Large mirrors frame the tree-planted interiors of this cafe and seating area beside a park in Jakarta, Indonesia, completed by local studio Research Artistic Design + architecture.

Called Frame Garden, the project is designed to enable the local community to make better use of the neglected park, providing a cafe operated by coffee chain Tanatap, visitor facilities and a small gallery beneath a semi-outdoor tropical garden.

"The site is adjacent to an abandoned public park boasting vast greenery with ironically zero facilities," said Research Artistic Design + architecture (RAD+ar) principal Antonius Richard Rusli.

"Consequently, nobody would pay attention to how much positive impact the park has and can contribute to not only the environment but also to the surrounding communities," he told Dezeen.

The stage-like Frame Garden incorporates an amphitheatre-style seating area for up to 300 people, which winds between lush planters and trees as it steps down from the entrance towards a large opening overlooking the park.

Designed to be "facadeless", this open space is framed by alternating mirrored and glazed panels, which reflect the plants and trees and offer glimpses of the surrounding park. Twisting, trunk-like sculptures made of fibreglass also animate the walls.

"Frame Garden celebrates its porosity being as open as possible as a contribution to the cityscape," explained the studio.

"Without a front or back, the building is free to be approached from all directions while taking advantage of the surrounding landscape," it added.

Beneath Frame Garden's upper level, the partially subterranean ground floor contains the cafe and gallery, illuminated by skylights that reveal the garden above.

A stepped ceiling – the inverse of the seating space above – covers the cafe and is fitted with concealed lighting, while a wall of full-height glazing looks onto a covered garden and outdoor seating area.

"Upon entering the building, [visitors] walk underneath a very low ceiling 2.2 metres in height that slowly increases the height of space into 7.5 metres as the visitor walks from the front garden to the back garden on the ground floor," said RAD+ar.

"[They] are teased by what appears to be sliced skylight and people activities in the garden above."

The gallery sits on the other side of the rear covered garden, which it also looks onto through a wall of full-height glazing.

Frame Garden's service areas for the kitchen and toilets have been organised along the edges of the site, leading to a parking area at the rear of the building that sits beneath its large opening.

Other projects recently completed in Jakarta include a family home topped by an angled, tiled roof and a bamboo extension to a studio.

The photography is by Mario Wibowo.

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From cantilevered shelves to customisable pegboards, our latest lookbook rounds up eight examples of garden studios with storage designed to make the most of limited space.

Garden studios are becoming increasingly popular in homes around the world, prompted largely by the evergrowing trend of remote work.

Often slotted into small spaces, these structures typically have compact footprints and require efficient storage solutions to keep them clutter-free.

The examples in this lookbook demonstrate some of the ways storage can be suitably integrated within a garden studio, helping save valuable space within their small footprints.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring Mexican holiday homes, full-length curtains and living spaces with swings.

Cork Study, UK, by Surman Weston

Birch shelves and twin desks cantilever from the walls of Cork Study, which Surman Weston created in the narrow garden of a home in north London.

The set-up was designed to help maximise space within the compact studio, which measures just 13 square metres and was created as a workspace for a musician and a seamstress.

The two desks, complete with their own cubby holes, are broken by a long vertical window in the rear wall, illuminating the workspaces with natural light.

Find out more about Cork Study ›

Nightlight, New Zealand, by Fabric

Green storage boxes on wheels slot neatly below the workbench of this outbuilding in New Zealand, which occupies the future garden of a home being developed on the site.

There are also slender slats mounted to the wooden framework of the 10-square-metre structure, forming minimalist shelves from which tools can be hung.

Find out more about Nightlight ›

The Garden Studio, Canada, by Six Four Five A

The founder of architecture studio Six Four Five A built storage into the wooden shell of his tiny studio, which he created in the garden of his Toronto home.

Exposed vertical studs double as supports for shelves and a large standing desk made from birch plywood along one side, preventing cluttering up the 9.3-square-metre space.

Find out more about The Garden Studio ›

Writer's Cottage, Norway, by Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects

This cabin-like studio sits at the end of a garden in Oslo, where it acts as a compact and secluded workspace for the owner who is a writer.

Among its storage solutions is a plywood staircase that incorporates a shelving system beneath it, leading up to a mezzanine sleeping area that tucks beneath its pitched roof.

Find out more about Writer's Cottage ›

Writer's Shed, UK, by Surman Weston

Another project by Surman Weston on the list is the Writer's Shed, a shingle-clad garden studio designed as a writing retreat for an author.

Inside, a cluster of shelves has been built around the chimney of the wood-burning stove, which is used to heat the compact structure. While providing valuable storage space, they are also intended as "a centrepiece for the client to store his library of books", Surman Weston said.

Find out more about Writer's Shed ›

Terrazzo Studio, UK, by Sonn

In east London, architect Tim Robinson designed and built himself a little studio and workshop at the end of his garden.

The narrow workshop contains a line of storage units raised above the floor, alongside a large pegboard for storing tools. Next door in the studio space, a rear wall of cabinets incorporates a concealed fold-down bed, enabling the space to become a guest bedroom.

Find out more about Terrazzo Studio ›

My Room in the Garden, UK, by Boano Prišmontas

This modular pod is a prototype for a garden studio, developed by London studio Boano Prišmontas in response to an increase in people working from home prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Inside, the plywood structure can be fitted out with customisable elements including pegboards from which desks, shelves and storage can be hung.

"My Room in the Garden was created with comfort and customisability in mind," said the studio. "We wanted to allow people to be able to decide what their interior would look like or how much storage they would have, and we do that by creating a system of interchangeable elements."

Find out more about My Room in the Garden ›

Writer's Shed, Australia, by Matt Gibson

This deceptively spacious garden studio that architect Matt Gibson created in Melbourne is hidden behind ivy-covered walls.

An angular desk slots into one corner, with one side nestled below two generous high-level shelving units on the walls. Plywood was used across all of the surfaces, giving the interior a unified look that adds to the sense of spaciousness.

Find out more about Writer's Shed ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring Mexican holiday homes, full-length curtains and living spaces with swings.

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US architecture studio Kendle Design Collaborative has designed an accessory building for a family home with a metal roof extension meant to frame an outdoor garden while "celebrating the Arizona sky".

