Local studio Bloco Arquitetos has completed a house in Brasília surrounded by brick screens and wide entry portals that open up the central courtyard to the exterior.

Known as Casa Tupin, the 420-square-metre (4,520-square-foot) residence is rectangular with a large central courtyard.

The 2025 house, set in a gated community 20 kilometres from Brasília, was designed to integrate the interior and exterior with the courtyard, which functions as both the leisure space and the connective core of the home.

"A house without windows, that is a window itself – rather than opening punctual views, the project seeks to transform the entire architectural body into a mediator between interior life and the surrounding landscape," Bloco Arquitetos told Dezeen.

"This approach results in a building that engages the environment through performance rather than transparency," the studio said.

Instead of large expanses of glazing, the vertical planes between the raised concrete slab and deep roof structure are coral-coloured brick – arranged as solid walls or breeze block-like screen – wrapping the house in texture and filtered light.

Selected for durability and composition consistency, the brick and concrete protect the interior from excessive heat. The restrained palette allows light, shadow and time to become part of the architecture, the studio explained.

"This porous facade acts simultaneously as solar protection and as a permanent ventilation filter, allowing air to flow in all directions throughout the house," the studio said.

"All spaces are organized in relation to this system, which integrates structure, climate control and spatial experience into a single architectural strategy."

The circulation, living spaces and private areas are arranged to maximise cross ventilation and the idea of the house as a continuous architectural experience that follows the structural logic of the design.

Supported on 12 pillars, three-quarters of the plan is elevated above the ground to pull natural ventilation beneath the house, preserve the existing topography and allow the native plants of the Brazilian savana – or Cerrado – to grow beneath the residence.

"This elevation also allows the native small animals from Cerrado – mostly lizards and burrowing owls – to move freely between the outside garden and the inner courtyard," the studio said, noting that the layout also allowed for the preservation of an existing tree at the centre of the courtyard.

Suspending the house and detaching it from the ground helped the designers connect the spatial concept with the environmental goals.

"This structural clarity allowed the building to appear both stable and light, reinforcing the idea of elevation as an architectural and environmental strategy," the studio said.

"Another key achievement was reversing the perception of transparency – although the house appears closed and opaque from the outside, the interior is open, fluid and visually expansive."

Other recent residential projects that use screens for ventilation include the renovation of a Puerto Rican home by Paul Raff and a woven timber home in Goa, India, by Field Atelier.

The photography is by Joana França.

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The Tampa Bay Rays professional baseball franchise has restored the roof on its St Petersburg ballpark in time for the 2026 MLB season home opener in Florida.

Over 100,000 pounds of fibreglass membrane have replaced the roof of Tropicana Field, which was damaged by Hurricane Milton in October 2024. The roof was left in tatters in the wake of the powerful storm.

While the Rays relocated to George M Steinbrenner Field – the New York Yankees' spring training facility in Tampa – for the 2025 MLB season, an international team of consultants set to work repairing the damage and outfitting the stadium with a new roof.

A joint venture between AECOM Hunt and Hennessy Construction Services interfaced with the City of St Petersburg, Florida and led the design-build of the roof replacement.

The new fibreglass membrane panels were designed and produced by German manufacturer Serge Ferrari Group, with Enclose Tensile Structures assembling and installing the panels and Geiger Engineers overseeing the architectural engineering and structural integration of the roof system.

The roof features 24 panels – each weighing approximately 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilogrammes) – of Serge Ferrari Group's Tenseo Xtrem GF 7000, a high-performance fibreglass composite membrane produced from specialised fibreglass yarns and PTFE coating membrane rolls.

The new membrane had to integrate seamlessly into an existing structure while still meeting stringent wind and safety requirements.

The roof was engineered for long-term durability with an expected lifespan of 20 years and resilience against severe weather events.

In addition to the roof replacement, the stadium underwent several interior repairs and improvements, including the installation of new artificial turf, a new sound system and video board upgrades, the replacement of backstop netting and outfield wall padding and repairs to interior finishes, seating, lighting, locker rooms and clubhouse spaces.

The completed project comes on the heels of an announcement about a new stadium for the Rays.

Set inland from the current location to reduce the chance of future storm damage, the proposed 31,000-seat stadium and its corresponding mixed-use district are slated to be designed by Gensler and Populous and would open in 2029.

Other recent MLB projects include the ongoing construction of a new "armadillo-shaped" stadium designed by BIG for the Athletics who are relocating to Las Vegas and a baseball academy designed by Jones Haydu and JMF Arquitectos in the Dominican Republic for the Miami Marlins.

The photography is courtesy of Kailey Tracy and Serge Ferrari Group.

Project credits:

Client and project manager: City of St. Petersburg
Lead contractor and design-build partner: AECOM Hunt / Hennessy Construction Services (Joint Venture)
Roof system design: Serge Ferrari Group
Roof system manufacturing and installation: Enclose Tensile Structures (ETS)
Architectural engineering lead: Geiger Engineers
Coordination: Tampa Bay Rays, Major League Baseball
Environmental oversight: Greenfield Environmental, Inc.
Project funding: City risk management, insurance partners, FEMA coordination teams

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Local studio Benjamin Hall Design has attached an accessory dwelling unit made of concrete block to an existing house to accommodate a multi-generational family in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Known as Moon Valley Residence, the 1,756-square-foot (163-square-metre) dwelling was designed to intentionally contrast the original 1970s suburban main home, set in a golf community that looks eastward to a rock formation called Lookout Mountain.

Completed in 2025, the ADU shares an access door with the main house, but maintains self-sufficiency and privacy both spatially and from the curved wall that shields the dwelling from the cul-de-sac.

Constructed with grey concrete masonry units (CMU) as both the exterior and interior finished material, the accessory dwelling unit (ADU) draws inspiration from studio founder Benjamin Hall's childhood memories of travelling through the Southwest US with his father.

"We explored the ancient Native American ruins called Montezuma Castle – this experience subconsciously embedded itself into my thinking of this project," the founder of Benjamin Hall Design told Dezeen.

"It was used as a reference on scale, stacking forms and how to mitigate the desert's natural heat and light by undulating mass and aperture."

Set lower than the profile of the main house, the ADU is composed of four volumes with apertures strategically carved out to curate views of the surroundings.

"These four rectilinear volumes each identify themselves at different elevations," he said. "On the interior you can feel the scale – compression and release – of each of the volumes and their relationship with the body and program of the space."

This passes to the second volume, containing a living room and kitchen with a view of Lookout Mountain. A glazed interstitial volume leads to the sleeping quarters with a guest suite and a primary suite with another private patio.

The first volume connects the ADU to the main house via a wedge-shaped dining space with sliding glass doors that open to a private patio.

The layout allows a retired couple to age in place privately while directly connected to their children and grandchildren who occupy the main house.

In addition to strategic spans that allowed for self-supporting masonry ceilings, the continuous material of the CMU block required all of the utilities to be contained within built-in millwork.

"The integration of utilities is carefully moulded into the cohesive strategy that embeds itself into the thickness of masonry and the mailability of concrete," Hall said.

"You will notice that no outlets reside in the masonry and the day-to-day haptic experience with the architecture – light switches, door pulls, countertop surface – are embedded into the experience of engaging with the architecture."

Other residential projects recently completed around Phoenix include a weathering steel micro-building by Kendle Design, a Corten cabin designed to act as a telescope by Wendell Burnette Architects and a white ranch house styled after its mid-century modern neighbors by The Ranch Mine.

The photography is by Logan Havens.

Project credits:

Architecture: Benjamin Hall Design
Contractor: Rare Form Builders
Structural Engineering: Structurology

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Local design practice Studio Blur has created a concrete building with a sawtooth roof for the visual arts department of a school in Quito, Ecuador.

Known as Aulas de Arte at the Unidad Educativa Cardenal Spellman, or the Visual Arts Building at the Cardinal Spellman Salesian Bilingual School, the 142-square metre (1,528-square foot) project opened in 2024 on a 3-acre plot that already contained a classroom building, church and gymnasium.

The three-storey, wedge-shaped building allowed for an adjacent green space that reinvigorated and reconnected the campus.

Studio Blur's design was informed by modernist architect Le Corbusier's design for the house and studio of Amédée Ozenfant, a 1922 Paris building that has inspired architects such as Juan O'Gorman and David Chipperfield.

"There must be something profound in that foundational work that continues to justify its study," the studio told Dezeen.

"We hope that through this reference, one may discern an echo of what our art building aspires to be – and perhaps, a trace of that inspiration which once guided us."

Like the Ozenfant House, the arts building is driven by natural lighting that creates unique atmospheres for different activities at distinct times.

"This dynamic interaction between light and architectural structure generates rich environments that enhance the sensory experience while reinforcing the narrative," the studio said, explaining that the monolithic concrete structure and strategic openings allowed it to animate the building from the thresholds.

The plan is organised around a diagonal axis with a basement containing service spaces that look up and out to the stepped garden. The ground floor contains a graphic design classroom with controlled openings that maximise natural light and ventilation while minimising external noise.

Meanwhile, the crowning upper level houses a painting studio with diffused, homogeneous light that filters into the space through a large bay of windows and three saw-toothed skylights.

Each of the floors is connected by a rounded double-run staircase that loops across the intersection of the arts wing and the classroom building, bridging the new and old structures with white, speckled terrazzo.

The exterior of the building is exposed concrete, expressing the interior form and structural logic. Two post-tensioned slabs leave the interior of the classrooms open for use.

"The exposed concrete structural system not only addresses the project's structural challenges and trapezoidal floor plan but also minimizes long-term maintenance costs," the team explained.

The natural wood floors of the graphic design classroom and soft grey floors of the painting studio are subtly raked, cascading down to a teaching or display area.

"The project's greatest success lies in its genuine connection with the children who inhabit it," the studio said.

"By prioritizing experiential richness – through intentional natural light, quality materials and carefully calibrated spatial proportions – the architecture became an integral part of their daily lives and learning."

Other public projects recently completed in Quito include a hillside pavilion for mountain bikers by URLO Studio, a children’s play area in a museum placed in a historic factory by Morphism and a restaurant with a rippled, reflective ceiling by Felipe Escudero.

The photography is by JAG Studio.

Project credits:

Architect: Studio Blur
Contractor: Studio Blur
Project team: Aurelio Peñaherrera, Juan Sebastián Cardona, Darwin Sánchez
Structural engineer: Momentum
Mechanical engineer: HYDROGROUP
Electrical engineer: IESCO
Client: Sociedad de Madres Salesianas

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A large angular roof structure hovers over an open-air market in Valledupar, Colombia, designed by Colombian outfit Tarq Studio, acting as a signpost for the community gatherings and commerce it shelters.

The 3,057-square-metre Plaza Luna Vallenata opened in 2025 as the second largest market in the city.

Created as the first public facility by Tarq Studio, which has offices in Bogotá and Santa Marta, Colombia and Miami, Florida, the building's design drew on observations from Valledupar's existing market.

"We weren't looking for formal references, we were trying to understand the everyday dynamics: the flows, the heat, the conflicts, the informal ways people occupy space," Eduardo Torrente, founder and head architect of Tarq Studio, told Dezeen.

"The goal was not just to design a market, but to create a place where people could stay, meet and feel that the architecture belongs to them."

"That process reinforced the idea that architecture can become a form of social infrastructure when it responds directly to lived realities rather than abstract assumptions," he continued.

The rectilinear building is centred around a large covered plaza that prioritises social space in between eight bays of commercial stalls.

In addition to supporting local farmers and ranchers who can now sell goods without intermediaries, the plaza allows for the interactions from the stalls to expand beyond each space and prompt community gatherings that might not have a home in the peripheral neighbourhood.

The upper level – accessed by two circular staircases on the short end of the market – features restaurants and local kitchens that activate the building beyond market hours, continuing those communal connections throughout the day.

Oriented north-south, the building uses passive ventilation rather than mechanical cooling to accommodate the hot climate of Colombia.

Permeable facades and brick screens – as well as large geometric funnels in the roof trusses – capture air from the nearby Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains and pull it through the market.

The monumental roof is lofted over the stalls on a grid of large, tree-like columns.

"The large permeable canopy not only provides shade but also regulates airflow, light, and scale across the entire market," Torrent said.

The metal structure – painted a soft gold tone that complements the white of the floating stalls – is paired with technical wood-finish panelling to add warmth to the building palette of precast concrete and masonry, selected for longevity.

"The main challenge was designing something innovative while ensuring that it could be maintained over time within the realities of public infrastructure," Torrente said.

"The building needed to perform well climatically, remain economically sustainable and be constructed with durable materials that would age well."

Other markets built over the last few years in Latin America include a market with a wave-like vaulted roof in Quintana Roo, Mexico by Aidia Studio, a shopping centre with inverted, pyramidal umbrella roofs in Matamoros by Colectivo c733 and a food market with floating white forms in Morelia by HW Studio.

The photography is by Mónica Barreneche.

Project credits:

Architects: Tarq Studio — Eduardo Torrente (Design Director), Andrés Pinzón, Nicolás Suárez, Nathalia Crosby
Client: Gobernación del Cesar
Public relations: Mónica Barreneche, El Buen Ojo

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Canadian studio Ravi Handa Architect has completed a cedar-clad house that fits into its wooded setting on the shores of a lake in Quebec.

Known as Maison du Lac Perdu, the 1,694-square-foot (157-square-metre) house was informed conceptually and physically by the four-acre site in Wentworth-Nord in the Laurentian Mountains.

Architect Ravi Handa, who is based in Montreal, took a phenomenological approach to site analysis, sleeping on the property, walking the land and observing hunting and animal trails, sun paths and elevation changes.

"Walking those trails as they looped through the woods, I was fascinated by how the landscape reveals itself in fragments. I wanted to design a house that mirrors that discovery," Handa told Dezeen.

"It is an object that resists immediate comprehension from the exterior, but provides total clarity the moment you step inside. It begins as a mystery and ends as an observatory – quite like the forest itself."

The single-storey house rests on a plateau, unfolding into two volumes that open views to the landscape, connect to existing circulation routes and work around the site's topography and mature trees.

The misalignment of the rectangular forms gives the exterior complexity, with the shapes funnelling visitors toward the entrance at their intersection.

A narrow vestibule bridges the two volumes and separates the private areas on the southeast from the public areas on the northwest.

Handa explained that the house doesn't reveal itself all at once – due to its lack of primary facade – but is understood by exploring the building, whose weathered red cedar cladding will gradually patina to grey, blending in with the silver bark of the surrounding forest trees.

Large, south-facing openings bring in soft, even light throughout the day and offer a view across the patio, between conifer trees to the lake.

On the north side of the house, high-set windows provide views of the surrounding tree canopy while preserving privacy in the sleeping areas of the home.

"The roofline echoes the steep descent of the escarpment toward the water, allowing prevailing winds from the lake to pass over the building rather than meet it directly," the studio said.

On the inside, the logic of the low-lying building is clearer, with clear sight lines and delineation.

"Inside, the experience is altogether different. The program becomes clear and deliberate," the studio said.

"This interior sequence guides the eye outward, toward the landscape. The first encounter with the lake occurs only after crossing the threshold."

Handa said the project's greatest success was the coordination of the mechanical system with the contractor and HVAC subcontractors. The team consolidated the intakes and vents and concealed them behind a single wood screen.

The resulting space allows the interior palette of white flat ceilings, wooden end walls, sloped ceilings and concrete floors to remain undisturbed.

Some of Handa's previous designs include a compact cedar cottage near Brome Lake, his own wine bar called Stem in Montreal and an L-shaped home with barn influences designed with AAmp Studio along Lake Ontario.

The photography is by Félix Michaud.

Project credits:

Architect: Ravi Handa Architect
Contractor: Construction K Laporte
Structural engineer: Geniex

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Canadian studio Montgomery Sisam Architects has designed a university research and teaching centre with an exposed mass-timber structure that contributes to its ambitious net-zero carbon and energy goals in Oak Ridges Moraine, Ontario.

The 2,680-square-metre (28,860-square-foot) University of Toronto Koffler Scientific Reserve is set on 350 hectares just outside of Toronto.

Montgomery Sisam Architects, which is based in the city, completed the research and teaching facility for ecology and environmental biology in May 2025. The client's scientific pursuits informed the design.

"Researchers there study the smallest changes in organisms to understand systems at a global scale, and that relationship between the micro and the macro became the lens through which we evaluated every design decision," Montgomery Sisam Architects principal Robert Davies told Dezeen.

"We wanted the architecture to mirror that interplay, to feel deeply rooted in the landscape while remaining highly attuned to the kind of careful observation and inquiry that happens inside."

The studio drew inspiration from the area's ecological and agrarian history, dropping a barn-like form gently on the site, aligned with cardinal directions to accommodate sun, wind and rain.

With cladding and detailing that echo vernacular architecture – as well as covered walkways, deep overhangs and glazing – the building is designed to be both durable and inseparable from the woodlands and fields.

"The result is an architecture that feels native to its site and deeply responsive to the rhythms of the landscape," the studio said.

Constructed with an exposed mass-timber structure that defines the project's identity and adds warmth to the interior, the U-shaped program is a place for students and researchers to live, gather, eat and collaborate.

One arm of the plan is composed of five four-person sleeping quarters along a corridor with an amoeba-like bubbled shower facility in the corner. On the other side of a central courtyard, a large bay contains spaces for teaching, study and gathering.

Off to the side of the dark-coloured, solar array-topped building are a series of small seasonal bunkhouses, arranged in a rectangle.

"Architecturally, the two lantern-like roof forms draw light into the interior and create a beacon-like presence in the landscape, marking the building as a place of gathering and shared discovery," the studio said.

"The entire campus – from the seasonal bunkies to the outdoor circulation spaces – radiates outward from this central anchor."

High-performance enclosure systems, low-embodied-carbon material, and carefully integrated operational efficiencies support the project's net-zero carbon and energy targets while accommodating the needs of an environment for living, learning and research.

"The building needed to be comfortable year-round, durable, low-maintenance and deeply sustainable, all while remaining sensitive to its ecological surroundings," the studio said.

