From Vietnam to Japan, Tucson to Stockholm, these attention-grabbing home designs will enchant and excite.
The Stockholm archipelago is the beautiful backdrop for this equally picturesque home that overlooks the sea. The exterior derives from a number of transverse gable roofs that connect to each other to form a concrete zigzag profile. This provides a sequence of varied room heights within, breaking up the living room, which stretches through the entire length of the main building. Separating the outside from the indoors is a continuous sliding glass partition, allowing for unbroken views of the archipelago landscape. Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, www.tvark.se.
Photography Nobuaki Nakagawa.
In contrast to the snow-capped rooftops in Hokkaido, Japan, this home's 60-degree sloping roof prevents it from being 'snowed under', instead letting heavy snow fall straight to the ground. The design makes for a comfortable interior space, with large glass windows enabling a vast amount of light to flood into the home. A white-and-black colour palette delivers a sense of modernity within. International Royal Architecture, www.iraap.jp.
Photography Juliusz Sokolowski.
Bridging the gap between driveway and home is a design that melds both under one roof. The architects of this Polish home constructed two zones: the driveway space and a private garden. The driveway, which doubles as an undercover gallery, is found on the ground level and leads directly to the home's living room. The garden is lifted three metres above, overlaying the undercover tunnel that emerges from the home. KWK Promes, www.kwkpromes.pl.
Two homes for one family in the Yamagata prefecture, Japan, are seamlessly connected by their roofs – one dipping, the other slightly angular. Although their heights aren't equal, the roofs are attached smoothly with Galvalume steel sheets. On one side of the building lays a single-storey house for the family's grandparents, on the other a two-storey residence separated by a Japanese-style room and terrace that interlinks both together. Inside, exposed birch plywoods in each room support the roof during bad weather conditions. International Royal Architecture, www.iraap.jp.
Photography Mariusz Czechowicz MURATOR.
This design was originally made for two different sites – one in Pszczyna, the other on the outskirts of Berlin. The round shape of the structure allows it to fit on a site of any proportion. It consists of two storeys, the upper level accessed via a central stairway, and the interior plan is flexible and interchangeable, depending on the wants of the family. The roof can be altered to suit weather and environmental conditions. KWK Promes, www.kwkpromes.pl.
Photography Dominique Marc Wehrli.
A prominent concrete staircase leads guests up a hill to a holiday house in Corsica. Tucked below the main terrace is a guest suite with a private bath and a cellar. The home's main-level living area is sheltered behind sliding glass walls that open onto a patio, the flat layout of which boasts unhindered coastal views from inside and out. Less obvious, and built into this home's interior, are two moveable walls, which can be removed from the kitchen and bedroom, transforming it into one large, open-concept floorplan. Philippe Stuebi Architekten, www.philippestuebi.ch.
Nestled on the banks of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, the facade of this home resembles an oversized game of Connect Four. A regular pattern of large circular openings gives a decidedly sculptural appearance to the entry side of the house, echoed in smaller circles shielding the balconies. Circles are also employed throughout the interior, specifically in the screens and ceiling finishes. A white, minimalistic approach to furnishings places an extra emphasis on the remarkable view of the lake. Philippe Stuebi Architekten, www.philippestuebi.ch.
Photography José Hevia.
First envisaged as a small one-room construction to complement a large outdoor barbecue, this design soon evolved into a single-storey residence for an elderly couple and their grandkids. In a similar vein to the self-built homes of the 1970s that are found in the area, the building has an exposed brick structure – a wall made of a low-density terracotta brick acts as the longitudinal axis of the dwelling. The thermo-clay, single-leaf wall has been left exposed without any cladding or any other finish, letting it blend in with the clay bordering walls of the exterior, and acting as a feature alongside the barbecue. Pepe Gascón Arquitectura, www.pepegascon.com.
Photography Alberto Cáceres Centeno.
Architects built a home that floats among the branches of a large sapote tree, respecting the pre-existing natural environment of the site. Two exterior areas can be defined between a cosy and intimate central courtyard, with boundaries between outdoors and indoors virtually non-existent. Sticking to tradition, all exterior walls and the small circular pool are finished with polished white cement prepared with 'chucum' water, a traditional technique used in the area. Estilo archuitectura, www.estiloyucatan.com.