The Flex Pavilion was designed as a companion to a modern-style residence that was built in 2016 and was also designed by local studio Kendle Design Collaborative.

Dotted with cacti, palo verde trees and other native vegetation, the property is located in Paradise Valley, an affluent town in the Phoenix metro area.

A natural wash – dry creek beds that occasionally fill with rainwater – runs between the house and the pavilion.

The multi-purpose building is used as an office, gym, guesthouse, entertainment space and "however else the homeowner sees fit", the architecture studio said.

Its design is meant to work in sync with the main residence and fulfil the original vision for the site.

"This micro building is a standalone structure that complements and stands proudly alongside the existing Desert Wash Residence while completing the original envisioned composition for living within a desert garden," the team said.

The pavilion is roughly rectangular in shape. Its material palette – of weathering steel, stucco and glass, along with bronze accents – helps tie the building to the main home and the natural landscape.

A wraparound clerestory gives the impression of the roof floating over the house.

One side of the roof cantilevers outward as a metal frame, "celebrating the Arizona sky while defining an outdoor garden and relaxation space".

Inside, the building contains a central room flanked by a bathroom on one side and a small gym on the other. Interior finishes include dark-toned wood and white three-dimensional tiles.

Ample glazing and retractable walls help strengthen the connection to the site.

"Floor-to-ceiling glass walls invite the desert in while framing views out," the architects said.

The team incorporated a sunken entertainment area outdoors, where the homeowners can enjoy a fire on a cool evening.

The space is partly enclosed within walls made of weathering-steel panels.

The area helps manage stormwater during the region's monsoon season, which runs from June to September.

"During the heavy monsoon storms, this zone converts to a retention basin to hold the extra rainwater before it filters through gabion walls filled with rocks from the site that also double as benches," the team said.

Overall, the accessory building is meant to honour the landscape and enhance the living experience for the owners.

"The Flex Pavilion is sensitive to where architecture meets nature by seamlessly integrating itself with the surrounding environment, respecting the land, and enhancing the experience of those who call it home," the team said.

Other projects by Kendle Design Collaborative include a "zen-like" Phoenix residence that was constructed using concrete blocks, stucco and glass. Several curved elements soften the rectilinear appearance of the single-storey home.

The photography is by Michael Woodall unless stated otherwise.

Project credits:

Architect: Kendle Design Collaborative
Lead architect:  Brent Kendle
Interior designer: Ownsby Design
General contractor: Brimley Development
Owners representative: Advocate Residential Construction Advisors

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A private roof terrace enclosed by greenery features in Hidden Garden House, a Sydney home reconfigured by Australian studio Sam Crawford Architects.

Situated within a conservation zone, the home has been updated by Sam Crawford Architects to brighten its dark interior and transform it into an urban "sanctuary".

Alterations to the 198-square-metre home's interior are first seen in its entrance, where a stair with open treads and a white-steel balustrade replaces a solid timber structure that previously restricted light from a skylight above.

Down from the entry hall is a spacious ground-floor kitchen and dining area, which is illuminated by 4.5-metre-high glass openings that lead out to a landscaped patio. The patio is paved with limestone tiles that extend out from the interior.

"By extending the ground floor finishes through the full-width doors into the rear yard, the garden and high-level green trellises at the rear of the site form the fourth wall to the rear wing," studio director Sam Crawford told Dezeen.

"They create a sense of enclosure that draws the occupant's eye up to the expanse of the sky rather than surrounding suburbia."

A concrete ceiling in Hidden Garden House's kitchen curves upwards to help draw in the winter sun and provide summer shading, while operable clerestory windows allow natural ventilation.

Above, this curved ceiling forms a sloped roof terrace filled with plants, which is situated off the main bedroom on the upper floor.

An ensuite bathroom, also lined with limestone floor tiles, has expansive openings offering a scenic yet private bathing experience enabled by angled timber screens and the terrace's greenery.

"The rolling green roof serves as a visual barrier to the surrounding suburb, whilst allowing the occupants to occupy their private garden oasis," added Crawford.

Hidden Garden House's consistent material palette of bright white walls and wooden furniture ties its living spaces together, while decorative square tiles line both the kitchen and bathrooms.

Curved details, such as the patio's shape and the kitchen island and splashback, also feature throughout.

Other alterations that were made to improve Hidden Garden House's layout include the relocation of entrances to the ground floor laundry room and bathroom.

Elsewhere, Sam Crawford Architects has also created a restaurant topped with an oversized steel roof and a bridge modelled on the curving shape of eels.

The photography is by Tom Ferguson.

Project credits:

Architect: Sam Crawford Architects
Builder: Toki
Structural engineer: Cantilever Engineers
Civil & hydraulic engineer: Partridge
Acoustic engineer: Acoustic Logic
Heritage consultant: Damian O’Toole Town Planning
Quantity Surveyor: QS Plus
Landscape design: Gabrielle Pelletier, SCA
Roof garden supplier: Fytogreen Australia

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Brooklyn-based studio Modu has employed a series of techniques that lower ambient air temperature in order to help cool the interior and exterior of this Houston building.

Modu inserted pocket gardens, vertical fins, trellises and fluted concrete walls along the length of the exterior in order to create "outdoor comfort" and reduce Houston heat.

The Promenade building is a 15,000-square-foot (1,400 square metre) centre which will host wellness and health clients throughout several offices.

Each tenant will be provided with both an interior and exterior space.

"Houston is a very hot climate with a lot of rain," Modu founding director Phu Hoang told Dezeen. "So what we were trying to do is to think about how you can design for that climate and specifically, an idea of designing to lower the heat of the air that's around the building."

"In hot climates like that, if you can lower the air temperature, then it would require less air conditioning because the air around the building is cooler."

Modu used a series of cooling techniques in order to achieve this effect. This included adding a fluted concrete exterior in accordance with the building's sun exposure.

"The self-cooling concrete walls are cast with patterns that, when passed over by the wind, dissipate solar heat more quickly," said the team.

According to the studio, this pattern can reduce the temperature of the walls by up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit (7.7 Celsius).