"Achieving this balance required extensive data-driven analysis and close collaboration to ensure that every design decision – from building siting to material selection – supported both environmental and functional performance."

Other recent higher education projects include an engineering building with a folded form at Penn State University by Payette, a science center with rippling stone panels at the University of Oxford by NBBJ and a mass timber student center at Harvard by Studio Gang.

The photography is by Doublespace Photography.

Project credits:

Architecture: Montgomery Sisam Architects
Structural consultant: Blackwell Structural Engineers
Mechanical, electrical, Sustainability Consultants: Introba (formerly Integral Group)
General contractor: Van Horne Construction Ltd.

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Local architecture practice Studio Arthur Casas has used dramatic cantilevers and overhangs to extend the volume of a house with wood and stone accents across a site in São Paulo, Brazil.

Completed in 2025, Grama House spreads across an acre corner lot with a sawtooth edge that allows the program to recede across the site.

"In this house, the inspiration came from the site itself – a corner lot with open views and no immediate visual obstructions – and from the desire to create an architecture that spreads out and breathes," studio principal Arthur Casas told Dezeen.

"We worked with horizontal planes and interlocking volumes that extend toward the landscape, allowing the house to settle naturally into the terrain."

The expansive program – totalling 1,800 square metres (19,375 square feet) – features a ground floor that holds service spaces and a garage topped by a massive indoor/outdoor upper level where the rest of the programme takes place.

The ground level includes the large garage to house the client's car collection. The upper level contains the sleeping suites, lounge area and an office that cantilevers 11 meters over the home's entrance to form a porte-cochere.

This office is suspended by steel trusses fixed to 50-centimetre square columns.

"This space constitutes the project's main structural gesture," the studio said.

"The technical complexity was heightened by the fact that the greatest live load is concentrated at the cantilever's extremity, where fixed millwork is located, demanding rigor in both detailing and execution."

With the interplay of volumes and cantilevers, the residence functions primarily on one level for easy, everyday mobility.

The material palette aims to establish continuity between the exterior and interior with metal, a rough-stone and plaster mix, and Accoya wood on the outside, transitioning to European oak and textured paint on the inside. Rough stone with plaster defines both the facade and the inside walls.

"This choice reinforces material unity and constructive coherence throughout the residence, while creating a balance between structural robustness and sensory comfort," the studio said.

Motorised brise-soleils spread throughout the house, drawing natural light and air through the spaces.

"The cantilever, the split levels and the brise-soleil filtering the light are not formal gestures – they are precise decisions to frame views, bring light deep inside, and make the landscape an active presence in daily life," Casas said.

"The result is a house that is clear, ventilated, and truly alive in the family's routine."

Established in 1990, Studio Arthur Casas has a team of architects, designers and urbanists that work across São Paulo, New York and Lisbon.

Previously, the studio created a holiday home topped with a grass roof to blend in with a surrounding golf course, designed a prefabricated home with SysHaus to avoid "negative surprises" during the construction project and completed a transparent house with sliding glass walls that open the spaces entirely – all in Brazil.

The photography is by César Béjar Studio.

Project credits:

Author: Arthur Casas
Interior manager: Eduardo Mikowski
Decoration manager: Gabriel Contreira
Illustration and interior architect: Amanda Tamburus, Augusto Godoy, Natalia Lorenzoni
Collaborators: OM Studio; Rodrigo Oliveira; Benedictis; Zamaro; LogiProject; Noise; Florense; Akkerman
Contractor: TNC Construções
Consultants: Fort Real Estate; Construplena
Suppliers: Lapa Garden; E-light; TAAG; Unibox; Assistec; MC Movelaria; Taniguchi); RCA; CBP; Terracor; Allform; Amazona; Core

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Local studio Bloqe Architectura created a four-bay apartment complex with a series of barrel-vaulted spaces that open up to rooftop gardens overlooking Mexico City.

Known as Mariano Azuela 194, the narrow building sits in a mid-block infill site in the historic neighbourhood of Santa María, which is characterised by late 19th and early 20th-century architecture.

"The architectural vocabulary of its large manor houses – their openings, proportions and canopies – led us to design a neutral, timeless element that could enter into dialogue with its context," Bloqe Architectura told Dezeen.

"At the same time, we wanted the project to evoke quiet and retreat toward the interior through a sequence of patios."

Vertical windows and a dark-coloured garage door mark the narrow, street-facing facade, with upper balconies set behind large concrete dividers in a sand-coloured finish.

Behind the facade, the four-story project is organised into four compact blocks, separated by three interstitial patios and each topped with a barrel vault that runs parallel to the street.

Two rounded staircases separate the first and fourth bay, providing access to each of the apartments via latticed vertical circulation. One of the vaulted spaces contains a spiral staircase that cascades in green metal to the apartment below.

Crafted with locally sourced materials and artisanal techniques, the project maintains a natural-toned colour palette with earthen wall finishes, handmade bricks and domestic marbles.

The materials work "in harmony with the character and richness of traditional Mexican architecture," the studio said.

Bloqe Architectura called out the barrel vaults as the greatest challenge during the project's construction, wiht each requiring special arch-shaped formwork to create the thin concrete shell.

One side of each barrel ends in a wooden storage wall that conceals a small bathroom, while the other opens through an arch glazing wall to a large square terrace.

The rooftop terraces open to the cityscape with an urban atmosphere, while the interstitial patios on the ground level are quieter, private spaces.

The vegetated spaces serve as mediators between the interior and exterior, while also providing passive lighting and ventilation throughout the building.

"We believe it's important to create architecture with a timeless language expressed through natural materials, the use of natural light and traditional elements such as lattice screens, courtyards, handmade brick and precise geometries," the studio said.

"The architectural language of the project responds to the urban complexity of the site, which led us to create a historical continuity in the façade and an urban continuity through the barrel vaults in the roof gardens, resulting in spaces to contemplate the urban context."

The earth tones, embedded garden strategies and breezy staircases of Bloqe Architectura's design appear in other recently completed Mexico City apartment complexes, such as a timber apartment building with a "vertical garden" and a rounded triangular tower, both by CRB Arquitectos.

The photography is by Andrés Cedillo.

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Local architecture practice Urlo Studio has based the design of a concrete-and-wood pavilion for cyclists on ancient Andean lookouts, embedding it in a sloped site outside of Quito, Ecuador.

Known as Pamba Bike Refuge, the 900-square-metre (9,675-square-foot) open-air structure serves as a shelter from the harsh Andean climate for people using the bike park that runs down Pambamarca Hill in Ascázubi, Ecuador.

The refuge is placed so that park users will naturally wander into it.

Urlo Studio, which has offices in Quito, Ecuador and Valencia, Spain, placed the pavilion between the earth and the forest, using tinted concrete and a permeable wooden structure to mimic its surroundings, integrating into and engaging with the landscape rather than imposing itself on it.

The monumental concrete forms were informed by the ancient architecture of the mountainous region.

"The solid volumes on each side are reminiscent of ancient pucarás – Andean stone structures that served as housing or lookout points," the studio told Dezeen, noting that the dogtrot-like form allows for views of the mountain behind the structure and the bike tracks in front of it.

The concrete volumes on either end – one holding a reception area and bike shop, and the other a small restaurant cafe – bookend the resting area in the centre with picnic tables, planters and sunken seating areas.

The earth-toned pigment of the concrete reinforces the idea that the refuge belongs to the land, while the metal-framed openings bring natural light into the sober interior spaces.

"The openness of the structure invites riders to use a dynamic space where they can wander seamlessly between inside and outside without barriers, making it easier to move around with their bikes."

Mass-timber wooden elements form the canopy structure suspended between the concrete elements, with several paved paths leading into the rest area, which is enclosed only by a waist-high glass partition wall.

Beyond support, the wooden beams form porticos, giving the structure a rhythm.

"The laminated-wood roof is conceived as a light and rhythmic element, composed of six robust porticos that support both front and rear overhangs, blurring the boundary between interior and exterior," the studio said, noting that nearly-invisible tempered glass cascades down the front facade, protecting occupants from weather without breaking the visual connection to the landscape.

The resilient materials will stand up against the harsh equatorial sun, rain and strong winds over time.

The colourful interior vegetation – including ferns, philodendrons and yellow lilies – and warm wooden structure provide a contrast to the hard concrete. Outside, native species such as myrtle, white straw and cat's tail trees surround the refuge.

Building on an off-grid site required the team to consider the logistics of material, personnel, water and electricity during construction – a particularly meticulous task given the project's "tight budget".

"Throughout the design process, we learned how to make design choices that aligned with the client's budget without harming the overall concept," the studio said. "Working within a tight budget encouraged us to find more creative solutions, ultimately resulting in a space where riders can rest comfortably while still moving freely during their stay."

Urlo Studio was founded in 2017 by Natalia Hidalgo, Francisco Moratal and Diego Puente to blur the lines between architecture, planning, building and social impact.

Previously, the studio created a red-pigmented housing complex on a triangular site in Quito and a glass and aluminium sports club on Mocolí Island in Samborondón, Ecuador.

The photography is by JAG Studio.

Project credits:

Architect: Urlo Studio
Contractor: HeH Constructores
Structural engineering: AP Ingeniería Civil
Electrical engineering: Microcircuits
Sanitary engineering: RA – Respuesta Ambiental
Timber structure: Sebastián Ponce
Suppliers: Diacomet, ER Servicios, Maderoble, FV, Hormipisos, Hormisuelos Cía. Ltda.

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Local studio Design Alliance Architects included stained-glass windows in a sculptural concrete chapel with eight massive curving walls in St. Louis, Missouri.

Known as the Chapel of the Risen Christ, the 8,554-square-foot (795-square-metre) building by Design Alliance Architects sits within Resurrection Cemetery and features landscape architecture by SWT Design.

Completed in 2025, the chapel comprises eight curved concrete walls that soar 50 feet (15 metres) above the ground and are both structural and symbolic of the resurrection of Christ, according to the studio.

"The curvature of the walls expands concentrically toward the nave, symbolizing the spreading of the Gospel," the studio told Dezeen. "Their deliberate fragmentation alludes to the broken body of Christ on the cross, a central tenet of Christian theology."

The design team selected the brutalist style to honor the solemnity and solitude of the site, while having the concrete into the sky to direct viewers' attention upwards, in line with the religious purpose.

Raw concrete allowed the exterior of the chapel to remain "pure", the team explained, to embody rest and permanence.

Inside, the space is shaped by the concrete ceiling, which arches from 9 feet above the ground to 30 feet (2.7 to 9 metres) over the altar, representing Christ's ascension.

"At this location, the ceiling ascends to its greatest height, emphasising the altar's prominence and creating a sense of vertical transcendence," the studio said. "From this central space, concentrical walls radiate outward, reinforcing the altar as the organising principle of the entire project."

A round skylight shines natural light down to the altar and along the curved walls, changing constantly throughout the day.

The elliptical space transitions from the narrow narthex, through the wider nave and back to a narrow altar with a gallery, pieta, tabernacle, storage and service spaces flanking the curved walls, where natural light streams through stained-glass windows.

"This gesture not only enhances the spiritual atmosphere but also allows a series of stained-glass windows to animate the interior with color and luminosity, reinforcing the chapel's role as both a sacred space and a vessel of light," the studio said.

The floor and altar are composed of exposed concrete, while acoustic plaster covers the side walls and technical systems.

Woods were integrated to provide warmth and contrast and to "balance austerity with a sense of human presence", according to Design Alliance Architects.

The design's combination of exposed concrete and stained glass is unique in St Louis.

"While the city has a handful of concrete buildings – often museums that emphasise straight, planar walls – it is unusual to encounter a brutalist structure here that employs curved, soaring walls as its defining gesture," the studio said.

"That sense of monumentality could easily feel austere, yet the introduction of stained glass transforms the experience, animating the surfaces with colour and light."

Other recently completed structural chapels include a tiny aluminium-clad chapel on a New Zealand hillside by Bull O'Sullivan Architecture, a tunnel-like concrete chapel in Indonesia by RAD+ar and a chapel made of stone pillars in Germany by Christoph Hesse Architects.

The exterior photography is by Roman Rojas and the interior photography is by Sam Fentress.

Project credits:

Architect: Design Alliance Architects
Landscape architect: SWT Design
Structural engineer: Larson Engineering
Contractor: BSI Constructors Inc.
Stained glass: Emil Frei & Associates
Liturgical design: Studio Totus
Lighting design: RBLD
Acoustic design: McClure Engineering
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer: Solutions AEC, LLC

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Local outfit Fabrication Studio has completed an accessory dwelling unit in a private garden in Toronto, clad in copper so that the building can "register time alongside the trees".

The 60-square-metre (645-square-foot) ADU, known as Copper House, was completed in 2025 on the edge of the quiet Sunnybrook Park neighbourhood in Toronto.

The client enlisted architect François Abbott and his practice Fabrication Studio, which specialises in ADUs and garden units, to create a place where their grown children could visit, while maintaining privacy and independence.

The self-contained guest house, designed to blend in with its landscape, is set along a line of trees that shade the private lot from the adjacent public park.

"We were interested in building something that felt clearly contemporary, yet capable of belonging to the site over time," Abbott told Dezeen, noting that copper appears throughout the neighbourhood in the form of gutters and roof details, weathering in shades of brown and green.

"It offered a way for the building to register time alongside the trees."

The bright and reflective material – placed in vertical panels along the walls and overhanging roofline – will soften as it is exposed to the elements and will colour, mirroring the cycle of plants throughout the year.

Abbott selected wood finishes for a similar reason, wrapping each facade opening in a warm, natural finish.

"Rather than fixing the house in a single moment, we wanted it to participate in seasonal and long-term cycles – to begin new, but carry the potential to age quietly into its surroundings," the studio said.

The single-storey building rests on helical piles, lifting it slightly higher above the ground than a traditional foundation. This allows air and water to move below the house and protects the root systems of the surrounding trees.

"The raised base draws the underside into shadow, giving the volume a sense of lightness," the studio said.

On the interior, a monolithic wooden core holds the kitchen, bathroom and storage space with the rest of the program encircling it. On one side, the living space opens to the garden with bifolding glass doors, while on the other side, the bedroom is more private with deep window frames that play with light and shadow.

"Copper House recedes quietly into its setting – a deliberate and modest structure that supports the landscape and the lives unfolding within it," the studio said.

Abbott explained that a high level of trust between the client and the architect allowed decisions to be made quickly and for construction to proceed smoothly.

"Moving forward, we hope to continue fostering that kind of working relationship – one where the building can respond carefully to its setting and to the lives it supports," he said.

ADUs are popping up all across North America as homeowners look to increase the capacity of their properties.

In Austin, Specht Novak created a corten-steel ADU with no exterior windows. Outside of Pasadena, Cover Architecture designed a white concrete ADU to "challenge" the 1961 main house and in Austin, Moontower Design Build constructed a plant-based ADU out of cork products.

The photography is by Alex Lesage.

Project credits:

Architect: François Abbott - Fabrication Studio
Construction: SevernWoods Fine Homes

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Ecuadorian studio Al Borde Arquitectos has completed a compact laboratory in the Amazon using vaulted adobe construction for local community research to "break external chemical dependency".

The Witoca Lab was completed in February 2025 in Huaticocha, Provincia de Orellana, Ecuador. The 46-square metre (495-square foot) research facility is located in the buffer zone of the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve.

The lab produces antagonistic microorganisms that discourage pests from damaging the Amazon's coffee and cocoa production.

Its location within the Ecuadorian Amazon allows the Witoca community to assume a strategic role in the region and protect local farming operations.

Rather than being open for ventilation like much Amazonian architecture, the laboratory is closed off with vernacular materials to protect the delicate biological research within.

Using local soil and following the natural topography, the lab minimises its environmental impact while meeting the high-tech standards of its program.

"The design provides a hermetic, biosecure environment by utilizing the high thermal mass of adobe vaults as a passive engine," Al Borde Arquitectos, which is based in Quito, Ecuador, told Dezeen.

"This system naturally stabilises interior temperatures for microorganism production, meeting strict technical requirements within the extreme Amazonian climate."

The building consists of a raw-earth structure with an exterior asphalt membrane to protect against tropical rains finished with washable paint on the interior to meet laboratory hygiene standards.

Three symmetrical, parabolic arches intersect to form a Y-shaped plan. The east-facing vault serves as the main access point, while the other two are separated off for reproduction and incubation, converging in the center for the primary laboratory space.

"The layout is driven by sterilisation and biosecurity flows," the studio said. "This modular arrangement ensures the strict isolation of biological processes while maintaining a domestic and rural scale."

Structural engineer Patricio Cevallos and master builder Miguel Ramos trained local farmers on-site to construct the specialised earthen vaults in the humid jungle without technical literature.

"We developed soil mechanics protocols for Amazonian clay and validated the Lak'a UTA structural system – originally developed by architect Raúl Sandoval – which is built without formwork," the team explained, noting that it used a scalable construction technique that can be adapted for larger-scale infrastructure.

While Al Borde provided technical stewardship, the lab was a community-led initiative for Witoca's productive project, and its greatest accomplishment is the confirmation that architecture can be a tool for territorial sovereignty, according to the studio.

"Success lies in the community's autonomy," the studio said. "They now operate the facility to produce their own bio-inputs, breaking external chemical dependency."

Founded in 2007 by David Barragán, Pascual Gangotena, Maríaluisa Borja and Esteban Benavides, Al Borde Arquitectos is an award-winning studio working to design energy-conscious projects.

Previously, the studio completed an observation deck with a cement-coated canopy overlooking the Cerro Blanco Protected Forest, a rammed earth-and-glass house outside of Quito and a renovated 18th-century home with suspended sleeping spaces in La Esperanza.

The photography is by JAG Studio.

Project credits:

Architects: Al Borde
Collaborators: María Fernanda Heredia, Emilie Spitz, Javier Almendarez, Carolina Quishpe, Andrea Raos
Structural engineering: Patricio Cevallos
Construction: AsoAmazonas & Al Borde
Commissioned by: Witoca
Supported by: CEFA Ecuador (Comité Europeo para la Formación y la Agricultura), FIEDS (Fondo Ítalo-Ecuatoriano para el Desarrollo Sostenible) & Alstom Foundation

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Taller General has completed a brick-and-heavy-timber house that plays on an A-frame system with glass walls to give residents a view of the surrounding volcanoes in Machachi, Ecuador.