A green clearing surrounded by forest was the only brief given by the owners of this property near Warsaw. In response, the architects carved out a piece of the grass-covered site, raising it and treating it as the roof, while arranging all the required rooms underneath. The ground floor was made to link with the grassy roof thanks to a stairwell central to the home. The only access to the roof is via the stairs, turning the grassy top into an atrium, a newly created space that has all the advantages of an outer garden while remaining a safe, internal zone within the building. KWK Promes, www.kwkpromes.pl.
Photography Dick Duyves.
It's all about simplicity with this Dutch canal house in the centre of Amsterdam. To maximise space, the architects took out the floors in front of the large, high windows and reduced the home to two main 'rooms': the living and kitchen areas, and the bedroom. The re-designed interior boasts paper-style black kitchen fronts, wooden kitchen elements, a marble bathroom wall and a dark glass storage room. Most of the 120sqm home has been left white, so as to amplify light entering the home and to create the illusion of space. Powerhouse Company, www.powerhouse-company.com.
Local stone found in the area has been used as a stunning feature element of this home, located on a sloping site overlooking the Mediterranean. From the streetscape, the stonewall hides the two storeys of the house. An entrance porch from the street divides the house into two parts, linked by means of a central courtyard. Shape is created through cantilevered balconies and overhanging terraces, and a large, flat and open platform provides an ample entertaining space for the family and their guests. Pepe Gascón Arquitectura, www.pepegascon.com.
Photography Christian van der Kooy.
Divided into three specific sections, this home in the woods near Utrecht in the Netherlands encompasses all things 'garden' across its three main floors. From the curved basement, stairs draw guests up through a wall of shrubs to the main garden – a large expanse of green grass surrounded by luscious trees. From the backyard, the grass appears to drop in a semi-circular formation in front of the home. The ground floor's large, glass windows present clear views of the lawn and foliage beyond, while the bedrooms of the top level are set among a delicate roof garden. Powerhouse Company, www.powerhouse-company.com.
Photography Åke E. Son.
A cluster of five cabins fans out like a hand, spreading five fingers over this site in Denmark. The layout permits the use of individual private spaces (essential for the independence of the family's older children), which are united in the centre of this traditional Danish-inspired holiday home. Due to its positioning, each room has its own unique view of the garden. This classic cabin revival measures only 110sqm, meaning lower maintenance costs and ease of use, as well as a larger amount of flexibility for a growing family. Powerhouse Company, www.powerhouse-company.com.
Photography Karl Beath.
Located on the coast of La Lucia, Durban, and surrounded by protected milkwood trees, this home has been 'wrapped' with a series of bronzed anodised aluminium screens – a simple yet visually spectacular solution used to combat the unpredictable environmental conditions of the area. The screens can be configured to cocoon the structure entirely or in part, allowing for ease of access to the outdoor timber pool deck. Adding to its ingenious design are the patterns on the screens, made to reflect the property's milkwoods when shut. Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects, www.saota.com.
Photography SAOTA and John Devonport.
The material palette of off-shutter concrete, Rheinzink roofing, timber cladding, stone and exposed aggregate for this holiday-cum-family home in South Africa was chosen by the architect to ensure that the building would fade into the landscape as it ages. It was important to the client that there was a smooth connection between the site's sweeping views and the building itself. To combat the home's tendency to catch the intense rays of the sun, a mid-level horizontal sunscreen was added to the double-height glass facade, which is further protected by a timber screen that hangs into the space, acting both as a sun shield and an intricate feature. Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects, www.saota.com.
Photography Albert Lim K.S.
A series of rectilinear open shells has been used for the exterior of this house, which frames the views of a public park hidden behind its facade. The shells are stepped away from the street, which breaks up the scale of the building and allows daylight into the home. Thin steel members act as the structure, as well as the walls, floors, ceilings, roofs and windows, with clear glass panels used for the front and rear enclosures. Chang Architects, www.changarch.com.
Photography Hiroyuki Oki.
This coastal abode in Vietnam employs a material palette of wood and rock to emulate a Vietnamese rural lifestyle. Similar to the layout of a traditional small village, the home is made up of several different spaces that are isolated and connected via a dual-pitch roof. The main living areas feature stonewalls and wooden furnishings; the bedrooms, stark white walls and beautiful wooden floors and ceilings that inject a contemporary style into the design. Each room is smartly placed to have garden or sea views. A21 studio, www.a21studio.com.vn.
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