In addition to the concrete walls, the studio created several pocket gardens along the exterior that act as outdoor space for each tenant while also creating shaded alcoves.

"The idea is to provide opportunities in thresholds between inside and outside that people would want to spend more time in," said Hoang.

"We actually pushed the wall in to create the space for these green thresholds that had gardens. These are the spaces that were designed for outdoor comfort."

Each garden features species from a different local ecology in order to create a "multi-sensory" experience for passersby, including a Texas rock garden, a tall grass garden, a pollinator garden and a desert garden. A bamboo grove will also provide additional shade.

Vertical fins distributed along the facade also help to cool the exterior, with some covered by planting screens that will eventually host climbing Jasmine and other plants.

The fins are meant to create shade on the west-facing facade and some feature climbing cages for plants.

Signage will also be placed on the fins as a "vertical element for a horizontal building", according to Hoang.

A horizontal trellis at the building's end also cools an exterior passageway.

Modu is an interdisciplinary design studio founded in 2012 by Rachely Rotem and Phu Hoang. The studio focuses on work at the intersection of design, ecology and research.

Dezeen included other projects that seek to mitigate heat in this round-up, including reflective paint and water-filled windows.

The photography is by Leonid Furmansky and Naho Kubota

Project credits:
Architect: Modu
Project team: Phu Hoang, Rachely Rotem, Tom Sterling, Brenda Lim
Developer: Anh Gip
Climate engineering firm: TransSolar
Local architect: Identity Architects
Local landscape: Kudela & Weinheimer
Structural engineer: CJG Engineers
MEP: ASEI Engineering
Civil engineer: ALJ Lindsey

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Architecture studio WOHA has created a "garden hotel" in Singapore with planted and pool terraces cut into the building's rectangular form.

WOHA described Pan Pacific Orchard as a "distinctive garden hotel and green icon" aiming to celebrate nature and offer verdant views on all floor levels.

Each terrace has a different theme – beach, garden and cloud – and is wrapped on two sides by guest rooms in six-storey blocks.

"Instead of one monolithic tower, we have three stacks of boutique-scale hotels that come together within one building, separated by sky terraces," WOHA director Hong Wei told Dezeen.

"This helps to bring amenities up in the sky and also frees up the ground space as a garden, which creates a better sense of arrival for guests," Wei added.

Columns covered in planting support the open corners of the terraces, aiming to add nature and biodiversity to the city.

"Green columns anchor each terrace and visually connect the four strata," said WOHA. "Together with the landscaping on the terraces, the building replaces 200 per cent of its site area with greenery."

The terraces were designed to provide passive cooling in the humid city climate, with sheltered outdoor spaces that cross-ventilate the interiors.

Mirror roofs above the terraces were designed to reflect the verdant outdoor spaces to make them viewable from the street while adding a cooling effect, according to WOHA.

"The open-air, cross-ventilated yet sheltered spaces were designed specifically for Singapore's equatorial climate, where warm, humid air, low wind speeds and frequent, yet unpredictable, heavy rainfall make fully outdoor events a challenge," said the studio.

"The huge volumes function as giant sunshades to the terrace and rooms, while the reflective ceilings act as thermal mirrors, providing radiant cooling by doubling the surface area of gardens and water."

Plaza steps outside the hotel entrance lead down to a public outdoor space decorated with water features and trees, intending to be a retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city above.

The first of the sky terraces is located on the fifth floor. Named Beach Terrace, it features a curving lagoon and sandy beach.

Above Beach Terrace on the 11th floor is Garden Terrace, which has a bar, lounge space, manicured gardens, a lawn and "reflection pools".

The highest of the terraces is Cloud Terrace on the 18th floor, which is used as an events plaza. It is surrounded by a 400-seat ballroom and sheltered by a canopy topped with photovoltaic panels.

"The Cloud Terrace is designed as an urban destination with a ballroom, a function room and an event space up in the sky, set between silver-hued plantings, reflective pools and a perforated mirror ceiling," said WOHA.

The hotel rooms were given different interior finishes to reflect the theme of the terrace they overlook – for example, timber panelling with sandy and pastel colours were used for the rooms by the Beach Terrace.

Rooms overlooking the Garden Terrace feature marble surfaces and green hues, while those by the Cloud Terrace have silvery-white colour palettes.

Other buildings designed by WOHA include the plant-filled Singapore Pavilion shown at Dubai Expo 2020 and a mixed-use building with a stepped terrace covered in planting.

The photography is by Darren Soh.

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Local studio Montalba Architects has created a lush Japanese-inspired garden patio for diners at a Nobu hotel and restaurant in Silicon Valley.

Located adjacent to the Nobu Hotel Palo Alto, which was opened in 2020, the second phase of the project includes the addition of the open-air dining concept.

Tucked between the hotel and a neighbouring storefront on the site of a former flower shop, the restaurant's garden patio is visually accessible from the interior of the hotel and the street.

Surrounded by downtown Palo Alto's shopping centres, the garden was designed to mitigate the heat island effect, improve air quality and attract pollinators.

"Overall the design was driven by ideas of composition and warmth of materiality – thinking about how we consider air, water, light, nourishment, comfort and tranquillity of mind when seeking a retreat in an urban setting," said Montalba Architects founding principal David Montalba.

At the street, guests enter through, a tall, oil-rubbed bronze gate and adjoining doors inspired by a Japanese Shoji screen, while the restaurant is accessed through glass doors in the hotel lobby.

A loggia spans the length of one side of the space and is outfitted with circular tables and wooden chairs.

Retractable fabric awnings and bi-fold glass doors protect the space from inclement weather or open the interior to the outdoors.

Outside, four booth tables were placed directly on a stone pathway and covered in the same light cushioning found on the chairs inside.

An additional retractable awning protects the space, and an adjacent glass doorway leads into the lobby.

Pebble pathways lead into the garden, which comprises 4,100 square feet (380 square metres).

Large boulders delivered from Japan were placed throughout, with several gathered up on a small hill against the wall furthest from the dining tables.

Small, bronze lights, a circular stone fountain and stone statues were dispersed throughout.

Trees and "Japanese-inspired" ground cover were used for the plantings.

Punctuated by pink florals, tones of green and the deep red of Japanese maple, the garden will transform with the seasons.