The 300-square metre (3,230-square foot) house, known as La Miradora, sits in Ecuador's central highlands in the páramo ecosystem at 3,400 metres above sea level.

Located on the highest point of an elongated plot, the 2024 design looks out on a large ravine, meadows and volcanoes.

"La Miradora is a house that emerges among volcanoes," Quito-based Taller General told Dezeen. "We seek to observe the surrounding landscape from every room."

The rectangular house blends a gable roof and an A-frame structure with longitudinal walls that splay out, supported by 10 large wooden ribs. Set on a 2.5-metre module, the ribs create long porticos under the overhanging eaves.

"The porticos are composed of four pieces with different inclinations that converge upward to provide greater shelter on the upper floor," the studio explained.

On the north side, the portico rests on a brick base that negotiates the slope of the land to create a partially embedded lower floor.

On the south side, the ribs transition to metal and dig into the ground away from the exterior wall, allowing for a long ramp to run alongside the house.

The ground level of the house contains a single-car garage, wet areas and two sleeping spaces that look out through a wall of windows on the west side. These lower rooms can be opened for guests.

The second level serves as the main residence with an open-plan kitchen, living and dining area and a private suite that is divided by a heavy brick wall.

"Since most of the house is on the upper floor, a ramp provides direct outdoor access, allowing you to walk around and enjoy the view," the studio said. "Located on one side of the house, this covered outdoor walkway creates a smooth transition between the interior and exterior."

The uppermost level breaks the angled outline of the house with a vertical tower. Accessed by a black metal, spiral stair, the loft area directs attention to the north with a wider view.

The sloped roof is a sandwich of exposed wood – an interior ceiling that carries over the black window frames to the soffit – and square red tiles that continue the appearance of the brick to the top of the house.

Selected to respond to local climate and contexts, the home's material palette consists of raw materials – metal, wood, ceramics and masonry – relying on detailed craft.

"Materials are used in such a way that they do not require additional finishing, thereby reducing construction waste," the studio said, also noting the use of solar panels and a water purification system. "The proposal responds to what we believe responsible architecture should be."

Recently, Taller General teamed up with ERDC Arquitectos to create a vaulted brick "bread oven" house in Quito. Nearby in Machachi, Diez + Muller settled a concrete house in the Andean landscape.

The photography is by JAG Studio.

Project credits:
Architect: Taller General
Collaborators: Santiago Leon, Cerrotecec, Las Manos Sucias
Structural calculation: Miguel Morales
Construction manager: Taller General

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New York studio WaCa Design and local studio Julia Kosciuk Arquiteta have used local materials and low-carbon methods for an expansive waterfront compound in Santa Catarina, Brazil, which bridges the beach and mountainous landscape.

Designed by New York City-based WaCa Design with Brazilian studio Julia Kosciuk acting as the architect of record, the Rochas Floridas Beachside Compound was completed on a sprawling rocky site outside of Florianopolis, Brazil.

Spanning 8,000 square feet (743 square metres), the private residence was informed by two primary elements: the landscape that sweeps down a steep, rocky slope to an expansive view of the ocean and the embodied carbon of each material. It features a series of boxy forms that radiate out like a shell, protruding outwards and upwards from the hill.

"The formal design frames views, encompassing ocean vistas in one direction and boulders amidst tropical gardens in the other," WaCA Design founder Walter Cain told Dezeen. "Roof angles are oriented to maximise solar collection, while deep overhangs provide shade and large windows capture ocean breezes."

The team pulled some materials from the landscape – including granite from the site. It also utilised slate blocks from a nearby quarry, Brazilian hardwood and salvaged items to reduce the carbon costs associated with manufacturing and shipping.

"Every surface of the house, inside and out, expresses these materials," the team said.

The team also salvaged materials from the owner's childhood home that were reused – like the front door, floor tiles and plumbing features – or repurposed – metal details transformed into railings and rain chains and flooring that became the dining room table.

Every material was chosen for its low embodied carbon (LEC) footprint, according to Cain.

"We actively avoided using reinforced concrete and minimized metal fixtures wherever possible," Cain said, explaining that designing with LEC materials goes beyond sustainability to foster differentiated architecture.

"In this project, focusing on LEC materials required innovative workarounds – designing doorknobs without metal, detailing all wood windows that can withstand harsh ocean-front conditions, repurposing closet doors as headboards, designing visually porous railings from reused steel and recycled plastic rope, and on and on," Cain continued. said.

"Figuring out these workarounds was a lot of fun for me."

The main house is split into three floors that descend down the hillside.

Accessed by descending an outdoor staircase made of stone, the top floor contains the entry, primary suite, a home office and guest room space – as well as the swimming pool and pool pavilion that maximise ocean views from the high vantage point.

Below, the main social spaces include an open kitchen, dining room and living room that open to outdoor terraces on the second level. The lowest floor houses two guest suites and a home theatre.

"The level's organization responds to the steep site, adding features that mimic the natural water flow such as cascading rainwater systems, waterfalls, natural pools and water gardens," the team said.

Held together by the multi-story staircase, the design's section is defined by split roof forms that follow the slope of the hill, define the individual interior spaces and direct views through floor-to-ceiling windows outward to the water.

"Slate block structural walls are all exposed on the interior – a brutalist aesthetic – juxtaposed with warm tones of Canela preta salvaged hardwood covering floors, walls and ceilings," the team said, explaining that the exterior is wrapped in sustainably harvested tropical hardwood from the Brazilian Amazon.

Other residences recently completed in Brazil include a cross-laminated timber, modular house by Nitsche Arquitetos outside of São Paolo, a screened vacation home by Estudio Rossi Arquitetos in São Sebastião and a contemporary cabin by Cornetta Arquitetura in the Atlantic Forest.

The photography is by Pedro Kok.

Project credits:

Design architect: WaCa Design
Architect of record: Julia Kosciuk
Construction manager: Engenho Construindo com Arte

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Denver-based studio Tres Birds Inc has completed a compact, gabled home using salvaged library fittings and material from a bowling alley in Boulder, Colorado, revealed exclusively on Dezeen.

Known as the Iris Residence, the 2,572-square-foot (240-square metre) single-family residence sits on a newly subdivided, interior portion of a 10,144-square-foot (942-square metre) lot.

The low-energy home uses materials pulled from the client's previous office location, which Tres Birds Inc, formerly known as Tres Birds Workshop, designed in 2015 – an archival library for Shambhala Publications entirely out of maple plywood.

When the business relocated to a smaller office in 2021, the shelves and furniture were put into storage for future use, finally finding one with Iris Residence.

The residence is situated along a busy avenue, but the design refocuses spaces inward and shields the interiors from street noise.

It is situated in a flood zone, which adds additional challenges to building on the site.

"The most significant challenges were navigating local zoning constraints and meeting the minimum elevation requirements of the site's designated flood zone," the studio told Dezeen, noting the deep concrete base on which the house sits.

South-facing windows bring light into the linear house, while a south-facing courtyard provides a protected outside space, shaded by double-height columns that turn upwards to form the slats of a lanai.

The grey-toned exterior requires little maintenance with vertical plank siding and a standing seam metal roof. On the interior, the salvaged materials were used to create new spaces.

Downstairs, a west-end garage leads to the library and guest room that pass into the primary bedroom on the east end of the house.

The two-storey library leads up to the public areas of the home via a staircase with wood from a burned sugar pine forest.

Upstairs, flooring from a bowling alley was transformed into shelving from the kitchen and living room that sit within the gable roof profile.

An oblong table made for the original office from boxcar train flooring is the centre of the dining space under green pendant lamps.

A second guest room sits on the eastern end of the floor, overlooking the private patio space.

"Through intentional design and efficient systems planning, the project achieved a HERS score of 10 at completion, and to date has been producing more energy than it consumes, while also being gas-free," the studio said.

The all-electric home functions off a 6.2-kilowatt solar panel system mounted to the south side of the roof.

With energy-efficient appliances and LED lighting – as well as a properly sized Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) – the home's mechanical systems and upcycled materials combine technology and character.

Founded in 2000 by artist Michael Moore, Tres Birds previously created a Japanese restaurant topped with a soil-free greenhouse and a large mixed-used development with reclaimed metal, both located in Denver, as well as a Douglas fir-wrapped museum for Wisconsin artists in Sheboygan.

The photography is by Mickkail Cain.

Project credits:

Principal: Michael Moore
Architect of record: Douglas Newby
Project manager: Grealing Altheimer
Structural engineer: Gebau Inc.
Surveyor: Flatirons Inc.
Geotechnical engineer: Triax Engineering LLC

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Costa Rican studio FAMM Arquitectura has created a coastal house that features overhangs and a central brick volume and was designed around preexisting trees on the site in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica.

Aptly named Casa Tres Pochotes, the 440-square metre (4736-square foot) house sits on a 2-acre site with three large pochote trees that drove the design.

"They gave us the orientation, the rhythm and even the spirit of the project," said San Jose-based FAMM Arquitectura on the trees' role in the project.

"Our goal was to design a home that felt completely tied to its place, where the climate, the landscape, the lessons of Costa Rican architecture and the materials guided our decisions."

Completed for one of the studio's cofounders, the house keeps the trees in focus at all times, with rooms looking out to or wrapping around them. Terraces and balconies frame the trees while using their canopies to shade outdoor gathering spaces.

"Because of this, the house feels naturally integrated with its surroundings and not just placed randomly on the land," the studio said.

"Rather than forcing a form to the site, we tried to let the site speak first and used a palette of materials that acknowledged some of our favourite features of vintage Costa Rican design," the studio said.

"The result is a house that is in a harmonious dialogue with the land and respects and understands the way life happens in the tropics."

The team used pochote wood siding to clad the exterior, as it is a water-resistant, local material that ages well. A white brick volume sets off from the rich wood tones and complements the exposed concrete beams, columns and walls that express "strength and simplicity" according to the studio.

Selected for durability and natural beauty, teak transfers from the soffit outside to the ceiling inside, where red pigmented cementitious urethane flooring adds to the material palette of wood and concrete.

"This combination of wood, concrete, glass and red accents creates a warm, modern, and grounded atmosphere that reflects both a respect for traditional Costa Rican building and a reinterpretation of tropical contemporary design," the studio said.

"The use of local materials also reduces environmental impact by minimising transportation. The design avoids unnecessary surface treatments, which saves resources and keeps the materials honest."

The white brick central volume separates two wings of the house that extend outward toward the trees, which provides an organising system. The living room and terraces are located in the site's most breezy and shaded portions, while the private sleeping quarters were oriented for light and ventilation.

"This approach helped the design feel natural and logical, because every part of the house has a clear purpose and connection to the environment," the studio said.

Large windows, shaded by the roof's deep overhangs, open the rooms to views and cross breezes.

Also in Playa Hermosa, Formafatal designed twin villas made out of rammed earth. Other projects recently completed in Costa Rica include a doughnut-shaped courtyard house in Carate and a series of hotel pods in Sardinal – both elevated on columns by Studio Saxe.

The photography is by Thibault Cartier.

Project credits:

Lead architects: Felipe Apéstegui, Mariano Mesalles
Project architects: Luis Diego Benavente, Andrés Hartman, Karina Odio, Kenneth Thompson

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Canadian studio Akb Architects has designed a white, hilltop house that "dissolves into the snow" in Mono, Ontario, acknowledging the vernacular architecture while implementing contemporary tactics.

Known as Timbertop House, the 2650-square-foot (245-square metre), gabled home sits on an elevated clearing on a 200-acre property owned by a single family for multiple generations.

The land, affectionately called the Rolling Hills of Old Ontario, was cleared and farmed in the 1800s. The original farmhouse was removed, making way for the new residence surrounded by forest.

The 2024 design draws inspiration from the site's agricultural history, in which white, gabled farm structures were built with a constrained silhouette to accommodate the harsh winter.

Akb Architects, which is based in Toronto, updated the utilitarian form with an asymmetrical roofline that ascends sharply from the open field and descends gently to the forest.

Rather than deep overhangs, the roof's edge is flush with the outer walls, reducing potential snow sag and allowing insulation to carry from the wall to the roof.

"Referencing the architectural past context and reinterpreting it in a contemporary way creates a deliberate tension in the architecture that's both modest and bold at once," said Akb founder Kelly Buffey.

The studio used pre-painted white board-and-batten siding rather than opting for a dark finish to reduce solar heat gain and ensure low maintenance long term.

According to the studio, the white colour also creates pleasing seasonal effects.

"This duality also plays out across the seasons. In winter, the house almost dissolves into the snow, while in spring, summer and fall it becomes a beacon, standing out against the changing colours of the landscape," said Buffey.

The single-storey, rectangular plan prioritises practicality.

The entry at the northwest corner of the house is anchored by a mudroom and laundry. It then opens to a large, vaulted communal space. An open kitchen and living area hold the centre of the plan with a large screened porch on the southwest corner.

Sleeping areas with three children's bedrooms, a central bath and a primary suite comprise the eastern portion of the house.

The long southern wall is made up almost entirely of full-height sliding glass doors that open to a large deck that runs around three-quarters of the house. Concealed by snow in the winter, the deck offers a direct connection to the landscape in the summer.

At the northeast corner of the house, a four-season spa area offers a moment of relaxation with a custom hot tub set in a cedar bench.

"Part of our mandate from the client was to design a home that feels easy and relaxed, is efficient in its layout, and has a strong connection to the outdoors," Buffey said.

"Keeping everything on one level grounds the building in the vastness of this 200-acre property, simplifies circulation and creates seamless, direct connections to the outdoors and the land itself."

Oak and concrete floors, Japanese tiles and custom Corian vanities fill the interior.

Founded in 2004, Akb previously designed a cluster of cedar buildings surrounded by water on an archipelago in Pointe Au Baril, a blackened wood home and boathouse in Muskoka and a monochromatic ski chalet in the Blue Mountains.

The photography is by Félix Michaud.

Project credits:

Architecture, interiors & furniture curation: Akb Architects
Akb Architects: Kelly Buffey, Robert Kastelic, Donald Peckover, Tim Wat, Nicky Bruun-Meyer, Katie Godfrey, Aaron Finbow
Construction: Cliff & Evans
Structural engineering: Kieffer Structural Engineering

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Seattle-based studio Wittman Estes has created a low-profile house separated by a lush garden from an adjacent workshop building, all designed to work with the rainy climate of Snohomish, Washington.

Known as the French Creek Workshops House, the 2,471-square-foot (230-square metre) residence is complemented by a 1,471-square-foot (137-square metre) workshop that has space for waving, glass blowing, furniture making and other artistic pursuits.

The private home for a newly retired couple sits on a 4.5-acre site that was once used as an animal sanctuary beside a wetland.

"Conceived as a serene retreat immersed in nature, it offers comfort and beauty throughout the seasons – sheltering its occupants during the cool, rainy months and opening outward during the dry, warm season," Wittman Estes said.

A corrugated metal roof with deep overhangs shades the wood-clad exterior and large windows that open the interiors up to the central courtyard.

This intermediate outdoor space progresses from a welcome garden, through a series of ponds, to an elevated pathway that runs along the main house.

Founding principal Matt Wittman explained that the movement of rainwater drove the form of the design, drawing inspiration from ancient Roman impluvium and routing water into reflecting pools.

"When it rains, water cascades over the roof edges, sheeting gently into the garden," Wittman said. "Instead of working against the climate, we expressed it – so the owners can engage with it."

The single-level house is designed for ageing-in-place and multigenerational living with wide doorways, flush thresholds and sandblasted concrete floors that were cast-in-place with hydronic radiant heating.

The gentle terracing allows the house to fit into the sloped terrain.

Slatted wood screens fabricated by the residents enclose the exterior loading dock on the driveway side of the workshop and filter light into the living room.

"Interior materials balance artistry and practicality, emphasizing natural warmth and durability," the studio said.

"Locally sourced fir and cedar complement terrazzo and concrete surfaces, while reddish-brown soffits and a vivid blue kitchen wall introduce a playful note."

The workshop building, which contains multiple studios to cater to the residents' crafts, is positioned to minimize noise of both its contents and the adjacent highway, creating a serene, secluded living environment.

The shed roof lifts up for clerestory windows on the north side that draw even, diffused light into the studios.

"They wanted the home to be an expression of who they are," Wittman said. "Now, they can live and create side by side – gracefully and seamlessly."

Founded by Matt Wittman and Jodi Estes in 2012, the studio designs projects that are connected to nature.

Recently, Wittman Estes completed a rapid assembly fire station in Rancho Mission Viejo, California, a courtyard house based on Chinese principles of garden design in Seattle and an elevated extension to a 1940s beach house in Hood Canal, Washington.

The photography is by Andrew Pogue.

Project credits:

Architecture and interiors: Wittman Estes
Wittman Estes design team: Matt Wittman, Jody Estes, Ashton Wesely
Landscape: Wittman Estes
Structural engineer: Josh Welch Engineering
Builder: MRA Builders
Civil engineer: Jennifer Argraves, LPD Engineering
Geotechnical engineer: Adam Gaston, Geo Group Northwest

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An adaptive reuse museum in Quito, Ecuador, has debuted a children's exhibition space that centres play and exploration at the core of early childhood development, under the direction of international design studio Morphism.

The installation, called Awawa, opened in August 2025 at the Interactive Museum of Science, which is located in a former textile factory from the 20th century in Quito's Chimbacalle neighbourhood.

Designers Aquiles Jarrin and Bernardo Jarrin, under the coordination and creative direction of Morphism, created the 1500-square metre (16,145-square foot) indoor playground with kinetic elements and metaphorical considerations, emphasising the "experimental" elements of play.

"Awawa is inspired by nature as a structure for learning, by the tree as a metaphor for growth and life and by myth as an open narrative framework," the designers told Dezeen. "Rather than understanding the space as a conventional exhibition, the project was designed as a habitat where play operates as a process of experimentation and discovery, placing the body, emotion and imagination at the centre of early childhood learning."

