CTRL/PLAY Office sets a high-tempo brief in Kyiv, Ukraine, for a creative company that thrives on competition and quick pivots. ZIKZAK Architects frames the workplace as an arena for daily performance, tuning each zone to a specific cadence—welcome, collaborate, refuel, reset. The result is an office that moves at the pace of its team while keeping focus within reach.

Mondrian Palette Residence lands atop Beijing as a color-forward penthouse by Shangceng Design. The home channels Mondrian’s primaries into daily rituals and shared moments for a multigenerational family. Across 600 ㎡ (6,458 sq ft), it welcomes gatherings, filming sessions, and quiet reading with equal poise. Curves soften the geometry while saturated tones mark thresholds and moods, yielding a lively interior that still holds calm.

Kokako Heights House sits above Matatā, New Zealand, with a clear view to the coast and native bush. Designed by Arkhē in 2024, the house reads as a modest, site-led composition focused on light, breeze, and careful orientation. This compact house places rooms along the land’s edges and pulls the living areas toward the view, trading excess for clarity and durable, low-energy comfort.

Naxxar House sits in Naxxar, Malta, where AP Valletta recasts an 18th-century palazzino as a contemporary house. The architects add a sculpted stone screen to guard privacy from a new apartment block while opening the interiors to gardens. Completed as a 2023 reworking, the project folds local craft, reclaimed materials, and measured light into a lived-in domestic setting. It feels grounded and quietly sure of itself.

Palm Springs House stands on Toronia Court in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, designed by Arkhé as a house composed around courtyard living and climate sense. The plan pulls into an L and opens to a private pool, while a warm timber entry cuts the restrained street face. Inside, a calm palette and timber underfoot underline the easy pace of the coastal setting.

Country House sits in Poland, conceived by IFAgroup as a house that hews to village scale and a calm lakeside rhythm. The project reads as a deliberate low profile, spreading across an 8000 m² plot with terraces turned to water and forest. It steers clear of monumentality and draws warmth from reclaimed timber and planted roof, creating a measured retreat shaped by the land.

Patios House Landscaping stands on Brazil’s Costa Verde in Mangaratiba, where Rodrigo Oliveira shapes a lush, route-driven garden for a low-slung coastal residence by Studio MK27. The project orients daily life around courtyards, shaded paths, and open terraces that drift toward the water. It’s a residential landscape tuned to breeze and light, a calm counterpoint to the mountain’s edge.

Notting Hill Flat places a Grade II listed townhouse in London, United Kingdom, back into daily circulation with a clear, contemporary hand by WER Studio. The house shifts to an open, light-forward upper level and a calmer bedroom level below, preserving the building’s character while updating its workings. Across the plan, crafted cabinetry, refined finishes, and measured interventions turn a historic shell into a family home.