Fluted limestone and Venetian plaster were used on both interior and exterior walls as a continuation of the adjoining hotel and interior restaurant.

"We developed the idea of an integrated garden dining experience well before the pandemic," said Montalba.

"The design was driven by a desire to facilitate natural moments of pause and mental rest. It was important to us that non-patrons be able to experience the space, too-that they come upon this unexpected garden scene while walking along the street."

Other recent projects completed by Montalba Architects include a beach house with a slender pool in southern California and a sunken garden added to an Edward Durrell Stone landmark.

The photography is by Kevin Scott.

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Dorschner Kahl Architects and Heine Mildner Architects have collaborated on Andreasgärten, a multi-generational housing scheme in Erfurt that integrates assisted living for the elderly with the wider community.

Situated next to the fortress town of Zitadelle Petersberg in the city of Erfurt, Germany, the Andreasgärten housing development consists of a trio of three-storey rectangular buildings arranged around a communal garden.

Social-welfare organisation Johanniter Unfallhilfe commissioned German studios Dorschner Kahl Architects and Heine Mildner Architects to design a housing project with living arrangements that would suit people of all ages.

Andreasgärten includes 65 one-bedroom, 24 two-bedroom and three three-bedroom apartments spread evenly across the three buildings, as well as two assisted living communities on the ground floors of two buildings and a kindergarten in an existing building.

The studios also added a therapy centre that provides social and medical services, a multipurpose community room and a chapel to encourage interaction between the residents.

"The neighbourhood provides spatial and programmatic conditions for coexistence and social exchange among people of different ages and social backgrounds," Dorschner Kahl Architects co-founder Adrian Dorschner told Dezeen.

"The kindergarten and assisted living community cover a whole life span – essentially, it is possible to live in the Andreasgärten at all stages of life, from childhood to old age."

Entrances to the buildings were placed on the elevations facing the communal garden to promote communication between residents, while covered walkways wrap the perimeter of each floor level.

"The veranda defines the architectural expression of the three residential buildings and serves as a link between private living spaces and the semi-public courtyard of the multigenerational neighbourhood," said Dorschner Kahl Architects and Heine Mildner Architects.

"It also acts as a communication space between the buildings across the courtyard, extending the interior space outward."

The assisted living communities contain 10 rooms designed as private retreats for the residents, which they can personalise with their own choice of furnishings.

Communal spaces, a shared kitchen and an assigned outdoor area for the assisted living communities provide space for socialising.

"Assisted living and elderly individuals no longer have to live alone," said Dorschner. "In these communities, several people of similar age live together in a shared setting, requiring care but still valuing privacy and independence."

"As part of the larger Andreasgärten project, the assisted living communities are integrated into the community's everyday life, rather than being isolated, making them an integral part of living and thriving in Andreasgärten," he added.

Built on top of an underground car park, the three residential buildings have a hybrid construction of reinforced concrete cores with masonry on the ground floor and cross-laminated timber walls.

"Only the areas necessary for fire safety and structural reasons, such as the ground floors and staircases, were designed with solid materials, while the upper floors were constructed using wood," Dorschner said.

"This led to a significant reduction in weight, allowing for substantial material savings in the floor slab above the underground garage on which the buildings are situated."

The architecture studios also transformed a former carriage house next to the Zitadelle Petersberg fortress wall into a kindergarten for 111 children.

The brick building was given a wooden extension, with a veranda designed as an "architectural mediator" between the existing structure and the new residential buildings.

"The adaptive reuse of the historic building honours both the sustainable approach of the new neighbourhood and the history of the location," said Dorschner.

Dorschner Kahl Architects and Heine Mildner Architects worked with landscape architect Michael Simonsen on the project's landscaping.

The communal garden at the centre of the housing scheme is connected to existing pedestrian paths, creating a semi-public space planted with fruit trees, large shrubs and perennials.

According to Dorschner, since the residents have moved into the development the verandas and the communal garden have become popular meeting spaces for neighbours.

"I noticed many interactions among the residents in the garden and between the houses through the loggias, which were intentionally designed without physical barriers between the apartments," he said.

"It's heartwarming to witness how the residents of the assisted living communities actively participate in social life despite limited mobility," Dorschner added.

"Their ground-floor living spaces directly connect to the garden through floor-to-ceiling windows, where they sit and engage in conversations with other residents or passersby."

Other social housing projects featured on Dezeen include a low-cost housing project in Los Angeles with scalloped facades and social housing in Amsterdam with stepped balconies overlooking the waterfront.

The photography is by Philip Heckhausen.

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Wooden shingles clad this pod-like garden room by London practice Mcmullan Studio, which has been created for spinal-injury charity Horatio's Garden.

The small space was conceived by Mcmullan Studio as a "beautiful, immersive, restorative haven" for patients with spinal injuries at a hospital in Sheffield.

It has large openings and a central circular skylight to create a close connection to the outdoors, informed by the Japanese concept of forest bathing.

"Our design addresses the issue of monotony and lack of stimulation experienced by patients who are confined to staring at hospital ward ceilings, particularly those who cannot move or lift their heads due to spinal injuries," director Andrew Mcmullan told Dezeen.

"We all know how good being in nature can make us feel," he added. "We have known it for centuries. The sounds of the forest, the scent of the trees, the sunlight playing through the leaves, the fresh, clean air — these things give us a sense of comfort."

The wooden pavilion was originally created for Horatio's Garden's exhibit at the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London, for which Mcmullan Studio worked with landscape designers Harris Bugg Studio.

The pavilion is now being transported to the Princess Spinal Injuries Centre in Sheffield as a permanent space for the charity, due to open in 2024.

The garden room's skylight sits at the centre of a reciprocal roof – a twisting circle of interlocking beams that requires no central support, allowing the interior to be as open and unobstructed as possible.

"Apart from the technical aspects, the reciprocal frame also has intrinsic beauty. The nest-like character of this structure creates a visually intriguing and comforting atmosphere," described Mcmullan.

"The structure frames a glazed rooflight that invites daylight into the space while providing ever-changing views of the overhanging tree canopies," he added.