The organisation of the areas – such as a wooden tunnel modelled after a fallen tree trunk, a spiral structure of colourful ropes that evoke a liana vine and a large slide with hexagonal elements like a wasp hive – doesn't have a set objective or order, but allows children to learn as they play.

"The spatial configuration responds to the scale of the child's body and their modes of movement, integrating areas of calm, zones for slow exploration and spaces for more intense bodily action," the team said.

"This diversity of rhythms allows for different moments of play and emotional states, supporting both collective experiences and individual relationships between each child, the objects and the space."

With materials selected to trigger processes rather than stimulate entertainment, the smooth wooden play structures and high-resistance polyester ropes add warmth and tactility under the wood-framed sawtooth roof of the original factory, while spongy rubber flooring and rhythmic paint contrast the rough brick walls.

In addition to the EVA tatami mats, mirrored acrylics and folded metal structures, the team integrated recycled wooden elements from the factory's former looms.

This worked to infuse the material history of the building into spatial and play elements.

"The absence of hierarchical routes, the atmospheric work with wood and colour, the integration of recycled materials with historical value and the understanding of play as a process of appropriation transform the space into a spatial laboratory for early childhood," the team said.

"Collective and individual experiences coexist, allowing each child to build a personal relationship with the space and its objects."

Other recently completed children's museums and play spaces include a cloud-like children's museum in Texas by Snøhetta, an interactive museum modelled after a Midwestern machine shed in Nebraska by HDR and a tactile play space at the New York Met by KOKO Architecture + Design.

The photography is by JAG Studio.

Project credits:

Coordination and creative direction: Morphism
Design: Aquiles Jarrin and Bernardo Jarrin
Museography and graphic design: Karina Barragan
Production: Proyectil
Executive design: Paulina Flores
Client: Fundación Museos de la Ciudad de Quito

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US architecture studio Forma has completed a cedar-clad, cube-like house that changes appearance based on angle and lighting on a gently sloping hill in the Hudson Valley.

The 1,474-square-foot (137-square-metre) residence was designed by Forma principals Miroslava Brooks and Daniel Markiewicz, who wanted to build a country weekend house for their own use.

The three-bedroom, three-bath home sits on a compact 700-square-foot (65-square-metre) space within a nine-acre wooded property in Hillsdale, New York.

It was designed to stick out from the landscape as "art" while having minimal environmental impact.

"With minimal impact to the environment, this singular artistic gesture stands off from the serene landscape that envelopes it," the studio said.

"This house is a piece of art. It engages with the picturesque countryside in which it sits through carefully calibrated design moments inside and out."

Set in a small hilltop clearing accessed by a private driveway, the house looks out to the Catskills to the west through vertical windows and the Berkshires to the east through pentagon-shaped windows.

The angle of the cedar siding changes as residents circumvent the house, with vertical planks on the west facade, which sits firmly on the ground, and diagonal boards on the east facade that correspond to the way the house lifts up on angled legs to create a covered patio.

While the majority of the exterior cedar is blackened for a dark contrast to the surrounding landscape, the walls of the patio were left in their natural, warm hue.

This brings out "the innate texture of the cedar planks, appearing as if 'carved' from the volume of the house," the studio said, adding that it wanted the structure to appear scaleless, like a sculpture, on the site.

All three floors of the square floorplan are split in half – one side shared public areas, the other private sleeping areas.

A private suite pairs with the covered deck on the ground level, while a smaller bedroom and ensuite share the second level with a double-height living room and kitchen space. Above, a third suite looks out to the west.

"The vertical layout and minimized foundation drastically cut costs without sacrificing livability or aesthetics," the studio said.

In the main room, a contemporary fireplace, embedded into the countertop millwork, pulls the living and dining spaces together while combining functionality across the east facade. The compact kitchen faces north of optimal daylighting.

Skylights were positioned strategically, such as above the bed in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

"This home is a creative response to real-world constraints – a blend of idealism, pragmatism and design ingenuity shaped by pandemic-era realities," the studio said. "It's a story of first-time homebuilding that reflects broader shifts in how Americans are thinking about space, location and lifestyle in a post-COVID world."

Skyrocketing construction costs and labour shortages prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic led to years of redesign, multiple sets of construction documents and a slog through contractors – as well as both family and firm expansions – extended the project for nearly five years.

Other houses recently completed in the Hudson Valley include a cross-laminated timber house with classing used by early settlers by nArchitects, a white, gabled house on a hilltop by Solk Architecture and a blue, L-shaped house for a collector by Steven Holl.

The photography is by Devon Banks.

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Mexico-based Worc Studio referenced familial traditions and shared experiences at Savvia in Mexico City, placing a circular, communal table, inside a historic structure in the city's core.

The 153-square-metre (1,646-square-foot) restaurant is located in the mid-20th-century residential Humboldt building in the Centro Histórico. .

The studio said the exposed concrete of the structure opened up the possibility for adaptive reuse within the understated architecture.

For the interior build out, the study referenced historical "acts of sharing" and lineages of food as the main themes.

"The architecture responds to the act of sharing, drawing inspiration from our own family stories and the way food can gather people across time and generations," said Worc Studio, a Mexico City- and Madrid-based practice run by Ricardo Martínez and Camila Ureña.

WORC Studio opened up the ground-floor restaurant to the street, so that the "city's texture" could play a role in the scheme.

"The large opening to the exterior allows the city's texture, light and sound to softly enter, while the material palette echoes the muted tones of its surroundings," the studio said. "It's both an extension of the city and a refuge from it, a dialogue between interior intimacy and exterior vitality."

The primary room is focused on a large red stone table placed at the center of the space.

"It's both sculptural and symbolic," the studio said. "The table becomes the origin and organizing element of the project, around which glances, gestures and stories converge."

In order to put the act of hosting at the center of the restaurant, the kitchen was elevated to the second floor, freeing the ground level for dining, interaction, visibility and movement and flipping the usual spatial logic of a restaurant.

"The materials are tactile and evocative," the studio said. "Every material supports the concept of containment, hospitality and memory."

Stone comprises the table and vertical elements, grounding the space and giving it a ritualistic atmosphere, while brass wall details and metal lights provide a refined contrast.

Wood, stoneware and lighting add intimacy to the space.

"The greatest challenge lay in balancing reverence and transformation, to intervene in a building with memory without erasing its silence," the studio said.

"Every adjustment required precision – lifting the kitchen, suspending the ring of light, grounding the monumental table – each gesture had to feel inevitable, as though the space had always been waiting for it."

The studio said that atmosphere plays a role in binding people to space.

"Savvia reminded us that the most powerful design emerges when architecture becomes almost invisible, leaving only presence," the studio said.

Founded in 2022, Worc previously designed two boba tea shops in Mexico City, one with a glowing polycarbonate interior and one organized around a translucent tube.

The photography is by Zaickz Moz.

Project credits:

Architecture: WORC Ricardo Martínez + Camila Ureña
Collaborators: Ricardo Martínez, Camila Ureña, Isabel Ortega, Alejandra Magdaleno, Ximena Uribe
Lighting: Nuumbra, David Pompa, Primitivo
Surface Treatment: Corev, Interceramic
Furniture: Veta, Cacao

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Local studio Juan Campanini – Josefina Sposito has fronted wine shop Enofilo with a metallic mesh facade that responds directly to the complex Buenos Aires streetscape.

At 175 square metres (1,883 square feet), Enofilo opened in 2025 inside an existing house on Avenida Juramento in the rapidly densifying Bajo Belgrano neighbourhood.

The studio worked to create a space that worked with the challenging spatial and stylistic constraints of the neighbourhood.

"The project was inspired by the challenge of working within a city like Buenos Aires – a place made up of countless small fragments that together compose its urban landscape," Juan Campanini – Josefina Sposito told Dezeen. "We wanted our intervention to belong to that fabric, to add one more layer that could resonate with the city's texture."

Like a woven fabric, sliver-coloured metallic mesh stretches across the existing brick wall, standing apart from the context while acknowledging the shop's role as a fragment in the larger urban realm, the studio explained.

The facade works in tandem with a blue, metallic staircase that stands where the original patio once was, serving as an organising element for the spatial sequence and connection to the project's urban and domestic scales.

"The facade, a precise and shimmering plane, mediates between the life of the street and the interior, marking the threshold to the wine shop," the studio said.

"The facade mesh is cut into precise panels that follow the subtle variations of the front – its step, door and window – and is screwed onto a hidden frame behind it," the studio explained.

"Although it appears smooth and continuous, the surface is composed of individual parts whose proportions increase gradually from bottom to top, in crescendo."

Seemingly small from the street, the building extends deep into the plot, passing from the entrance to the staircase, which "anchors the space" and bridges the front of the building to the courtyard in the back of the block.

Visitors enter into a communal tasting area lined with built-in shelving used as a wine library, also clad in mesh.

A dark granite surface serves as a counter, set under rough, sand-coloured plaster ceilings.

A large, white-painted structural collumn rises from polished concrete flooring and marks the ground-level hallway, where auxiliary rooms were placed off to one side.

The lower half of the walls and counters was painted a soft blue that connects the interiors to the staircase, which has a vaulted awning as it leads to the upper floor.

The delicate, cross-shaped pattern of the perforated metal diffuses air and light.

On the second floor, a long table and large windows open the private office space to the city skyline.

The studio said that the mesh scheme helped to draw focus to the most important elements in the project.

"The key lesson is understanding how to focus energy – deciding which elements of a project will carry the greatest relevance," the studio said.

"In this case, we chose to focus on redefining the building's street-front relation and elevating the staircase through its surface treatment. Both elements, ordinary in name, become special through form and materials."

Other recently designed wine shops include a burgundy leather-wrapped showroom in Milan by Eligo Studio, a Brooklyn bar with a "soothing atmosphere" by Studio Ahead and a cave-like interior with a vaulted ceiling in Valladolid, Spain by Zooco Estudio.

The photography is by Javier Agustín Rojas.

Project credits:

Architects: Juan Campanini – Josefina Sposito
Project Team: Valentina Lucardi, Valentina Bauger, Martina Pera, Emilia Conde

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Mexican architecture practice HW Studio has created a concrete house on the Pacific coast of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with a semi-elliptical wall that frames multiple levels of contemplative courtyards.

The Morelia, Mexico-based studio completed the 472 square metre (5,080 square feet) Casa Tao in 2025. It was designed through conversations with the clients about their humble upbringings and the importance of shade in the coastal regions.

Recalling the resident's childhood home, the design centres around a need for shelter, seclusion and the asset of shade that provides both physical protection from the extreme sun and emotional refuge in a sense of calm, stillness and protection from the chaotic world, the studio explained.

"Some houses are not designed – they are remembered," the studio told Dezeen. "Casa Tao was not born from a technical drawing, but from the silent memory of those who inhabit it."

"It is a house that does not seek to respond to an image, but to a life. Or rather: to a way of living," the studio continued.

Before the beginning of the project, the clients travelled to Japan, bringing back an affinity for "the aesthetics of emptiness, compositional cleanliness and the stillness contained in every architectural gesture". The studio took this heading and aimed for a space where time slows down and light filters gently through the rooms.

Rather than turning the space outwards toward a specific view, the designers oriented the house obliquely towards a tree-lined plaza.

The angle provides a connection to the community space and draws in sea breezes without exposing the residents to heat and unguarded sunlight.

The smooth, poured-in-place concrete "absorbs the light with delicacy," allowing it to settle into the material of the house delicately, the studio said.

Set within a square lot, a curved wall provides privacy from the street and provides the form for a series of interior and exterior courtyards. The bedrooms, garage and service areas make up the ground level, oriented around a patio.

Adjacent to the garage is an additional courtyard filled with a subtle reflecting pool.

Meanwhile, the social areas are raised to the second floor in a split-level box with mezzanines. These spaces are almost entirely closed off from the street, with a square clerestory window that opens to the elliptical courtyards.

"This strategy allowed us to raise social life above street level, surround it with air and open it toward the trees and the salty breeze that crosses the plaza," the team said.

The first level of the box has dining and living elements, while the second has a study, with light wells.

"Everything is arranged so that living happens in a slower, fuller way – more open to the invisible."

Following the spatial theories of Junichirō Tanizaki in In Praise of Shadows, the studio emphasised a nuanced use of light.

"Casa Tao is, ultimately, an architecture born of the desire to inhabit the world with greater attention," the studio said.

"It is a house that withdraws discreetly and offers its spaces as atmospheres for contemplation and memory."

"In it, dwelling becomes a form of study, of pause, of gratitude," it continued.

"Every corner invites one to remain, not to pass through, and every shadow is a promise of wellbeing."

Recently, HW Studio completed an infill house with a pyramidal lightwell in Morelia, a low-profile, cantilevered house in Mexico City, and a residence with cruciform stone walls in San Miguel de Allende.

The photography is by Gustavo Quiroz, Hugo Tirso and César Belio.

Project credits:

Leads Architects: Rogelio Vallejo Bores
Architects: Oscar Didier Ascencio Castro & Nik Zaret Cervantes Ordaz
Team: Juan Pablo Camacho Ayala
Structural engineering: ARGA Constructora
Construction company: COMAQSO

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Local studio Laboratorio de Arquitectura has completed a house with a design geared towards the use of custom concrete blocks in Querétaro, Mexico.

Known as the Capuchinas House, the 477-square-metre residence is located in suburban Querétaro.

The house's identity is rooted in contextual response, rather than following the generic typologies of its neighbours.

"Capuchinas House is an exploration of the expressive and sensory potential of a single material – an opportunity to design not only a structure but an atmosphere through light, shadow and texture," architect Juan Carlos Kelly of Laboratorio de Arquitectura told Dezeen.

The project's focal point is a sand-coloured concrete block that measures 4 cm x 30 cm x 15 cm.

"Its unique proportions and tongue-and-groove system allowed the architects to create a continuous, joint-free surface that defines both structure and finish," the studio said.

"This single element drives the architectural identity and aesthetic unity of the entire project."

The block is used as both the full cladding in some spaces and as a lattice-like facade that serves as a solar screen privacy filter and exterior perimeter of the terrace space.

On the inside, the block creates the finished wall surface and screens that balance privacy and openness.

"This disciplined material use creates a unified architectural and sensory experience," the studio said, explaining that the block was both the design's biggest challenge and biggest success.

"It demanded in-depth research into its modular logic, construction behavior and aesthetic performance, ensuring it could articulate structure, enclosure and atmosphere without losing coherence or function," the studio explained.

"The project demonstrated that restraint can generate richness – that focusing deeply on one material or idea can produce a diversity of spaces, mood, and experiences."

The house is organised for efficiency for one person, with the option to host many guests.

The ground floor holds the living, dining, kitchen and lounge spaces in a long bar, while the primary suite makes up the southeastern portion of the house.

Upstairs, three suites are arranged along a corridor with walls of windows looking out over the southwest side of the property.

In the basement, a four-car garage connects to the service spaces and an extra bedroom with access to a sunken courtyard.

A large terrace space intersects the main level of the house, creating a courtyard-like backyard and opening the house to cross-ventilation around a planted microclimate.

"The landscaping reinforces this connection through the use of native, low-water species, the relocation of existing trees and the creation of a central garden tree that functions as both a visual and climatic anchor," the studio said, explaining that the drought-tolerant plantings reduce water usage while prompting an ecological dialogue with the site.

Other designs recently completed in Quéretaro include a vaulted, warehouse-like restaurant by CAAM + Arquitectos, a basalt-clad home with a rooftop pool by Reims 502 and a pink-toned apartment complex renovation by Heryco.

The photography is by Ariadna Polo.

Project credits:

Studio: Laboratorio de Arquitectura
Architect: Juan Carlos Kelly
Design team: Ixchel Muñoz, Saúl Cabrera, Paulina Moreno
Landscaping: Ixchel Muñoz Paisajismo
Furniture: DFC
Carpentry: ANKUI
Construction: SPEC
Structural design: Juan Carlos Cisneros
Coverings: Procesos en mármoles de Querétaro

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Canadian studio Ménard Dworkind has designed a restaurant interior with a casual take-out counter and an upscale bar lounge in Toronto, Ontario.

The eighth location of pizzeria North of Brooklyn is located in Toronto's Etobicoke neighbourhood, comprising two levels with differing atmospheres. The ground floor is a tile-laden takeaway and the upper level a refined, intimate bar.

Ménard Dworkind (MRDK), which is run by Guillaume Menard and David Dworkind in Montreal, completed the 2,550-square-foot (237-square-metre) restaurant in April 2025.

Accessed beneath a large lightbox awning, the compact ground level, which also contains the kitchen, was an opportunity for a strong one-line design, the studio said.

"[We needed] something bold, graphic, and bulletproof to resist the high traffic of takeout and delivery drivers," the studio explained.

The ceiling of the takeout area features a gridded, diffused light system.

Moulded tiles from Dutch company DTILE – in soft cream and deep chocolate tones – wrap the walls, counter and details.

"These custom tiles extend from wall to ceiling in a continuous wrap, even folding outward to create functional hooks for merch display, blurring the line between surface and fixture," the studio said.

Upstairs, MRDK converted an apartment with low ceilings into the Low Rise bar, where the studio cut new windows into the west facade, bringing in more natural light to bounce off the mirrors on the east side of the room.

"We wanted a more intimate, warm and tactile experience upstairs," the studio said.

"Our goal was to give clients a place that's effortlessly comfortable, where good food, atmosphere and design come together with a sense of ease and character."

The mechanical systems run along the perimeter of the space, hidden by a glossy bulkhead that contrasts with the raised ceiling in the centre of the room, where a cove light highlights the texture of the dark-coloured popcorn ceiling.

Drawing on a "nostalgic Italian design, reimagined with a contemporary edge," the 40-seat dining space features walnut tables that fit into the window niches and cantilever from the wall over green leather banquettes with folded steel feet.

The monumental bar is clad in a tumbled marble mosaic with a zinc countertop that will patina over time.

An In Common With fluted pendant light casts a warm glow over the space.

