank Lloyd Wright's collaboration with prefab builder Marshall Erdman were planted when Erdman hired the architect to design the First Unitarian Society meeting house in Madison, Wisconsin. [Photo credit courtesy The Kubala Washatko Architects (TKWA) via ArchDaily]

Trinity Church, Boston, Massachussetts (1877) H.H. Richardson, a singular individual who made a practice of wearing monks' garb on a daily basis, created the Trinity Church in a style that became known as 'Richardsonian Romanesque'. The structure's rounded arches, broad earthbound tower supported by four piers, and articulated masonry, signaled an optimism and exuberance for solidity that has been repeated in churches and civic buildings across America.

Owner-architect Lyle Bradley moved the stairs in his home against a party wall, and a new skylight above the staircase now bathes both floors in natural light. In the living room, the stair's lower step reaches out to form an arm, while the ascending stairs create a natural incline for cushions.

Lyle Bradley spent years of weekends and evenings resurrecting an East Boston structure using his carpentry skills, repurposed materials, and clever space-saving interventions. The revitalized 800-square-foot residence joins a rejuvenated backyard, where Bradley’s wife, Kara Lashley, and their daughter, Lily, pose next to Bradley’s new freestanding workshop.

Sleek Architect’s Home (Sydney, Australia) Providing a modern update to the predominantly Victorian style of surrounding suburban homes in Paddington, this urban home is bathed in natural light during the day and offers the respite of a Japanese garden on property.Listing at Architect's Own Central Sydney Home

One-Family Custom Housing: Olson Kundig Architects created this home in Washington's remote Methow Valley as four structures oriented around a central courtyard, each positioned to best enjoy the surrounding vistas in all four seasons.

Architect Tom Kundig’s assignment was simple enough: Build a tiny, Thoreau-like getaway for an Atlanta-based writer who owned ten acres on San Juan Island in Puget Sound. "The idea was not to clutter anybody’s thinking, especially a writer’s," he said. So he designed a 500-square-foot retreat that’s both womblike and open to its surroundings.

A custom table surrounded by NET’s Museo chairs and poplar stools provides a space for the Sarmiento Tovo boys, Manuel, 5, and Julián, 3, to play with the toys their mother makes.

Designed by Boston-based architect Sebastian Mariscal, this house, which celebrates the best of Californian indoor-outdoor living, was designed to frame views of the trees and the surrounding landscape.

“The entire house is unified with oak flooring with a custom warm gray stain. This material is repeated on the stair and atrium handrails,” Walker said. The entryway’s bench has a custom Tabu Caleidolegno veneered wood base. The upholstered bench seat, which uses black Kravet fabric, was designed by Ruhl Walker Architects and made by Herrick & White.

With 5,000 square feet on the ground floor, the structure boasts two capacious exhibition spaces, which the couple use to show their own work, as well as rent out to others for private events.