Wooden finishes have been used inside and out, with space for seating and a bed beneath the central skylight and a pattern of circular ceramics mounted on the walls.

Ease of transportation was central to the structure's design, allowing it to be easily lifted as a single unit for its transportation from London to Sheffield.

Once in place, it will be accompanied by two additional garden rooms and a larger communal garden building, all of which will also be designed by Mcmullan Studio.

Other garden rooms featured on Dezeen include an artichoke-shaped workspace by Studio Ben Allen and a writer's shed by WT Architecture.

The video is by Nyima Murry and photography is by Lucy Shergold unless stated otherwise.

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Local studio Montalba Architects has renovated American architect Edward Durrell Stone's Perpetual Savings and Loan Bank building in Los Angeles and added a sunken garden in the building's plaza.

Built in 1961, the eight-storey building now called 9720 Wilshire features a Romanesque facade of repeating arches and remains a landmark of the Beverly Hills neighbourhood.

Montabla Architects' renovation focused on the building's plaza, lobby, and basement, with "light renovation" completed on remainder of the building's interiors.

The brief included the replacement of the plaza's central fountain, which once featured a gold-plated sculpture by artist Harry Bertoia before being decommissioned in 2010 due to leaks.

The studio replaced the circular footprint of the fountain with a light well that drops into the building's basement.

At the light well's opening, the studio placed a circular sculpture made of bronze prongs that arch backwards as a nod to the building's facade and the curved jets of the previous fountain.

Lighting and evergreen landscaping encircle the sculpture to emphasize its form.

A sunken garden containing grasses and trees – selected in collaboration with landscape architecture studio, OJB – were placed at the bottom of the light well to promote passive cooling at street level and natural light in the basement.

Circular glass panels, additional lighting, and a concrete bench surround the garden at the basement level.

The space was renovated to include five adjoining gallery spaces, a restroom and storage with concrete floors and painted walls.

A frameless glass enclosure and steel trellis was added to the staircase entrance of the basement, which is located at the far end of the plaza.

A pre-existing wall that runs alongside the entrance and perpendicular to the facade was outfitted with steel screens to encourage the growth of vines.

The studio clad the renovated lobby in a palette of walnut panels and terrazzo flooring with bronze accents.

A simple oval desk of fluted stone sits at the centre, enclosed by a semi-circle extending from the lobby's thin, rectangular footprint.

Simple materials and forms were chosen to represent the building's mid-century origins.

The terrazzo hardscape of the plaza, which features a pattern of large white circles, was removed, restored and re-installed to its former state.

White concrete benches were newly installed and run the length of the plaza.

9720 Wilshire housed Perpetual Savings and Loan Bank upon its 1962 opening, but due to the institution's closure in 1992, now hosts Manufacturers Bank.

The last renovation to the plaza took place in 1992. Stone, who died in 1978, was known for dozens of modernist structures in the US and internationally, including the US embassy in New Delhi, which is currently being renovated by Weiss Manfredi.

Other recent renovations to landmark buildings around the US include Gensler's renovation of Chicago's Merchandise Mart and a crystalline structure added to the Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium in New Orleans.

The photography is courtesy Montalba Architects.

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Local design studio Mattaforma has collaborated with music venue and cultural space Public Records to create an outdoor plant nursery and community space to expand its programming in Brooklyn.

The Nursery at Public Records sits in an outdoor space adjacent to the Gowanus institution's other programming, a vegan cafe, club and listening lounge.

It serves as a nursery for plants and as an outdoor music venue.

Public Record founders Shane Davis and Francis Harris brought on Mattaforma and other collaborators including interior design studio Space Exploration and landscape design studio Cactus Store to turn the adjacent, empty lot into a functioning space.

"The Nursery is intended to be an ecological/urban intervention that serves to bring people and plants together, in reaction to the challenge of re-imagining an asphalt parking lot," said Davis and Harris.

To do so while limiting new construction, the team took advantage of several storage units already on the site, positioning them as both separators and inhabitable spaces for both humans and plants.

"The brief was an over winter nursery for their garden plant collection, as well as a community space that people could enjoy and learn about plants," Mattaforma co-founder Lindsey Wikstrom told Dezeen.

"With this in mind, we focused first on designing a space that relied solely on passive heating in the winter, treating the plants as our clients first, then adapting a plant-oriented space towards humans as our secondary clients."

To house the plants, Mattaforma installed wooden pratt trusses lined with polycarbonate panels.

The trusses were made on-site out of Microllam R laminated-veneer lumber (LVL), a manufactured wood that combines micro-layers of different kinds of woods like fir and larch.

According to Wikstrom, the material was chosen for its durability and also its manufacturer, Weyerhaeuser.

"[It's] the first American timber company to call for regenerative forest stewardship over 100 years ago and who still maintains today some of the highest ethical standards in their replanting initiatives, meeting SFI certification and transparency in their evolving ESG performance metrics," said Wikstrom of the company.

Vents were included in the trusses to allow for passive cooling during the summer months. The trusses also extend out over the sound system and DJ booth to celebrate the DJ booth "like an altar".

Public Records also created the sound system for The Nursery, working with audio engineer Devon Ojas and manufacturer NNNN to develop a custom system that includes two blue-green and black speakers.

In addition, the team brought in engineering firm Arup to advise on the acoustics of the space. New York-based Cactus Store designed the landscaping and supplied the vegetation for the site.

Besides the plants within the containers, trees and a grove of bamboo were installed around the concrete dance floor.

The once-industrial areas of Brooklyn have seen a variety of art and culture institutions moving in past years. Recently, a derelict powerplant, once known for its graffiti culture, was renovated by Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron into an arts centre.

Elsewhere in the borough, Ennead Architects and Rockwell Group converted a 19th-century train warehouse into a headquarters for a charitable organisation.

The photography is by Adrianna Glaviano.

Project credits:

Creative director: Shane Davis
Curatorial / sound direction: Francis Harris
Architecture: Mattaforma
Interior design: Space Exploration
Sound design: OJAS, NNNN, Dalbec Audio
Landscape design: Cactus Store
Acoustic advisory: ARUP

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Mexico City-based architect Ludwig Godefroy has cut circular openings into the slanted ceilings of a series of dwellings in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, to create semi-exposed pools and gardens.