Founded in 2017, MDRK is known for infusing colour, texture and small details into its hospitality work. Recently in Montreal, the studio completed a throwback sandwich shop with "understated nostalgia," an angular Vietnamese restaurant with a yellow bar and a cozy French bistro with custom wine storage.

The photography is by David Dworkind.

Project credits:

Architect: MRDK
Architect of record: Barry Goldman Architect
Construction: Atlas Worx
Materials: DTILE, Wausau tile, Arta Ceramics, CTL leather, 3M film, Lighting: In Common With, Marset Arancia, Custom stools - Jussaume, Chairs – Suite 22: Thon, Sink: Agape, Faucet: Dyson, Blinds: Hunter Douglas

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Mexican studio PPAA has created a blocky concrete house on a narrow site in Los Angeles, California, USA, carving out courtyards and voids into the form.

Known as Mar Vista, the 4,488-square-foot (417-square-metre) house is a practice in what the studio called "subtractive design", a way of reframing the site's restrictions and opportunities.

"The project embraces the setbacks, height limits and footprint regulations of its site and transforms them into spatial strategies," said PPAA founder Pablo Pérez Palacios.

"By carving out patios and carefully aligning openings, the house creates a sequence of spaces where light, air and landscape are always present."

It features stepped massing that adapts to the narrow lot, allowing it to be open to the climate with patios and voids that blur the boundaries between interior and exterior spaces.

"The focal point is the alignment of openings that run across the house, generating long transversal views and connecting interior spaces with patios and the surrounding landscape," the studio said.

"This spatial continuity ensures that the central courtyards and voids become the true heart of the project, bringing daily life into direct dialogue with light, vegetation and the sky."

The circulation spaces run through the courtyards, creating a rhythm of open and closed spaces, curved and rectilinear forms, while ensuring that natural light and ventilation carry through the house.

"The success lies in demonstrating that a house can be both a response to limitations and an act of freedom," the studio continued.

"By aligning openings and using subtraction, the project achieves generosity and openness within a constrained urban context. The lesson is that restrictions can generate stronger, more poetic architecture."

The design is composed of exposed light-toned concrete with a raked finish. In addition to plaster, light stone and untreated wood, the concrete was selected for its durability and natural weathering pattern in the coastal climate.

"The restrained palette of raw and tactile materials allows it to feel both grounded and discreet within the neighborhood fabric," the studio said.

Inside, the studio introduced refined elements like oak joinery and polished concrete floors to the honest materials of the outside, creating a consistent atmosphere between interior and exterior.

In addition to the passive ventilation strategies, the design employs deep overhangs to shade the spaces and photovoltaic panels and rainwater collection systems to reduce the environmental footprint.

"The interplay of curves and straight lines, solids and voids, gives the house a sculptural quality while maintaining a human scale," the studio said.

"Rather than projecting as a statement, the house integrates itself quietly into its context, privileging intimacy, light and material honesty."

Previously, PPAA has worked on a coastal guesthouse with rammed earth in Baja California, a terraced home in the forest of Valle de Bravo – both in Mexico – and a Swiss villa with a reflective "water mirror" near Lake Zurich.

The photography is by Fabian Martínez unless otherwise stated.

Project credits:

Architecture: PPAA
Team: Pablo Pérez Palacios, Emilio Calvo, Miguel Vargas, Alice Moreno, Jonathan Reséndiz, Nancy Estévez

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Local firm Estúdio Leonardo Zanatta has completed a white pavilion with a large sloped roof for commercial activities and cultural events in São Paulo, Brazil.

Completed in 2025, the Tess Pavilion measures 350 square metres (3,445 square feet) on an urban lot in the Brooklin neighbourhood, which is mostly residential. The mixed-use building hosts rotating cultural exhibitions.

"The architecture proposes an accessible space for the community, articulating public and private functions without formal hierarchy," said Estúdio Leonardo Zanatta.

"The pavilion acts as an activator of the urban space, with the potential to host art, commerce and social interaction."

To fit with its primarily low-rise context, the pavilion has a horizontal scheme with rounded, glazed spaces set under a large, single-slope rectangular roof upheld by thin columns.

"The occupation avoids heavy volumes and prioritises visual permeability, creating a discreet and welcoming architectural presence," the studio said.

"The project proposes a reading of lightness and formal silence, integrating naturally into the urban fabric."

The metal structure with alternative slender columns and tension cables organises the space and allows exterior walkways to flow between garden areas under and around the pavilion.

The structure is left exposed with white concrete that emphasises the form and contrasts the green plantings, which are shaded by the deep cantilever of the roof.

"The rhythmic metal structure was inspired by the image of a harp, functioning as an organising matrix for the space," the studio said.

"The spatial arrangement of the volumes beneath the roof was influenced by compositions from Russian Suprematism, emphasising the juxtaposition of primary geometric shapes in varying orientations and visual tensions."

The round communal space and oblong seating areas float under the roof and allow visitors to have multiple perceptions of the building as they move around it.

Inside, the smooth floor and ceiling seem to hover around frameless glass walls. Slatted wooden dividers form seating, planters and smaller spaces within the pavilion.

The raised roof allows for air to move across the lower structure and creates a permanent shading device that promotes passive thermal efficiency.

Meanwhile, the openings along the side reduce solar gain in the summer and optimise it in the winter to help reduce energy consumption.

At night, lights are projected up on the underside of the roof, illuminating the large canvas over the pavilion.

Other pavilions constructed in São Paulo include park pavilions made of living plants by Estúdio Campana and a curved wooden structure by Sol Camancho next to Lina Bo Bardi’s modernist house.

The photography is by André Scarpa.

Project credits:
Architects: Leonardo Zanatta
Collaborators: Anna Schmutzler, Davi Erbs, Henrique Azevedo, Lucas Carilli and Nathalia Wehmuth
Development: Ana Carolina Norat, Beatriz Paschoal, Lucas Conversano and Luciana Romanus
Client: Nortis Incorporadora

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Canadian studio Omer Arbel Office has designed the 91.0 cedar house with sandblasted planks that "evoke" stacked lumber, elevating it above a gully on a waterfront property in British Columbia.

The 3,200-square-foot (300-square-metre) 91.0 house (also known as Bridge House) sits on a steep, 3-acre site on Galiano Island, British Columbia.

Surrounded by trees, the design bridges two rocky ridges and spans a sunken gully of ferns.

The site anticipates rising water levels due to climate change, causing potential flooding of the gully.

For the design, the studio reframed its thinking about climate from the apocalyptic to something more adaptable to account for the present and future experience of the site, a perspective shift the studio considers "phenomenological".

"If we cut a section through the site perpendicular to the water line, we find that there are four very different conditions, each corresponding to a different microecology and phenomenological identity," Omer Arbel Office told Dezeen.

"Our aim was to organize the spaces of the house such that it literally cut across all four, allowing a visceral experience of these various aspects of the site. The house was thought of as a single plane, a flat datum, so that inhabitants can register the changes in the site section against it."

"We discovered that this seemingly simple departure point, if carried to its conclusion, meant the house was effectively a bridge spanning across a fern gully. It is anticipated that if water levels rise as a result of climate change, in a century or two, the fern gully would flood to make a tidal pool basin, giving the project an entirely different reading."

To access the house, occupants and visitors cross a forested pathway to reach an embedded front entrance.

The entry opens to an 82-foot-long (25 metre) corridor with a window seat overlooking the fern gully below.

On the far side of the corridor, the main wing affords views of the ocean with an open kitchen and living room. The primary bedroom is located near the public areas for the client's convenience, and is cantilevered from the main volume, leading it to appear suspended.

The corridor separates auxiliary sleeping areas into a second wing. Designed for adaptability, the other bedrooms and bunkroom can be closed off or opened up when guests visit.

"The plan is meant to expand and contract based on the number of occupants, allowing opening up of additional bedrooms when either the (grown up) kids or guests are visiting," said the studio.

The material palette refocuses attention on the surrounding forest and echoes the natural environment with a geological quality. The studio developed cedar cladding in which the end grain was sandblasted to "evoke the image of stacked lumber".

"Sandblasting the cedar end grain achieved a high contrast surface highly responsive to natural sunlight," the studio said. "At first this seems subtle but over time becomes a very rich experience."

"The project is meant to be a focusing device for the forest around it, particularly the tender transition as this forest meets the ocean. As such we felt that cedar was a very appropriate material, both inside and out."

The wooden textures continue on the interior of the house with layers of painted wooden battens, Douglas fir strips and walnut shelving for the walls and cabinets, while the ceiling is stained, sandblasted cedar.

Contrasted with polished concrete floors, the combination is Omer Arbel's take on the North American cabin in the woods.

The Vancouver-based studio previously created a house in British Columbia that has lily-pad-shaped columns created by pouring concrete into fabric formwork. Additionally, Omer Arbel is the co-founder of lighting and furniture design studio Bocci.

The photography is by Fahim Kassam.

Project credits:

Client: Josh Pekarsky and Marla Guralnick
Designer: Omer Arbel Office
Project leader: Mark Dennis
Project team: Omer Arbel, Mark Dennis, Kevin Isherwood, Jaedan Leimert, Tyler Wied
Model team: Christa Clay, Steve Fassezke, Kevin Isherwood, Jaedan Leimert, Jay MacDonnell, Glenn Muxlow, Jason Murphy, Thomas Nichini, Jess Sarber, Deagan McDonald, Johann Tarves
Furniture and art collection: Client
Contractor: Brad Martin of Treeline Construction
Structural: Toby Fast of Fast + Epp Structural Engineers
Geotechnical: Matt Kokan of Geopacific Consultants

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American architecture studio Kwong Von Glinow has renovated parts of the architecture school at Rice University, adding three new spaces through a "programmatic re-invention" of the 1947 building in Houston, Texas, USA.

The 3,775-square-foot (350-square-metre) renovation took place inside the MD Anderson Hall, which was originally designed by Staub and Rather and expanded in 1981 by James Stirling and Michael Wilford.

The renovation coincided with the construction of a new sawtooth-capped addition by Karamuk Kuo adjacent to the building.

Kwong Von Glinow, which is based in Chicago, started its design process by researching the building's history and discovering that architect Philip Johnson had written that he "couldn't find" the Stirling and Wilford addition.

"This notion of 'finding' space became integral to our design approach," the studio said, explaining that in studying the designs, the team found a trapezoidal space in the building's Farish Gallery with exposed columns and beams that marked the intersection of the 1947 and 1981 designs.

"Our design approach for the renovation and programmatic re-invention of the three spaces was to reveal and expose the rich history of the building's context by acknowledging and enhancing the intervention's specific context," the studio said.

Kwong Von Gilnow located a new welcome centre, student and community forum and faculty and staff lounge along the school's central axis, adjacent to the Farish Gallery.

"In all three spaces, we used forms that work with and reference the original building to create distinct spatial moments, rather than relying on walls to define each area," the studio said.

Located in the southeast corner, the welcome centre is characterised by expansive glazing that opened the previous brick wall to the nearby quad and four offices with interior curved glazing that allows transparency of the school's inner workings.

A mirrored column references the signature west facade and serves as a light contrast to the monolithic welcome desk.

Directly above the welcome centre is the new forum, connecting MD Anderson Hall to Karamuk Kuo's new Cannady Hall with an accessible walking ramp.

Two tiers of circular seating form a gathering space, while piers and wood grains reference the diagonal wall and create breakoff spaces in the large multipurpose room.

The lounge space contains a monumental Corian reception desk that marks the dean's office reception area.

"A three-sided 'wedge-like' volume delineates private and public areas within the lounge, separating the reception from the amenity spaces for faculty and staff, such as the kitchenette, seating area and ADA bathroom," the studio said.

"The Wedge is formed so that its west face is angled to allow light into the windowless back area of the faculty and staff lounge."

Other recent projects by Kwong Von Gilnow include the renovation of the Swiss consulate in Chicago's John Hancock Center with Swiss firm HFF and a proposal for a vertical housing complex made up of multi-floor units that form towers within a tower.

The photography is by Mikael Olsson.

Project credits:

Design architect: Kwong Von Glinow
Architect of record: Sharp Architecture
Structural engineer: National Structural Engineering, Inc.
MEP engineer: T&D Engineers
Acoustic consultant: Threshold Acoustics
Contractor: Tellepsen Builders
Client: Rice University School of Architecture

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Daria Sheina Studio has designed The Nest, an off-grid cabin with cedar-wrapped rotated volumes that allow panoramic views of the Howe Sound off the coast of British Columbia.

The 1,063-square-foot (99-square-metre) house sits on the highest point of a 10-acre site on Keats Island, a remote getaway with only 50 full-time residents near Vancouver.

Daria Sheina Studio, a design practice based in Vancouver, designed the house to be an eco-friendly, self-sufficient, low-impact home and a model of how thoughtful design can forge profound connections between people and place.

"From the outset, the site context played a central role in shaping the design," Sheina told Dezeen. "Perched atop the island's highest elevation, with panoramic views of Howe Sound, the location offered a rare kind of luxury – the sensation of having the entire island to yourself."

The angular building peeks out from the rugged terrain with moss-covered bedrock and a dense evergreen canopy.

Sheina immediately resonated with the clients' proposed name because "it captured the essential qualities we were already exploring: shelter, intimacy and a sense of belonging."

"We began to interpret the nest not only as a symbol, but as a spatial idea – shaped by circular movement and a deep connection to place," she said.

"The result is a sculptural interplay of two rotated volumes, forming a compact yet playful and inspiring three-level living experience."

Constructed out of mass timber, the ground level, which contains the communal kitchen, dining and living room, is a rectangular box, while the third-floor bedroom is rotated 90 degrees horizontally and 45 degrees vertically – as if tipped on its corner – and sits under the pitched roof.

The resulting second level is a small lounge with outward-sloping walls and a view of the public areas below.

"Compact in footprint yet expansive in spatial perception, The Nest maximises its small building area while maintaining a light touch on the land," the studio said.

The merged forms are clad in western red cedar to age and blend into the surrounding forest, while the minimalist interiors combine exposed wood with green marmoleum flooring.

Lift-and-slide doors open the ground floor to the outdoors, while bands of windows on either side of the slanted roof provide views of the Keats Island landscape.

"The client's selection of distinctive homeware adds a playful, joyful touch, balancing the pronounced architectural forms with unique character," the studio said.

The cabin operates entirely on solar power using a roof-mounted array and includes an incinerating toilet and rainwater filtration system.

Daria Sheina Studio collaborated with BC Passive House to prefabricate the mass timber components, which were airlifted by helicopter to the inaccessible site.

"The process was an intricate puzzle of design, engineering, and logistics, but the result is a home that feels both intentional and effortless," Sheina said.

"It's a design I'm incredibly proud of, made possible through a close collaboration with the client."

Other off-grid cabins were recently completed in Helsinki, Finland, by Littow Architectes, in Victoria, Australia, by Gardiner Architects and in Romania's Carpathian Mountains by Marc Thorpe.

The photography is by Andrew Latreille.

Project credits:

Design: Daria Sheina Studio
Structural: Equilibrium Consulting
Prefabrication: BC Passive House
Contractor: Lincoln Construction
Energy advisor: Shape Energy
Windows and doors: Innotech Windows + Doors
Siding: Westcoast Wood Distribution
CLT supplier: Mercer

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Local practice Estúdio Rossi Arquitetos has completed a house with a glued-laminated timber structure on the coast of São Paolo that opens to the surrounding landscape through multiple screens and brise soleil.

Known as Casa Guaecá, the 465-square metre (5,005-square foot) vacation home was completed in 2024 in the neighbourhood of São Sebastião on the former site of a small blue beach house.

"Casa Guaecá was born from the desire to preserve the emotional memory of a modest blue house by the sea," architect Bruno Rossi, co-founder of Estúdio Rossi Arquitetos, told Dezeen.

"Our inspiration came from the place itself – its history, its landscape, its topography – and we intended to design a home that engages with the surroundings in a sensitive, respectful and contemporary way."

The house is set on a steep slope. The architecture studio split the program into three levels, each interacting with a different portion of the site, opening the interiors to the beach, garden, and forest.

Referencing the blue tone of the original structure, the compact ground floor is exposed concrete, while the upper levels are composed of prefabricated, certified glulam eucalyptus timber.

"This enabled large spans and structural efficiency, while also enhancing the warmth and openness of the interiors," the studio said. "Wooden brise-soleils provide sun protection, privacy and a dynamic, responsive facade."

Inside, the natural warmth of the timber stands out against white walls, thin-profile metal detailing and neutral terrazzo floors – particularly in the airy, double-height living room with floor-to-ceiling windows.

"The project was deeply rewarding in how it was embraced by local residents, who recognised it as a respectful and natural continuation of the region's built and natural environment," the studio said.

"This reaffirmed the value of listening closely to the site as a foundation for architectural design."

In addition to the prefabricated timber system and modular slabs that reduced on-site waste, the design prioritises passive sustainable strategies, including natural cross-ventilation through carefully placed windows and doors and vernacular, movable brise-soleils for solar shading.

"Casa Guaecá is unique in the way it transforms memory into architecture," the studio said.

"Through subtle references to a former structure, a restrained palette of materials and a light footprint on the land, it builds a deep, emotional connection between the house, its inhabitants and the landscape."

Previously, Bruno Rossi designed a wooden pavilion that floats on a dam in Santo Antonio de Posse, Brazil. Other homes recently completed in São Paulo include a stucco garden house by Arkitito Arquitectura and a concrete residence with framed views by Gabriel Kogan and Guilherme Pianca.

The photography is by André Scarpa (exteriors) and Adriano Pacelli (interior).

Project Credits:

Architecture & Interiors: Estúdio Rossi Arquitetos
Team: Bruno Rossi, Marilia Giordano Rossi, Adriano Bueno, Natalia Bueno, João Pedro Tofano, Rafael Kenzo, Isabela Slywitch, Carolina Dantas, Karine Oliveira
Concrete structure: Gil Chinellato Engenharia Estrutural
Glulam timber structure: ITA Engenharia em Madeira
Steel structure: Inner Engenharia
MEP Engineering: Ramoska & Castellani
Landscape Design: Alexandre Furcolin
Lighting Design: Lux Projetos

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Mexico City-based studio JSa has adapted a mid-century factory into an office and studio space for its practice, maintaining many industrial details as a "manifesto in regenerative design".

