Hidden stone house is located in Quito, Ecuador, designed in 2021 by A1 Arquitectura Avanzada. This house employs Biomimetic Architecture, a line of advanced architecture that seeks to find sustainable solutions by analyzing nature. It incorporates a symbiotic architecture strategy that integrates with the environment, producing harmony and balance with the surrounding nature and architecture, generating unique sensory perceptions and spatial relationships.
Set in the picturesque town of Wānaka, this house embodies simplicity and warmth, drawing inspiration from the rugged charm of mountain huts while maintaining a refined aesthetic. Designed to accommodate multiple families during holidays, the home offers comfortable, sunlit spaces that promote relaxation and tranquillity, ensuring a memorable stay for residents and guests alike.
Freja House, located in Whitefish, Montana, was designed by Love Schack Architecture and completed in 2024. This house, inspired by Scandinavian design, features minimal interiors, a long north-south orientation and an electric sauna, as well as utilising innovations such as energy recovery ventilation to promote energy efficiency.
Danish design brand Vipp travels to the Southern Hemisphere for the brand’s newest guesthouse. Cantilevered over a sloping hill on Tasmania’s Bruny Island, the architecturally daring and sustainably designed Vipp Tunnel by Hobart-based studio, Room11 Architects, balances beauty and brutalism. This ground up property becomes a unique refuge that marries art, design, and nature, featuring a series of outdoor sculptures by renowned Danish artist Lin Utzon.
Simmerhûs on the Dutch island of Terschelling is a special assignment for Team V: designing a sustainable island holiday home that is both distinctive and characteristic of its surroundings. The house is sustainably built and features a playful minimalist interior inspired partly by Japanese aesthetics and functionality, yet with an adventurous twist characteristic of design duo Kranen/Gille.
Villa Icaria, a 2024 house in Guadalajara, Spain, was designed by Arquitectura Al Descubierto as a utopian proposal. The project’s volumes intertwine with nature, using local materials and engaging a rural organicism.
Rachcoff Vella Architecture has designed Gruyere ‘Hilltop Hood’, a farmhouse in Melbourne’s Yarra Valley. The house is perched atop a hill, offering panoramic views and featuring a cantilevered pitched roof. Its design integrates seamlessly with the surrounding landscape, utilizing materials like handmade bricks and Colorbond cladding. The layout includes three distinct building wings, framing a protected courtyard.
In 2024, Sara Gelibter Architecte reimagined Felsenburg, a historic house in Biel-Bienne, Switzerland, originally constructed around 1860. An urgent roof renovation served as the catalyst, leading to a design featuring corrugated fiber cement panels and exposed wooden structures.
The project prioritizes economic and ecological considerations, showcasing a collaborative effort between architects and owners, resulting in a space that honors its historical heritage while embracing contemporary design elements.