Godefroy placed a series of circular openings in a cast-concrete structure to create cave-like interiors that remain open to the tropical climate of the Pacific coast site.

The project includes four identical dwellings divided between two adjacent structures.

Puerto Escondido's warm temperatures meant Godefroy could design Casa VO and Casa WO to remain open year-round while protecting inhabitants from rain.

In response to this climatic condition, Godefroy inverted the "classical scheme of the house with its garden", placing the plant life on the interior instead of the exterior.

"The project blurs the border between in and out to become a singular habitable garden, where everything remains open all day and all night long," he said.

The circular openings were instead employed as large, reclined skylights that also act as mirrored passageways at the centre of each individual dwelling's courtyard.

The partial roofs come together at the bottom of their slope to create a V-shaped structure. Inhabitants enter beneath the lower skylight, pass the pool and through a larger skylight into the covered primary living area.

Here a bedroom, kitchen, dining room and seating areas were placed underneath the slanting roof. A lofted bedroom and restroom were tucked beneath the highest point of the structure.

Notches of concrete atop the roof can be used as stepping stones to traverse the length of the building.

The kitchen is below ground level. A circular divider made of concrete separates the downstairs sleeping area from food preparation.

A similar column divider wraps around the shower in the upstairs bedroom.

Godefroy purposely avoided the "unnecessary" aspect of "urban" architectural language in favour of "simplicity".

"Mexico City urban life references disappear, no windows, no glass anymore," he said.

To bring light into the cavernous living area, additional glazed skylights and openings were lined along the back wall of the house above the kitchen and upstairs bathroom.

Falling water is caught by planting beds, the pool, or a drainage system along the slanting roof.

Party walls between the homes contain geometric circular and triangular cutouts. The walls afford inhabit's privacy while creating fin-like extensions on the building's facade.

Like Godefory's other projects, the houses were constructed using "massive" materials like concrete, wood and brick. The materials were selected for their durability and eventual patina.

Godefroy considered time to be an additional element of the design. With the selected materials, the homes will only get "better looking" according to the team.

Nearby Godefroy created a similar structure called Casa TO that also features circular concrete passageways.

Godefroy has completed a number of concrete homes in Mexico including this brutalist cube-shaped holiday home in a pine forest and a home in Mérida that references Mayan traditions and culture.

The photography is by Rory Gardiner

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Texas studios Smitharc Architecture + Interiors and Erin Sander Design have completed a family home with limestone cladding, a Zen garden and a gallery-like space for the clients' Ferraris.

Situated on a leafy street, the home is named after the suburban Dallas neighbourhood where it is located, Greenway Parks.

The residence was built for a family of five – a husband, wife and three kids – and is meant to balance durability with a "lightness of detail".

The team was tasked with creating a home that respected its neighbours and included space for the client's "prized Ferrari collection", along with his-and-her work areas with aesthetic appeal.

"Our clients are both serial entrepreneurs involved in creative and often philanthropic sectors," said Dallas-based Smitharc Architecture + Interiors, who collaborated with local studio Erin Sander Design on the interiors.

"Their work-from-home lifestyle results in frequent video conference calls with staff and investors, so they each wanted a Zoom backdrop that was both beautiful and representative of their respective personalities."

The team conceived a two-storey, courtyard-style home that consists of rectilinear volumes arranged around a Zen garden.

The home's front portion was kept low to the ground in deference to neighbouring mid-century modern homes and a bungalow that once stood on the property.

Exterior walls are clad in a mix of honed grey limestone and bleached cypress, with the latter material adding visual warmth. Along the front elevation, a bronze gate offers privacy and limits access to the residence.

Within the 6,800-square-foot (632-square-metre) home, ample glazing ushers in daylight and provides views through the residence.

Partial walls and built-in furniture help divide the space while maintaining a sense of fluidity. Earthy finishes such as limestone walls and rift-sawn white oak flooring are paired with splashes of colour and carefully curated decor.

The ground level holds the public zone, envisioned as a series of "cozy vignettes". Sliding glass doors create a smooth connection to the rear yard, where the team placed a patio and swimming pool.

The ground level also contains a bedroom suite, a garage and a "purpose-built auto lounge", where the clients' Ferraris are on display. The auto lounge doubles as a study for the husband.

The upper level – reached by stairs or an elevator – encompasses the sleeping areas, a den and an office for the wife.

The office, which has floor-to-ceiling glass, looks upon treetops and a lighting sculpture by Romanian artist Andreea Braescue that hangs in the home's entry hall.

The primary bedroom suite includes a gym, a "glam room", a walk-in closet and a private roof deck.

The interior design includes a number of distinctive elements.

Stretching over the public zone is a blue, polished plaster ceiling that unifies the different spaces and adds visual interest.

In the kitchen, one finds blue lacquer-fronted cabinetry and an L-shaped island with a marble top and built-in banquette.

In the main bathroom, there is a floating brass vanity and custom mirrors. The adjacent "glam room" is fitted with pale pink furnishings, scalloped marble floor tiles and walls covered in laser-cut brass pieces that were installed by hand.

Other homes in Dallas include a residence by Specht Architects that consists of corrugated concrete volumes informed by brutalist architecture, and a slender, vanilla-white home by Wernerfield that was designed for a young couple.

The photography is by Nathan Schroder.

Project credits:

Architect: Smitharc Architecture + Interiors
Architecture team: Jason Erik Smith, Signe Smith
Interiors: Erin Sander Design
Landscape: Garden Design Studio
Construction: Kienast Homes

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Local architecture firm Studio North designed a custom garden and garage combination complete with Corten steel planters and a green roof in Calgary, Alberta.

Known as the Garden Garage, the 700-square foot (65-square metre) garage sits on the sunny edge of a 12,000-square foot (1,115-square metre) lot and holds two cars for a 1,785-square foot (166-square metre) house.

Located in Calgary's Upper Mount Royal neighborhood, the project works to address a typical conflict between the functional parking space and recreational yard space by hybridizing the two programs with intersecting planes.

The detached square structure is partially embedded into the earth and a sunken staircase leads up to a raised garden space.