Constructed in 1954, the Ice Factory building was part of the Cervecería Central beer factory. Most of the once-full-block factory was demolished after the Mexico City earthquake of 1985, leaving the Ice Factory, which was operational until the mid-1990s.

In 2023, JSa – which is run by architect Javier Sánchez – converted the historic structure into a new studio space. It has been shortlisted for the workplace project (small) category of Dezeen Awards 2025.

For the 1,023-square metre (11,011-square foot) project, the studio focuses on preserving the memory of the original building and its relationship to the surrounding Atlampa neighbourhood.

"Facing the historical heritage of the factory meant more than passively inheriting it; moreover, implying its assumption as an opportunity to conceive an architecture that combines creativity with rigor, and poetry with ethics," the studio told Dezeen.

"In designing our new home we decided to make the project a manifesto of our beliefs in regenerative design," the studio continued.

"A place where solar power, rain harvest, on-site water treatment, and vegetation, achieve a symbiotic reciprocity between the building, its new landscape and their users."

The design allows remnants of the industrial past to prevail through each space, transforming steel pillars, pipes, catwalks, metal curtains and stairs into sculptural backgrounds.

The building is divided into two main spaces – a light, open ground floor with collaboration spaces reached through a planted courtyard and a heavy concrete mass that contains private space for focused work on the upper level.

The studio added a porticoed pavilion to the south of the main building and an open-air terrace to the roof.

"It was important to keep the honest sobriety of the original structure. For us, the factory had to remain a factory," the studio said.

"Thus, the material palette came as the result of an instinctive process where we evaluated what could be preserved, resolving what had to be restored, and finding the potential for appended reforms."

It preserved characteristics such as the wedge-shaped puncture in the north wall and retained the original exterior tilework and rough concrete faces.

The studio integrated a regenerative water system, drawn from closed-loop systems in houses set in mountainous forests, that harvests and treats rainwater on site and eliminates dependence on city water.

"We wanted to prove that a self-sufficient water cycle wasn't just a rural ideal, but a viable, functional reality for an urban workplace," the studio said.

"We now move forward with the conviction that regenerative water systems are an essential part of our urban everyday life, bringing them from the periphery to the very center of our designs ever since."

The integrated landscape design and architecture allow for daylit and naturally ventilated spaces through sliding windows and skylights and negates the need for a mechanical HVAC system.

"The harmony between architectural project, water systems, landscaped gardens and solar array, succeeds in transforming the once abandoned barrenness into an alluring sanctuary of pause," the studio said.

"One that invites us to contemplate ourselves within and as part of the space, while actively involving us with the elements of its design."

Recently, JSa collaborated with Mta+v to build a curving, petal-like apartment complex in Mexico City. The studio also teamed up with Robert Hutchison Architecture for an extensive rainwater harvesting system integrated into the design of a house in Temascaltepec.

The photography is by Rafael Gamo.

Project credits:

Architecture and interior design: JSa - Aisha Ballesteros, Benedikt Fahlbusch, Javier Sánchez
Project team: Israel Silva, Isaías González, Juan Pedro López, Roberto Ledezma, Francisco Martínez
Structural engineering: Hector Margain y Asociados
Landscape design: Genfor Landscaping, Tepetl
Lighting design: LSBA Studio
Rain harvest system: Isla Urbana, Soluciones Hidropluviales
Blackwater treatment system: TIM - Tecnologías Integrales Medioambientales
Photovoltaic system: Caliza

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Local studio Nitsche Arquitetos has completed a modular, cross-laminated timber house with a rectangular dogtrot-style plan outside of São Paulo, Brazil.

Located in Piedade, the 140-square metre (1,500-square foot) house is the first modular prototype developed by Nitsche Arquitetos to make house construction faster, more affordable and more sustainable.

"The system allows for multiple arrangement possibilities, and this flexibility is what ensures its efficiency and broad adaptability," the studio told Dezeen.

"It can respond to different demands using the same system, while also enabling fast assembly, reducing costs and maintaining the construction's low environmental impact."

The rectangular modules measure 18 square metres (193 square feet), are made of CLT panels that ensure durability and thermal comfort, and have floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors.

"The system logic is simple and versatile: each module includes a wet area, intended for a bathroom, kitchen or service area, and a dry area, which can function as a bedroom, living room, dining room or other free space," the team explained.

"This organization allows for different combinations, easily adapting to various needs."

A large metal roof – a sandwich with polyurethane foam insulation – covers the enclosed modules and extends beyond the long sides of the house to form deep shading eaves on either side of the modules.

Two modules flank either side of a central veranda that is covered with transparent alveolar polycarbonate roofing that matches the profile of the metal sheets.

"This space serves as a living area, ensuring natural light and cross ventilation, while also creating a transition and integration between indoor and outdoor spaces," the studio said.

Set on a concrete slab, the eucalyptus CLT panels were produced in 30 days by Crosslam and assembled on site in a single day.

"In addition to avoiding waste generation during assembly, the use of engineered wood contributes to reducing carbon emissions, with lower energy consumption compared to concrete- or steel-based systems," the studio said.

"This system is an alternative to conventional construction with concrete, steel and aluminium, since wood is a renewable resource capable of sequestering CO2 during tree growth, whereas concrete releases around one ton of carbon into the atmosphere."

The house was finished with porcelain tiles that provide a smooth, cool complement to the warm wooden walls.

Aluminium window frames coated in green electrostatic paint were fitted into pre-cut openings in the CLT panels, but the sliding doors and the folding, awning-like doors of the veranda were superimposed on the structure.

Previously, Nitsche Arquitetos designed a house on the edge of the Jurumirim Reservoir with walls of perforated green block and a house on a grassy hill capped with a large polycarbonate roof.

The photography is by Arthur Duarte.

Project Credits:

Project team: Lua Nitsche, Carol Hosino, Vanessa Izidorio, Gabriel Lisboa, Sérgio Campos, Thiago Pontes, Thiago Conti

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Mexico City-based studio Fernanda Canales Architecture has tucked a circular house into a remote site, allowing for views in every direction of the landscape outside of Valle de Bravo, Mexico.

Completed in 2024, House 720 Degrees spreads 1,115 square metres (12,000 square feet) across 2 acres in an area outside of Valle de Bravo called La Reserva Peñitas.

It was recently shortlisted in the rural house category of Dezeen Awards 2025.

Designed for two families, the main house is shaped like a ring with a central courtyard and a detached secondary volume containing sleeping areas. The ring shape was conceived to resemble a sundial.

"House 720 Degrees is conceived as a geometric and optical device – a solar clock that measures time through light and shadow," studio founder Fernanda Canales told Dezeen.

"It doubles the usual 360-degree view, expanding perception and interaction between interior and exterior worlds."

Designed to adapt to the extreme temperature variations and heavy seasonal rain, the residence's low profile follows the site's topography while its materials allow it to merge with the landscape.

The circular house was constructed using a concrete mixed with soil, which allowed for a natural finish that blends into the terrain and was chosen for its durability, local origin and low maintenance.

The circular open-air patio at the heart of the project serves as the geometric and experiential core that connects the enclosed spaces both visually and spatially.

"During the day, it opens outward to frame views of the mountain and volcano," the studio said. "At night, it turns inward, fostering intimacy and warmth."

Rectangular living spaces are arranged along the perimeter of the patio, blending orthogonal geometry with radial leading lines and curved circulation corridors.

"The division into three volumes – main circular house, guest studio, and auxiliary building – responds to the natural terrain and the need for privacy among two families, sometimes three families and guests," Canales explained.

Local materials and techniques continue throughout the interiors with oak and stone that ground the project and handcrafted furniture and lamps that were created on site.

The home's organisation allows for natural cross-ventilation throughout with flexible openings for daylight and privacy.

The earthen materials create a thermal mass, while solar panels generate electricity and heating in a self-sufficient off-grid infrastructure.

"The project's circular geometry transcends the symbolic 360 degrees of vision to create a dwelling that feels both expansive and grounded," said the studio.

"It merges architecture, landscape and time into one continuous spatial experience, turning the house itself into a device for observing light, weather and life."

"Achieving a very intimate, domestic scale, despite the large built area and making the house disappear into the landscape, is truly unique."

A circular plan appears in many of Canales' designs, including a concrete community centre that caters to the adjacent prison in Iztapalapa and a perforated brick community centre with multiple oculi for the elderly residents of Neco.

The photography is by Rafael Gamo.

Project Credits:

Architect: Fernanda Canales
Team: Aarón Jassiel, Alberto García Valladares, Ángela Vizcarra
Interior decoration: Camilla Pallares
Structural engineer: Gerson Huerta – Grupo Sai
Sanitary and electrical installations: Carlos Medina – Grupo MEB
Carpentry: Óscar Nieto
Lighting: Lucas Salas
General contractor: Felipe Nieto

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Brooklyn-based studio nArchitects has designed two waterfront park pavilions that address the conditions of flood-prone sites along the Hudson River in New York and New Jersey, USA.

Both completed in 2024, the Gansevoort Peninsula Pavilion is located on the western side of Manhattan and projects into the Hudson River, while the ResilienCity Park Pavilion sits in the floodplain in Hoboken, New Jersey.

"We wanted the pavilions to feel open with portals that bring you into the parks," Mimi Hoang, co-founding partner of nArchitects, told Dezeen.

Designed for the Hudson River Park Trust, the Gansevoort Peninsula Park covers 5.65 acres on a previous mercantile and industrial site owned by the Department of Sanitation.

With landscape design by Field Operations, the park revitalises the last remaining stretch of 13th Avenue with a beach, kayak launch, sports field, salt marsh, boardwalk and open space for the community.

The pavilion sits adjacent to artist David Hammons' Day’s End installation – a wireframe reminiscent of the previous 1975 artwork of the same name by Gordon Matta Clark, which saw cuts into a warehouse on the site. 

The original installation featured large cuts into a dilapidated warehouse, and nArchitects created similar geometric forms and light effects by subtracting sections of the pavilion canopy.

The pavilion is composed of three volumes – a concession stand, a restroom block and a utility hub for Heatherwick Studio's Little Island nearby – under a concrete canopy that is punctured to allow sunlight down to the planted roofs of the volumes.

Wrapped in an ultra-high-performance concrete, perforated rainscreen, the pavilion has no interior gathering space.

"A series of portals between the volumes and the canopy frame views towards the water, connecting the pedestrian and bike promenade activity on the east with the park activities to the west," the studio said.

The windows and flood doors are painted orange, and when the pavilion is illuminated at night, it appears to glow amber from the inside.

Across the River, ResilienCity Park is now Hoboken's largest public park at 5.4 acres, completed with Philadelphia-based Olin Studio.

The pavilion sits on the park's highest point with views of the surrounding sports fields, passive playspaces, neighbourhood and nearby Palisades Park.

The oversized canopy made of corrugated, perforated stainless steel creates a porch-like environment for the two volumes – housing a flexible community room and a cafe space – clad in a vertical granite rain screen.

Circular openings were cut into the canopy, allowing plants to climb up thin columns and onto the roof in what Hoang called "Dr Seuss trees" that connect the pavilion to the larger landscape design.

"This is the gateway, rather than the jewel of the park," Hoang said, emphasising the importance of the space between the volumes for community building and programming.

The glass of the doors and windows was selected to hold up against the hydrostatic force of floodwaters, and the bottom sills of the windows are lifted out of the flood elevation.

Additionally, the park sits on water detention tanks that hold one million gallons of stormwater, in addition to the 750,000 gallons of water that can be retained in the soft surfaces.

Other waterfront projects nArchitects has completed include a mass timber nature center set in the sand dunes of Long Island and the revitalisation of Chicago's century-old Navy Pier with James Corner Field Operations.

The photography is by Iwan Baan unless otherwise noted.

Project credits:

Gansevoort Peninsula Park

Architecture: nARCHITECTS
Landscape Architecture: Field Operations (Prime)
Structural Engineer: Silman
MEP Engineer: Plus Group
Lighting Consultant: HLB
Façade Consultant: Front
Client: Hudson River Park Trust
Rainscreen manufacturer: TAKTL

ResilienCity Park

Architecture: nARCHITECTS
Civil & Environmental Engineer: E&LP (Prime)
Landscape Architect: OLIN
Structural Engineer: Silman
MEP Engineer: OLA Consulting Engineers
Lighting Designer: Lumen Architecture
Client: City of Hoboken (part of NJ larger resiliency initiatives)

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Texas studio Lake Flato Architects has created a library with a porch-like scheme, featuring mass-timber elements and a designated space for children, outside of Austin, Texas, USA.

Completed in 2024, the 47,000-square-foot (4,365-square-metre) Cedar Park Public Library sits on two tree-filled acres and was the first building constructed in the new 50-acre Bell District, which is a public-private partnership between the City of Cedar Park and RedLeaf Properties.

The free, public library and adjacent Bell Park welcome up to 5,000 visitors per day and serve as a placemaking catalyst for the still-to-come residential and hospitality projects, according to the project team.

Lake Flato Architects sought to evoke domestic porches through design and material as a way to emphasise the building as a hospitable one.

"The use of wood, daylight and the arrangement of spaces in the library are meant to evoke the feeling of being on a porch," said David Lake, founder and partner of Lake Flato Architects.

"Like a porch on a home, the library is a welcoming place for gathering, sharing and connecting both indoors and out."

The exterior of the two-story library is crafted from materials – including Texas limestone, metal panels, glazing and a sculptural, mass timber roof – selected to withstand the climate while reflecting the texture and colouring of the site.

The library centres around a double-height lobby that features an acoustic wall made from wood reclaimed from the site.

"Filled with natural light and framed by floor-to-ceiling windows, the space encourages movement, gathering, and connection, and embodies the library's role as 'the community's porch'," said Lake Flato associate Ashley Grzywa.

From the threshold lobby, the program spreads out into two wings, placed to accommodate mature trees, capture prevailing breezes and maximize daylight and views of the surrounding landscape.

The active northwestern wing of the library includes museum-quality children's interactive learning exhibits with plush reading nooks and a play structure. Meanwhile, the southwestern holds maker spaces, classrooms and multipurpose spaces to cater to other library resources.

The upper floor has quiet zones for reading, working on the computer and offices, while the surrounding site is scattered with shading courtyards for community programming.

"Natural, healthy materials were prioritized throughout, paired with thoughtful furnishings and art to create an inclusive, enduring environment that reflects the community's identity," Lake said.

The library incorporates a range of passive and active sustainable strategies.

"Deep roof overhangs and screened porches provide shade and promote natural ventilation of outdoor spaces," Grzywa said. "The use of mass timber and locally sourced limestone reduces embodied carbon and supports longevity."

Meanwhile, a high-performance envelope, sensor-controlled lighting and airside energy recovery systems reduce the building's operational energy.

Originally founded in San Antonio with an office in Austin, Lake Flato's works span scales and the state of Texas. The studio's other recent projects include the expansion of San Antonio International Airport with Corgan and schemes for a new waterfront development in Fort Worth.

Porches have been an enduring theme in recent US architecture, as they were the theme for the US pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

The photography is by Robert Gomez.

Project credits:

AV/IT Security: DataCom Design Group⁠
Civil: Dunaway
Landscape: Coleman & Associates
Lighting: Studio Lumina
MEP: Jose I. Guerra, Inc.⁠
Programming: 720 Design
Structural: Datum Engineers
Wayfinding: fd2s
⁠Acoustics: EEA Consulting Engineers
Envelope consulting & commissioning: Acton Partners
⁠General contractor: J.E. Dunn Construction Group
⁠MEP commissioning: NV5⁠

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Architect Scott Specht has completed an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in Austin that is clad entirely in corten steel with no exterior windows.

Known as the Stealth House, the 1,300-square foot (120-square metre) home sits on a 3,500-square foot (325-square metre) portion of a narrow, mid-block lot.

Accessed by a gravel alley, the house maximized the buildable area for an ADU that was allowed when it was completed in 2024.

Scott Specht, who is both the homeowner and architect as the principal of Specht Novak, chose to orient the home internally – drawing on ancient courtyard dwellings like the Roman domus and Moroccan riad – since the property offered no view.

"By turning inward, we are not only able to reclaim underused urban lots but also create a sanctuary where natural light, landscape and self-sufficiency coexist in harmony," Specht told Dezeen, referencing the contemporary necessities of privacy, security and sustainability.

Two interior courtyards are carved out of the single-story box wrapped in corrugated, weathered corten steel.

The courtyards place the private outdoor spaces within the home's interior, bringing light into the space and making it feel larger than its footprint.

"Eliminating perimeter windows was a deliberate move to redefine how a home interacts with its surroundings," Specht said.

"This inward focus not only guarantees complete privacy and acoustic separation but also concentrates design energy on crafting those courtyards as vibrant living rooms under the sky."

"In doing so, the home's plan becomes simple yet richly experiential," he continued.

"Each room transitions seamlessly between enclosed solidity and open landscape, creating a dynamic ebb and flow that a traditional windowed façade could never achieve."

Inside the entrance – characterized by a green tile mosaic set under a thin-prile metal awning – the kitchen and living area are oriented to the primary courtyard, where an olive tree creates dappled shadows at the heart of the home.

The mixture of Bisazza glass tile, wood fibre wall coverings and knotty oak flooring complements the leafy plantings and warm glow from the corten that can be seen across the courtyards.

Off-the-shelf materials also help the home feel rooted while keeping to the modest budget.

Every space – including two bathrooms and two bedrooms set on opposite corners – opens to the courtyards through frameless glass walls.

The Stealth House employs both passive strategies and active systems to meet its sustainability goals.

The lack of windows eliminates heat transfer, while the courtyards provide daylighting and natural ventilation. A photovoltaic array and battery backup supplies 84 per cent of annual electricity demand, and roof runoff is captured to irrigate the courtyards.

"The project reinforced my belief that constraints fuel creativity," Specht said.

"By embracing the alley lot's tight setbacks, area limitations and windowless envelope, we thought about every inch, eliminated any areas we wouldn't use with frequency, and honed a plan that works incredibly well for our needs."

Previously, Specht Novak reimagined a Usonian design for a lakefront house in Pennsylvania and designed a symmetrical glass pavilion house to display art in the Berkshires.

The photography is by Leonid Furmansky.

Project credits:

Builder: Smock Build / Austin Smock
Architect: Specht Novak

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Susan T Rodriguez has designed a revitalised recreational facility in Central Park, rebuilding a 1960s ice rink and pool and reconnecting the park's natural waterways in the centre of New York City.

The Davis Center at the Harlem Meer at the north end of Central Park opened in April 2025, restoring the seasonal recreational facilities of the Lasker Rink and Pool, which have been closed since 2021, to the public.

The project is a collaboration between landscape architects at the Central Park Conservancy, design architect Susan T Rodriguez | Architecture • Design and executive architect Mitchell Giurgola Architects.

"[The Davis Center] marks the intersection of history, landscape and architecture to create more park and a vital new community centre open to all–the ultimate fusion of landscape and architecture that enhances the experience of being in the park," Susan T Rodriguez said.

Reconnecting the Harlem community to the park, the $160 million project spans eight acres and is set into a steep slope.

The monumental elliptical shape was designed to function as an outdoor room that changes program with the seasons – a pool in the summer, an ice rink in the winter and a public green in the spring and fall.

The building itself consists of 34,000 square feet (3,160 square metres) with a 29,000-square-foot (2,695-square-metre) green roof that continues the landscape and pedestrian circulation across the built structure.

Beneath the green roof, a light-filled interior includes locker rooms, skate rentals, concessions and public restrooms along a sweeping hallway with a wood ceiling, locally quarried stone and cruciform columns.

The space can be opened to the outdoors through a wall of floor-to-ceiling, centre-pivot glass doors, transforming the space into a public front porch.

In addition to the public amenities, the project reconnects the watercourse that originally flowed through the Ravine and Huddlestone Arch into the Meer.

The watercourse and park path meander along a vegetated berm and stitch the landscape together across the site.

A freshwater marsh adds scenic and ecological diversity between the stream and the lake.

A new curvilinear boardwalk allows pedestrians to explore the Meer's natural systems, observe wildlife and access the water for canoeing.

"This project completes the reversal of decades of change that treated the Meer landscape as a campus of recreation facilities, without regard for the park's essential purpose and value as a place where all New Yorkers have an opportunity to connect with nature and feel renewed and uplifted," said project executive and former chief landscape architect Christopher Nolan.

"The transformation of the site represents a return to the fundamental idea of the Park as a refuge."

Other recent, large-scale park projects include Heatherwick Studio’s plan for an island park with floating islets in Seoul, the restoration of a historic park in Almería, Spain by Kauh and an urban wetland converted from an industrial site in Shenzhen, China, by eLandscript.

The photography is by Richard Barnes.

Project credits:

Owners: Central Park Conservancy, New York City Parks
Design architect: Susan T Rodriguez Architecture • Design
Executive architect: Mitchell Giurgola
Landscape architect: Central Park Conservancy
Structural engineer: LERA Consulting Structural Engineers
Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineer: Loring Consulting Engineers
Geotechnical engineering: Langan
Site/civil engineering: Langan
Rink and pool consultant: Stantec
Lighting design: BPI
Sustainability consultant: Atelier Ten
Facade consultant: Werner Sobek
Waterproofing consultant: JRG Consulting Architect
Green roof consultant: Studio Sustena
Soils consultant: Pine and Swallow
Elevator consultant: IROS
Code consultant: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Acoustic consultant: Shen Milson Wilke
Video wall consultant: ACT Associates
Irrigation consultant: Irrigation Consulting, Inc.
Specifications: Robert Schwartz & Associates
Cost estimating: Slocum Construction Consulting
Expeditor: NYCCODE
Owner’s representative: Seamus Henchey and Associates
General contractor: EW Howell

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Canadian studios Oyama and Julia Manaças Architecte have designed Waterhouse, a woodland house clad in wood shingles that blends into a natural clearing in Sutton, Quebec.

The 260-square-metre (2,800-square-foot) residence sits in a forest opening, surrounded by a pond, ferns, boulders, wildflowers and rolling hills that rise to the Green Mountains in the distance.

Oyama and Julia Manaças Architecte, which are both based in Montreal and collaborate as An architecture capsule, designed the multi-form house as a series of monuments that alternate between closed interiors and open spaces.

"The project is an uncanny yet delightful experience," the team said. "The clear sculptural form dissolves into a continuously morphing collection of bodies."

"The forms are an invitation to wander in, around and even on top of the house, leveraging all the site has to offer. "

The designers started with a unified mass, but separated out the program to respond to the site's various views. With softened and stretched edges, the singular house became three forms – the Atelier, the Great Room and the Tower.

"Through an iterative process using both physical and digital models, the relationship between the volumes is developed to achieve a more intimate scale and a finer, more porous interaction between objects and site," the studio said.

As people approach the site, the blind wall of the square Atelier section faces the road. A workshop and parking space sit in the pyramidal shape, with a storage mezzanine tucked into the steep slope of the roof.

The Great Room comprises most of the main floor and holds the essential living spaces. Rotated due south for optimal sun exposure, the rectangular block holds a combined kitchen, living and dining room that looks out through a wall of windows.

A thickened wall houses the fireplace, storage and ventilation system and separates the public space from the eastern primary suite, which opens to the landscape with a large deck space.

The western-most form on the site is the Tower, with three stories that each contain a guest suite. The ground floor of the Tower is partially submerged in the site and has a home office space.

The Tower's third floor contains a footbridge that passes over a green roof to the roof of the Great Room, where a terrace looks out at the surroundings.

"These three idiosyncratic volumes are unified in a single vernacular material of cedar shingles: strange bodies in familiar clothing," the studios said.

"The resulting negative space between them forms a kind of internal courtyard whose walls are clad in oak panelling, extending the wood cladding inside."

The central vestibule that connects the three volumes holds service spaces, including a laundry room and bathroom.

"The programmed transitional space organises movement in and out of each volume, rejecting a rigid, linear sequence for a more fluid and natural circulation," the team explained.

Other homes recently completed in Quebec include a linear stone house by LAMAS and a white, square residence and a discrete lakeside retreat, both by Naturehumaine.

The photography is by Alex Lesage.

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Local studio CRB Arquitectos has completed a timber apartment building with planted atriums and sculptural staircases in the heart of Mexico City.

The 3,770-square metre (40,580-square foot) building – known as ONTO Álvaro Obregón – opened in 2025 in the Roma Norte neighbourhood, an area known for its vibrant social life.

It consists of units both for sale and for rent as part of a hotel-style management system that allows for short and medium stays.

CRB Arquitectos combined a gridded facade and a series of voids with a connection to nature.

"The ONTO Álvaro Obregón project aims to optimise space through a timber structure, reducing environmental impact while ensuring the building's durability," the studio told Dezeen. "

Additionally, it contributes to the urban environment by respecting and enhancing the city’s image, incorporating innovative construction solutions."

The structure is a hybrid of prefabricated wood and steel in a double-layered facade, supported by a beam structure. The beams are set on concrete columns and piles, which evenly distribute the load despite the low soil consistency.

The combination of exposed wood and concrete creates spacious interiors with generous ceiling heights.

"The resulting joints blend aesthetics and functionality, using concealed steel connectors between the wood and concrete, producing a clean facade that appears as if solid wooden planks were simply stacked together," the studio said.

The facade also reveals inset balconies with delicate metal railings that filter light and air into the modular units.

Set back from the street with a sound-insulating landscaped buffer, the building connects to the urban environment with a ground-floor restaurant.

The rectangular building is divided into two towers by an interior atrium space defined by planted half-circles on either end and a central ventilation shaft that brings natural light down through all eight floors.

"The voids are designed to form patios at the basement level, featuring gravel flooring, monolithic concrete benches and lush vegetation including ferns, sago palms and kentias," the studio said.

"These spaces of reflection and rest grow stronger with each level thanks to vertical gardens, creating the sensation that they extend all the way to the rooftop, accompanying users on every floor."

Sculptural staircases surrounded by natural foliage connect the apartment levels that each contain four street-front units and four rear units.

The compact units contain a bedroom, living room, dining area, kitchenette, desk space and bathroom that is discreetly connected to the ventilation shaft with narrow windows made of repurposed railroad ties.

Interiors, designed by Estudio M:A, features natural wood and Caledonia granite, chukum-style plastered walls and locally sourced textiles.

"The top level features a public rooftop garden that frames the best views of Mexico City," the studio said, pointing out the bar and open-air dining area designed to foster interaction between residents and outside guests.

Landscape design by Hugo Sánchez incorporated low-maintenance native plants as well as a rainwater harvesting system.

Founded in 2015 by Sebastián Canales and Javier Rivero Borrell, CRB Arquitectos designed a rounded, wedge-shaped apartment building, complete with orange-toned concrete and a rooftop garden, also in the Roma neighborhood. The project was longlisted for Dezeen's 2024 housing award.

The photography is by Arturo Arrieta and César Béjar Estudio.

Project credits:

Client: SEDE
Architecture: CRB Arquitectos
Design Team: Sebastián Canales, Javier Rivero Borrell, Carmen Alfaro, Regina Kuri
Structure: Ubando Ingeniería (Ing. Oliver Ubando)
Construction: Secuencia
Landscape: Hugo Sanchez
Interiors: Estudio M:A

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Chilean studio Max Núñez Arquitectos has raised a prefabricated steel house onto columns for a sloping site in the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Chile, comparing it to a "lunar lander".

Casa en los Arboles (House in the Trees) was completed in 2023 on the edge of Conguillío National Park in the Andes.

Near active volcanoes Llaima and Lonquimay, the 110-square metre (1,185-square foot) house is located in a popular spot for backcountry skiing through the araucarias, coihues, raulíes and oak forests.

"A house in this environment should be a super light element, affecting the vegetation around it as little as possible, generating a minimum footprint on the ground,” Max Núñez Arquitectos said.

"It should be an anti-mimetic object, but a totally site-specific piece of technology – like NASA's lunar lander.”

The vertical machine-like house is located in a small clearing and raised on a steel skeleton that avoids cutting trees or transforming the land of the site.

The prefabricated steel elements allowed a small construction team to assemble the house in just a few months.

Each of the three compact floor plans has a different structural system that responds to the needs of the level.

The small, rectangular ground floor is supported by four diagonal columns that branch out to hold the upper levels. The central trunk is enclosed by translucent glass and holds the home's entry and storage space for mountain activity equipment.

The second level spreads out horizontally, forming deep eaves for the ground level that keep snow away from the perimeter of the footings.

A perimeter lattice beam wraps around the second level, "like a bridge that rests over the diagonals of the lower level,” the studio said.

It explained that moving the structural elements to the perimeter of the plan allowed the three bedrooms and two bathrooms to be arranged in a compact scheme around the central staircase.

The upper level, which holds the social spaces such as the living room and kitchen 12 metres (40 feet) above the ground, is a cavernous space under an A-frame roof.

The studio explained that the ridgeline of the roof is rotated off-axis, set on a diagonal, opening the corners of the space.

This created a close relation to the landscape and the trees surrounding the house".

"This space gives a vantage point of the surroundings, as a watchtower detached from the ground, with a close relation to nature and the pass of time,” the team said.

The exterior walls that are not covered by the steep, standing seam metal roof feature floor-to-ceiling glass, while the interior surfaces are wrapped in a warm wood that juxtaposes the sleek metal details.

Previously, Max Núñes Arquitectos completed a lightweight greenhouse topped with glass block vaults.

In contrast to its glass and metal buildings, the studio has also designed a concrete care home for elderly residents and an ocean-front residence in which the concrete roof runs parallel to the steel topography.

The photography is by Cristóbal Palma / Estudio Palma.

Project credits:

Architect in charge: Max Nuñez
Collaborators: Sonoka Nakamura, Fabian Leiva. Stefano Rolla
Structural engineering: Jorge Tobar
Building contractor: Mauricio Urzua

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Local studio SHED Architecture & Design has renovated a 1920s building into a compact two-level home with a black exterior and interior references to its history in Seattle.

The 1927 building was previously a studio for Seattle impressionist artist Louise Crow, then a church, before the 1,000-square-foot structure (92-square metre) was converted into a house for Quynh-Vy Pham, the owner of venerated Vietnamese Phở Bắc restaurants in the city's Little Saigon neighbourhood.

Pham inherited the property from her late brother, who had originally begun the renovation.

Set on a 2,835-square-foot (263-square-metre) lot with non-conforming conditions, the Phở Bắc House sits between two large houses in Seattle's Leschi neighbourhood near Frink Park.

SHED Architecture & Design (SHED) added a second storey and a half-storey for storage to expand the space to 1,858 square feet (173 square metres) while maintaining the original structure.

"The Phở Bắc House is the result of a layering of histories, both personal and local, to create a compact home that reflects the way that Quynh-Vy lives, works and entertains,” said SHED project architect Rebecca Marsh.

"The design pulled from the history of the existing structure, its past functions and the desire to honor her brother's legacy.”

Set up from the street level, the north facade is characterised by a large window surrounded by charcoal grey fibreglass shingles – an economical nod to the building's original cedar.

The 1927 window was enlarged to bring in more natural light and painted pink to reference the restaurant's signature hue and the owner's brother's early renovation efforts. The previous frame was repurposed into an interior screen and stair guardrail, preserving part of the structure's history.

The interior layout prioritises natural light, circulation and openness, arranging social spaces to flow from interior to exterior.

With framed views of the Cascades and Lake Washington, the linear house has living, dining and kitchen spaces on the ground floor that open to a large back patio. The upper floor is private with two bedrooms, a shared bathroom and a sitting room that leads to a roof deck overlooking the street.

A half-level is tucked into the street-side retaining wall for storage and mechanical space.

"Ceiling heights vary throughout to create dynamic connections between rooms, giving the compact home an open and generous feel,” the studio said.

The material palette incorporates durable, cost-effective new materials with reused elements from the property – such as a brass pendant from the former church that hangs in the stairwell and the salvaged beams in the dining room.

The historical moments are accompanied by walnut finishes and pink details.

SHED collaborated with Brooklyn-based Space Theory for flexible storage solutions, including a bench that spans the length of the home and serves as integrated seating, storage, display space and a media centre.

Meanwhile, the dining room is framed in upper cabinets – reached by a library ladder – that extend the kitchen storage.

Recently, SHED has completed other residential renovations in the Pacific Northwest, including a Portland house centred around a skylight, a West Seattle home with a jagged roof inspired by Swiss mountain peaks and a Shoreline residence converted from a midcentury assisted living facility.

The photography is by Rafael Soldi.

Project credits:

Architect: SHED Architecture & Design
Contractor: Ambrose Construction
Structural engineer: Todd Perbix
Casework: Space Theory

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International studio MASS Design Group renovated and adapted six derelict factory buildings into a mixed-use community hub in New York's Hudson Valley.

The new Scenic Hudson Northside Hub was completed this summer, revitalising the former Standard Gage Factory in Poughkeepsie, New York.

"Scenic Hudson's Northside Hub represents MASS's commitment to adaptive re-use as the lowest carbon approach to development," said MASS Design Group principal and project lead Justin Brown. "It exemplifies the practice of 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,' at the building and urban scale."

The 120-year-old factory had sat empty for the better part of two decades before Scenic Hudson commissioned MASS to renovate six buildings, creating 15,000 square feet (1,393 square metres) of work, commercial and indoor and outdoor community gathering space.

Set within three acres of new parkland, the project preserved over 85 per cent of the original brick building envelopes and nearly all of the superstructures, mass timber and concrete.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the project is certified as a brownfield remediation site and a New York State Research and Development Authority carbon-neutral building.

Originally constructed in 1920, the largest building – Building A – now holds three levels of workspace, a gallery, community meeting rooms and a cafe that opens to an exterior lawn for events.

Building B, the oldest on the site, was constructed with mass timber and masonry in 1910.

It now features a double-height auditorium and reception space with retractable, tiered seating and state-of-the-art projection displays. The team reinforced the roof to create a green roof and terrace overlooking a nearby creek.

Buildings C and D, both two stories, were renovated for future programming, such as a restaurant, workshop, office or retail tenant.

The project also included the renovation of a 5,000-square-foot (465-square-metre) open-air pavilion and its adjacent storage building.

A 50-foot-tall brick exhaust chimney stands over the buildings and outdoor spaces, with SGCO – for Standard Gage Company – painted on the bricks as a nod to its earlier use.

The site design was centred around the natural environment through onsite stormwater management, brownfield remediation, native plantings and biodiversity strategies.

Meanwhile, the buildings were adapted to be carbon-neutral with rooftop and parking shade photovoltaic arrays, a solar-powered fresh air system, climate-responsive systems and high-performance envelopes.

"By leveraging the embodied carbon costs that have already been paid by past generations, we can begin to think about buildings as carbon sinks, like plants with generative environmental benefits, rather than as carbon emitters whose harm we must mitigate," Brown said.

As a non-profit headquartered in Boston, Mass., and Kigali, Rwanda, MASS Design Group has projects across many sectors and locations throughout the world.

Its designs span from a university building with rammed earth walls in Rwanda to a glass memorial for victims of gun violence that was on display at the Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2019.

The photography is by MASS Design Group.

Project credits:

Design architect and architect of record: MASS Design Group
MEP/FP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, telecom): Vanderweil Engineering
Sustainability: Transsolar
Envelope: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE)
Civil engineering and structural engineering site: LaBella Associates
Landscape architect: Stoss Landscape Urbanism
Structural engineering base building: Silman (TYLin)
Structural engineering solar canopy: MKA
Lighting: Schwinghammer Lighting
Code and accessibility: Howe Engineers
Specifications: Friday Group
Acoustics and AV: WSDG
Photovoltaics: SunCommon II
Elevator: VDA
Brownfield remediation: PVEDI
Historic preservation: Heritage

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International architecture practice OF Studio has created a brutalist concrete house with a cantilevered terrace and sloped foundations shaped by its site on a mountainside in Mendoza, Argentina.