The garden features an array of Corten steel planters that act as miniature versions of the garage's planted roof, which slopes slightly toward the garden.

Immediately adjacent to the garage, a steel gate – characterized by a custom vine-like laser-cut perforation – conceals a second staircase that connects the driveway directly to the garden.

"The project is about the collision of the backyard plane and the driveway plane, which creates a condition that is part landscape and part garage, part natural and part manmade," the Studio North team told Dezeen.

"The sequence of space and material from lower to upper seeks to create a transitional threshold from the surrounding urban context to an immersive otherly landscape that offers an escape from the city."

The rough-textured garage was created to highlight the client's collector automobile and serve as a habitable work and storage space.

The driveway-facing facade is clad in Shou Sugi Ban – a Japanese wood charring method – siding that contrasts the surrounding landscape and is punctuated by a translucent glazed garage door with gridded black framing.

The light-filled interior of the garage features two-tone walls that reflect the datum line of the outside topography.

A dark steel base provides an impact-resistant condition fit for heavy-duty work, while the lighter fir cladding makes the top half of the walls feel airy.

The fir wraps along the ceiling which is supported by light-coloured wooden beams.

Light streams into the back of the garage through two large windows and a glass door, which opens to the open-air back stairway.

"Above, a green roof and terraced planting extends the natural topography of the backyard into an elevated plane of natural vegetation, perfectly curating a view from the backyard over the surrounding neighbourhood to the tree canopy and sky," the studio said.

The resilient native vegetation thrives on the south-facing roof and serves as a natural attractor for bees. The sloped roof directs water to custom perforated scuppers along the edge that, in turn, waters the planters below.

The stacked, multi-size planters contain both solid and open Corten boxes, forming both seating and stair access up to the roof for maintenance. The planters also have integrated drainage holes for even water dispersal.

"Together, the collision of material and texture between the garden and the garage meets to create a juxtaposition of softness and robustness," the studio said.

"The [garage's] rough and sharp-edged industrial palette plays to the client’s interest mechanics; meanwhile, the greenery above becomes a countering palette of soft and delicate plant and animal life to enhance the feeling of natural immersion and escape from the surrounding city."

Recently, Studio North completed a cosy cocktail bar in Calgary that juxtaposes dark, matte walls with a light-weight perforated fir screen that folds up the corner and creates a series of barrel vaults throughout the contemporary speakeasy space.

The photography is by Hayden Pattullo and Damon Hayes Couture.

Project credits:

Lead architects: Matthew Kennedy, Hayden Pattullo
Designer + builder: Studio North
Project management + design: Matthew Kennedy, Mark Erickson
Construction management: Matthew Tyrer, Matthew Kennedy
Parametric design: Hayden Pattullo
Engineering: Recad Consulting Ltd
Photography: Hayden Pattullo + Damon Hayes Couture
Representation: Saaraa Premji Mitha
Custom steel fabrication: Mercedes and Singh
Excavation: ADR Excavating
Electrical: Vaughn Electrical Services
Green roof design: Green T Design
Carpentry: White Spruce Carpentry

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US studio Waechter Architecture has completed a courtyard-style home in Oregon that consists of steel-clad pavilions set around a rainwater-fed garden of native plants.

Meadow House is located in the city of Eugene, a few miles southwest of the University of Oregon.

The residence is named after an adjacent park and landscape preserve, Madison Meadow, which lies at the heart of a neighbourhood with single-family homes.

The project was designed for the stepmother of Ben Waechter, founder of Portland, Oregon-based Waechter Architecture.

The main goal was to create a durable and economical home that embraces the historic park, which features native grasses and a diverse mix of trees and shrubs.

"The family sought to create a residence adjacent to the meadow while honouring its character and greater value as a resource for the entire community," the team said.

"At the same time, they sought to bring their ways of living into closer dialogue with the surrounding neighborhood and the simple beauty of its signature landscape."

Inspired by the concept of a "meadow within a meadow", the architects conceived a rectangular, 2,000-square-foot (186-square-metre) building with a garden courtyard at its centre. From above, the house can be read as a series of frames.

Planted with native grasses, the rain-fed garden has a natural character that takes cues from Madison Meadow. Arranged around this open space are single-storey volumes faced with metal and glass.

One volume holds the kitchen and an adjoining dining area and living room. Two contain sleeping areas, including the primary bedroom suite. Another encompasses a garage and workshop.

In certain areas, glazed walls blur the boundary between inside and out and immerse occupants in the landscape in all seasons. Two sheltered patios further strengthen the home’s connection to its setting.

For the building's cladding, the team chose bonderized steel, which was used for walls, soffits and roofs. The continuous wrapper lends to the home being read as a "single mass that has been carved and sculpted", the architects said.

The low-maintenance cladding is intended to age naturally over time. It also can withstand water.

"Its strong resistance to corrosion and water damage also allows the inward sloping roofs to collect rainwater directly into the central garden," the team said, noting that the house has no gutters.

Overall, the home is meant to serve as a backdrop to the landscape.

"The simple forms and palette of the house allow the wild vitality of the meadow and the change of seasons to define the primary experience of place," the team said.

Waechter Architecture has completed a number of projects in America’s Pacific Northwest,  including a Portland commercial building made of mass timber and a glazed tasting room overlooking a vineyard in rural Oregon.

The photography is by Lara Swimmer.

Project credits:

Architecture and interiors: Waechter Architecture
Design team: Ben Waechter (principal architect), Lisa Kuhnhausen (project architect)
Contractor: Chalus Construction Co
Structural engineer: Grummel Engineering
Doors and windows: Sierra Pacific

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An event pavilion and aerial tree walk are among the enhancements to Portland's Leach Botanical Garden, which is being upgraded by a team that includes US studios Land Morphology and Olson Kundig Architects.

Located in southeast Portland, the city-owned park encompasses 16 acres (6.5 hectares) and is open to the public.

In 2015, Land Morphology – a Seattle-based landscape architecture practice – embarked on developing a strategic master plan for the botanical garden, established nearly a century ago by a local couple, John and Lilla Leach, who once lived on the property.

Divided into phases, the plan called for transforming the park in a way that improves the visitor experience while honouring the site's history.