Completed in 2024, the 571-square metre (6,146-square-foot) house known as Brutal Honesty took six years to construct on the edge of a canyon.

OF Studio, co-founded in London in 2017 by Argentinian architects Valentina Cerrone and Sebastián Andia, was informed by the raw presence, texture, and silence of the mountain itself.

"The house emerges naturally from the terrain, shaping a landscape that coexists with its surroundings," Andia told Dezeen. "We worked with material honesty, tectonics, and integrated sustainability, letting the architecture grow from the site itself."

The house rises from the terrain on earth-coloured retaining walls "like abstract rock formations," the studio explained, noting that the contours of the land drove the organisation of internal partitions and three main terraces.

The splaying walls define the tapering massing while shielding the house from the southern exposure of the canyon.

"The structure seems to emerge from the hill, yet asserts a new identity," the team explained, calling it "of abstract nature".

With a 360-degree view of the Andean desert mountains, the house is separated into three stacked stages: a basement inside the earth, a partially embedded ground floor and an upper level that rises out of the earth.

The kitchen sits at the heart of the home, branching off into communal spaces that stretch outwards in rounded-off angles.

Terraces extend off either side of the living and dining rooms, while a terrace off the playroom provides an outdoor zone for children. Shared outdoor spaces extend to the rooftop plateau with areas for recreation and relaxation surrounded by the landscape.

The edges of the upper plateau are outlined with rounded rectangular awnings with structural rods that shade the lower terraces and add a level of delicate detail in the stereotomic house.

The clients emphasised the importance of living with the land, maintaining views of the land, while preserving privacy.

"The project is about creating spaces that feel sincere, connect people, and let you experience the environment as part of everyday life," Andia said.

OF Studio selected exposed concrete for its resonance with local materials and builders, and matched the tones of the earth on site.

"This attention to materiality anchors the house in place, both visually and symbolically," the team said.

The thermal insulation, shading and natural ventilation strategies reduce energy demand, while solar panels, solar heaters and a greywater system enhance its environmental performance.

"In essence, Brutal Honesty is a built extension of the mountain – a space for living that neither conceals nor embellishes, but exists in open dialogue with its surroundings," the studio said. "It celebrates nature's raw presence through architecture that is both sincere and grounded."

Other concrete homes recently completed in Argentina include a subterranean forest home outside Buenos Aires with a garden roof by Gonzalo Bardach, a black concrete residence in Córdoba by AR Arquitectos and a blocky house overlooking a golf course in Rosario by Mariano Fiorentini.

The photography is by Luis Abba.

Project credits:

Architecture: OF STUDIO
Project lead: Sebastián Andia
Team: Valentina Cerrone Chaar, Carlos Fernando Andia, Daniel Carrera Ferreyra, Ana Paula Ridi, Alejandro Marchetti
Structures: ABAX – Gustavo Manresa, Alejandro Carosio, Pablo Martin
Sanitary and greywater systems: Daniel Giandinotto
Gas installations: Daniel Giandinotto
Electrical installations: Daniel F. Ridi
Landscaping: Elina Llaver
Sustainability and thermodynamic studies: SOLAR – Alfredo Estévez
Cooling and heating systems: Marcelo Gassibe, Gabriel Rover
Construction management and administration: Felipe Deshayy
Construction management assistant: Teo Rodríguez
Artistic supervision: OF STUDIO – Sebastián Andia, Valentina Cerrone Chaar
Technical Directorships:
Architecture: Jimena Andia
Structures: ABAX – Gustavo Manresa, Alejandro Carosio, Pablo Martin
Heating systems: Marcelo Gassibe, Gabriel Rover
Passive systems: ENERGE
Landscaping: Elina Llaver
Main wooden staircase manufacturer: Miguel Gandolfo
Lighting consultancies: ASPEN – Juan Pablo Balaña

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Mexican studio V Taller has completed a residential complex in Tulum, Mexico that features a series of vaulted apartments surrounding a tower representative of the mythical Tower of Babel, all finished in pink stucco.

Completed in 2024, the 6,178-square-metre (66,500-square-foot) complex serves as an "architectural response to the intersection of space, time and environment, redefining architecture as a regenerative force rather than an imposition on the landscape," Guadalajara-based V Taller explained.

At the centre of the project sits a round central tower, punctured by vertical slit windows and accessed by a freestanding staircase that traverses a small moat. Plants ring the base and crown of the sculptural structure, and a triangular aperture opens to the sky, directing views upward.

"Through its interplay of mass and void, solidity and openness, it embodies Babel's fundamental approach – where architecture serves not only as shelter but as a mediator between human experience and the natural world," the studio said.

The project has an eye-shaped plan with the tower as the pupil. Across a planted courtyard that allows space for reforestation and optimises airflow, nearly 60 residential units are stacked in three levels.

Set on a total area of less than one acre, the curved, vertical complex reduces "land consumption by nearly 40% compared to conventional horizontal developments [and] concentrates construction while preserving significant open spaces," the studio explained.

Catering to both Tulum's tourism industry and its permanent residents, the efficient apartments include both short-term rentals and long-term homes with fully equipped kitchens, combined living and dining areas, private bedrooms and bathrooms and a garden or balcony with an integrated jacuzzi.

Separated by narrow staircases, which serve as "tunnels of light", the apartments are laid out in a radial plan capped by a series of straight and wedge-shaped barrel vaults.

"The layout of each unit subtly varies depending on its position within the curved structure, ensuring that every residence maintains a seamless connection with its surroundings," the studio said.

The ground floor units are characterised by an arched colonnade that opens to the courtyard, while the middle level features inverted semi-circular openings on the internal balconies. The double-height upper floor allows light and views to the courtyard through elongated oval-shaped openings.

The entire project is finished in chukum, a limestone-based stucco common to the Yucatán Peninsula, laid over reinforced concrete. The handcrafted, soft pink material is valued for its resistance to humidity, thermal regulation and low maintenance.

Inside, tropical wood species and clay elements create a warm, textured atmosphere of regional craftsmanship. Natural light works deep into the units through the windows that offer cross-ventilation and reduce the need for mechanical cooling in the tropical environment.

"By prioritizing spatial efficiency, material authenticity, and bioclimatic strategies, the project establishes a regenerative framework for sustainable tourism," the studio said. "Rather than treating architecture as an isolated object, Babel fosters a continuous interaction between built space and nature, where light, vegetation, and air shape the experience of inhabitation."

Previously, V Taller drew upon hacienda architecture for the design of a stucco house in Jalisco and collaborated with Mexican firm Santoscreativos to design a boxy house in Guadalajara with a flexible layout.

The photography is by Conie Suárez.

Project credits:

Architects: Daniel Villanueva, Miguel Valverde
Civil works: MAQTE Company, Bramah Developments

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International design practice Aidia Studio has lofted a wave-like vaulted roof with green details over a market in Quintana Roo, Mexico.

The 7,700-square metre (82,882-square foot) Mercado Nicolás Bravo is characterised by a series of inverted umbrella shapes that sail above individual market stalls on a 3.2-acre site on the Yucatan peninsula.

"The project is a testament to our commitment to a resilient architecture approach, prioritising construction techniques and materials that ensure minimal upkeep throughout the building's lifespan," said Aidia Studio, which has offices in London and Mexico City.

Completed in 2024, the market is dedicated to empowering the local community through arts and crafts as well as a place to offer fresh produce to tourists visiting the Mayan archaeological sites nearby.

Part of a government-funded program to improve underdeveloped Mexican municipalities, the market provides a link between the tourism industry and the needs of the less than 5,000 Nicolás Bravo residents.

The studio arranged 50 market stalls in 14 enclosed blocks on an 8-metre by 8-metre (26-foot by 26-foot) grid.

Doubling as a community centre for cultural events and educational workshops, the building was constructed with four elements: a lightweight steel structure, reinforced convert slabs and parapets, concrete blocks and clay bricks.

The masonry and concrete are pigmented with a natural sand colour that offsets the light olive green tone of the trim and market doors, continuing the colours of the surrounding palm trees throughout the market.

Raised above the market stalls like a tree canopy, the undulating roof – constructed from a series of hyperbolic paraboloid forms – is broken only by two planted courtyards.

"This not only reflects our dedication to form-finding for architectural aesthetics and structural integrity but also integrates a biophilic design philosophy, seamlessly blending the structure with its natural surroundings," the studio said.

Clay bricks are laid across the metal structure, accommodating the multi-directional curvature of the roof sections.

The courses run in alternating directions, creating a textured grid within the diagonal structural lines.

Lifting up at the corners, the roof directs rainwater to internal downspouts that run down the columns, rather than a perimeter gutter system.

The columns are composed of four square metal pieces ganged together in a lightweight cluster.

The blocks are divided diagonally into four symmetrical triangles that can be configured into display spaces, kitchens and restrooms.

Brick walkways extend out from under the roof and mark off square gardens that follow the rhythm of the market stalls.

The Mercado Nicolás Bravo is the latest in Aidia Studio's designs of sail-like roof structures in Mexico. Previously, the studio lifted a zig-zag metal roof over a sports grandstand and topped a community centre with a series of concrete barrel vaults, both in Oaxaca.

The team also completed a conceptual design for a Tulum train station shaded by a curving, shell-like lattice roof.

The photography is by Andrés Cedillo.

Project credits:

Architect: Aidia Studio
Lead architects: Rolando Rodriguez Leal, Natalia Wrzask
Project coordination: José Luis Mulás
Project team: Alexis Escalante, Mariano González, Nitze Magaña, Emilio Vásquez
Structural engineering: Project & Calc
Client: Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development

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With an emphasis on "long-term thinking",  American architecture studio Miller Hull Partnership has placed a modular wood cabin on steel columns on a sloped island site in Washington state.

Located on Decatur Island, the 868-square-foot (80-square metre) Trestle Cabin serves as a prototype for low-impact vacation homes on challenging and remote sites.

The studio explained that the design was based on three principles: minimal interference to the land, adaptability and reduced consumption.

The Miller Hull Partnership, which has offices in Seattle and San Diego borrowed concepts from 1960s Metabolist architecture, with its emphasis on superstructure and internal modules that could be adapted over time.

"Recognizing the immense investment and environmental impact of remote development, the strategy employs long-term thinking – allowing the structure to remain relevant across many generations and owners," the studio said.

Completed in 2024, the project is located 70 miles north of Seattle on a remote island in the Salish Sea. The steep site offers views of the San Juan Islands to the south at the edge of a fir and madrone forest.

To preserve the natural slope, flora and fauna – including wild sheep that graze on the hillside – the house was raised on steel columns that reference the verticality of the surrounding forest.

"The project embraces levitation rather than excavation as a general strategy," the studio said. "A rhythmic steel exoskeleton negotiates the sloping topography while establishing an occupiable plane hovering above the ground."

With vertical supports pushed to the perimeter of the rectangular building, the interior space can float within the plane, creating a series of balconies and porches.

The wood-framed thermal enclosures are independent of the 200-year superstructure and can be reconfigured as needs allow.

Currently, the modules are separated into sleeping and social spaces with two ensuites hanging off the western end of the platform and a combined living, dining and kitchen module tucked into the northeastern corner.

All circulation occurs through the exterior walkways, reducing the interior conditioned space and establishing a connection with the site.

"An expansive overhang on the south tempers the mid-day sun while providing year-round weather protection to outdoor living spaces," the studio said, noting that the energy needs are offset by a small photovoltaic array that could be expanded if needed.

In contrast to the dark-coloured exterior, the warm wood-wrapped interior is minimal and neutral, framing views outward to the surrounding site with its striking red bark of the madrone trees.

A delicate metal balcony runs along the edge of the deck, providing protection without hindering the view.

Founded in 1977 by former Peace Corps members David Miller and Robert Hull, the studio specialises in environmentally sensitive projects rooted in human impact.

Previously, Miller Hull completed the US consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico, with a massive shading canopy, wrapped a University of Washington building with a textural metal skin and drew on Mayan architecture for the US embassy in Guatemala City.

The photography is by Juan Benavides.

Project credits:

Design architect: The Miller Hull Partnership, LLP
Structural engineer: Swenson Say Faget
Landscape architect: Kas Kinkead
Geotechnical engineer: Stratum Group
General contractor: Kaplan Homes Unlimited

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Mexican design studios Rojkind Arquitectos and AMASA Estudio have collaborated to create a wheel-shaped winery with radiating vaults in Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico.

The Vinícola Pictograma was completed in 2023, comprising 1,963 square metres (211,300 square feet) on a 35-acre vineyard on the north end of the Baja California peninsula

Rojkind Arquitectos and AMASA Estudio, both based in Mexico City, designed the earth-toned building to act as a dialogue between contemporary architecture and the wine region's landscape.

"Designed with an acute sensitivity to its surroundings, the project seamlessly integrates into the rugged terrain, ensuring minimal environmental impact while enhancing the winemaking experience," the team told Dezeen.

The earth was built up around the building to submerge it into the ground. Visitors enter through a wedge-shaped opening on the north side of the ring, gathering in a circular courtyard at the centre of the round plan.

Two rows of bubbled vaults ring the courtyard, containing the winery's various production, storage, and hospitality spaces under burnt clay brick vaults.

Parabolic concrete arches form heavy pendulous portals into the tasting, bottling, barrel, and back-of-house spaces, while the eastern vault was removed to create an open-air garden.

The layout maximises efficiency, reduces circulation space and promotes cross ventilation through the interior portico that is reminiscent of 16th-century architecture, the studio explained.

"The winery is not just a production facility – it is an immersive architectural experience," the studio said. "The layout orchestrates a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces, offering visitors a journey that moves from the intimate process of winemaking to expansive views of the vineyards."

The palette of local sand-coloured concrete, weathered steel, red clay bricks, and timber was selected to age naturally, blending the building into the landscape.

"Every material at Pictograma was chosen to echo the land — not to mimic it, but to be in conversation with it," the team said, noting the textured exterior concrete catches shadows and allows the surface of the building to change with the sun.

"The palette is restrained, but intentional — every surface, every joint, meant to age with dignity and tell the story of place over time."

The building works to reduce its environmental impact with passive cooling strategies, thermal mass and strategic orientation – all of which align with the region's push toward sustainable wine production.

"Architecture is not just about buildings; it is about the hands that build them, the people who inhabit them, the lives they touch, and what they can give back to the community," Rojkind said.

"Our role as architects is to create environments that honor this interconnectedness, fostering inclusive, dynamic, and purpose-driven communities."

In 2020, Rojkind Arquitectos unveiled the conceptual design for a resort nearby with 28 villas embedded in the Valle de Guadalupe hills and a curvilinear swimming pool. The studio is also responsible for the concrete concert hall overlooking the Gulf of Mexico in Boca de Rio.

The photography is by Edmund Sumner.

Project credits:

Architectural project: Rojkind Arquitectos + AMASA Estudio (Michel Rojkind, Agustín Pereyra, Andrea López)
Rojkind Arquitectos: Ruth Diaz, Eli Ambris (Model), Victor Cruz, Daniel Flores, Ricardo Hernández, Yoshio Fukumori, Fernando Franco, Victoria Grossi
AMASA Estudio: Roxana León, Omar Valdés, Jorge Santiago, Sonia Santaella, Fernanda Corona, Karen Alcaráz, Diana Gómez Matehuala, Fernanda Rodriguez
Branding and concept: Cadena y Asociados
Interior design: SMARQ
Structural engineering: Ing. Juan Felipe Heredia
Landscape design: Paula Pijoan
Lighting: Grupo UBK
MEP: Ing. Germán Muñóz

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Local studio 51-1 Arquitectos has stacked a vertical convent made of pink-coloured concrete and grey brick screens onto an urban site in Lima, Peru.

The Religiosas de Maria Inmaculada was completed as a contemporary alternative to an ancient building type.

51-1 Arquitectos constructed a 6,226-square metre (67,000-square foot) project on a quarter-acre plot that houses both residences for the Sisters of Mary Immaculate Congregation and the Young Women Shelter Home & Productive Technical Center.

"Creating a building with an open street level could be a good opportunity for the Sisters of Mary Immaculate to show their generous spirit and leadership as an alternative development of creating public spaces in private land," the studio said.

The bottom two levels approached from the street are characterised by pink concrete with vertical board markings.

Tipping outward over an angled reflecting pool, the corner of the building is punctured by a cross.

Double-height parabolic arches open the facade to the diverse public programming – including workshop spaces for sewing, baking, hairdressing and computational design courses.

The third level, recessed slightly in dark cladding, is a private intermediary level for refectories and a private courtyard in the back corner for the nuns, while the upper levels are divided between sleeping quarters for the women's shelter and the sisters' residences.

The residential levels are enclosed in a brick lattice with a circular and cross pattern that allows light into the sleeping quarters but protects and provides privacy for the residents, the studio explained.

The brise soleil allows ventilation in rooms and down corridors as the building has no air conditioning in its mild climate.

The project is topped with terraces, laundries, an orchard and recreation spaces for the residents.

A large rectangular atrium is cut through the center of the building, allowing light and air throughout the levels. Atop the second-floor railing, a planter allows vines to cascade down the pink interior walls of the atrium.

"Due to the charitable nature of the institution, every effort has been made to minimise service and maintenance costs and consider the most durable materials available," the studio said.

51-1 Arquitectos, named for Lima's dialling code, was founded in 2005 by partners Cesar Becerra, Fernando Puente Arnao and Manuel de Rivero. Previously, the studio completed a nearby culinary school for the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and converted an ice factory into an arts venue in the United Arab Emirates.

The photography is by Cristóbal Palma.

Project credits:

Architect: 51-1 arquitectos
Design team: César Becerra, Manuel de Rivero, Fernando Puente Arnao with Milagros Ingunza, Cristian Zúñiga, Karina Leon
Construction: I.M. Henderson
Advisors: Marco Torres, Pablo Bastos (structure), Claudia Paz (lighting)
Client: Hermanas de Maria Inmaculada

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