The verdant site is bisected by a creek and features a diverse collection of native and non-native plants, including ferns, medicinal herbs and flowering shrubs.

"Organised along cultural and ecological transects, the master plan preserves the founders' legacy by carrying forward their commitment to environmental stewardship through new and expressive forms," Land Morphology said.

For the first phase of the park's overhaul, Land Morphology led a multidisciplinary team that included the Seattle-based architecture studio Olson Kundig.

It covers about seven acres in the upper portion of the park, five of which were newly acquired.

New additions include an event pavilion, an aerial tree walk and three "botanic collections". A revamped system of trails reorganises the garden experience.

The pavilion, dubbed the Fireside Terrace, is an open, roofed structure with slatted wooden walls. Designed by Olson Kundig, the rentable structure is used for classes and events. It overlooks the new tree walkway.

The aerial path rises 39 feet (12 metres) above the ground as it curves through a native forest of western cedar and Douglas fir. Measuring 400 feet (122 metres) in length, the elevated structure is lined with steel railings and is supported by tall, steel columns.

The new botanic collections include a pollinator meadow with over 200 plant varieties.

"The Pollinator Meadow will provide an ecology to attract pollinating insects and birds to be viewed and interpreted for visitors," the team said.

A range of people and groups were involved in the first phase of the park project. In addition to Olson Kundig, Land Morphology worked with a dozen speciality consultants, a 14-person community advisory committee, the City of Portland and a group called Leach Garden Friends.

Later phases of work will entail the creation of six display gardens and further installations.

The site has a storied past. It was long used as a hunting, fishing and camping site by native people. In the second half of the 19th century, it became part of a sawmill that provided lumber for the construction of homes in Portland, according to the design team.

In 1931, John and Lilla Leach – he was a pharmacist, she was a botanist – acquired part of the property and set out to create a private garden there. To design the site, they turned to Wilbert Davies, who later became a notable landscape architect in California. His plans were partially carried out.

After the Leaches died, the property was eventually gifted to the City of Portland.

Other botanical gardens in the US include the Portland Japanese Garden, which features a trio of pagoda-style buildings designed by Kengo Kuma, and the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, which features an educational facility and greenhouse with polycarbonate walls that was designed by 180 Degrees and CoLab Studio.

The photography is by Land Morphology and Aaron Leitz.

Project credits:

Prime consultant and landscape architecture: Land Morphology
Land Morphology team: Richard Hartlage (principal in charge), Lindsey Heller (project manager), Sandy Fischer (lead planner), Garrett Devier (project landscape architect), Brandon Burlingame (landscape designer)
Architecture: Olson Kundig
Structural engineering: Lund Opsahl LLC
Civil engineering: Janet Turner Engineering, LLC; Capital Engineering & Consulting, LLC
Electrical engineering: Reyes Engineering
Geotechnical engineering: Northwest Geotech, Inc
Transportation engineering: Lancaster Engineering
Mechanical engineering: Hodaie Engineering
Arborist: Morgan Holen and Associates LLC
Wayfinding: Suenn Ho Design
Permitting: Winterbrook Planning
Cost estimating: Mitali and Associates
Stormwater and entitlement: Greenworks, PC
Quality analysis/control and construction administration: Anderson Krygier, Inc

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Dezeen Showroom: Spanish design brand Kettal has featured a selection of its products on Dezeen Showroom, including modular pavilions for office interiors and outdoor seating.

Giro, a collection of outdoor seating by Kettal, is defined by its sides, which are made up of lengths of taut rope stacked above the other.

Giro seats represent a reinterpretation of traditional vernacular Orkney chairs, which are characterised by their backrests and arms made from lengths of rope or straw.

The collection consists of armchairs and sofas as well as matching side tables and coffee tables.

Pavilion O has a lightweight aluminium frame that can be clad in glass, fabric or wooden panels.

The design is intended for use in large, open-plan office environments to break the space up into meeting rooms, focus areas and breakout zones.

Pavilion H has a similar lightweight aluminium frame to Pavilion O but is designed for outdoor environments.

The structure can be clad in wood or can have planters installed in place of walls and can contain both dining, living and kitchen services.

Another range of outdoor furniture by Kettal is Plumon, which consists of a three-seater sofa and dining armchair that have removable padded cushions designed to be draped over the piece's frame.

Created by Patricia Urquiola, the cushions can be removed from the furniture for cleaning or reupholstering. The items come in a selection of materials and fabrics.

Kettal's Grand Bitta seating collection was designed in collaboration with architect Rodolfo Dordoni with nautical mooring ropes in mind.

The seating comes in a range of formats, from single chairs to a large three-seater sofa, and has thick cushions that can be finished with a range of materials.

Kettal is a Spanish furniture brand that designs and manufactures furniture and temporary structures for both outdoor areas and workplace environments.

The brand was founded in 1966 and is based in Spain.

Dezeen Showroom

Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen's huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.

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Ample daylight, worker ammenities and low-maintenance gardens feature in a large campus for a housewares company that was designed by Mexican architecture studios Estudio MMX and Luis Campos.

The project – referred to as Campus Betterware Guadalajara, or CBG – occupies a 7.5-hectare site in El Arenal, a town north of Guadalajara in the western state of Jalisco.

It serves as a key campus and distribution centre for Betterware, a household products company with international reach.

Totalling 15,000 square metres, the campus encompasses administrative space and a series of warehouses for shipping, receiving, sorting and storage.

It also offers worker amenities such as a cafeteria, gym, leisure room, hairdresser, laundry facility, infirmary and children's nursery.

Creating continuation between the different programmatic areas was a key concern for the design team – Mexico City's Estudio MMX and local architect Luis Campos.

"An important aspect that determined the configuration of the campus – and that is imperative for the optimum functioning of an industrial building of this type – is the horizontality and continuity between operative spaces," the team said.

The team conceived nine individual buildings set within a garden landscape, helping to ensure users have access to "high-quality spaces and experiences".

Pathways link the buildings and allow workers to cross the gardens.

Two of the buildings are elongated, rectangular bars that sit perpendicular to each other.

The other seven buildings are roughly square in plan, and they surround the bars in a staggered formation.

For structural framing, the team used concrete and steel painted in a reddish hue. Stretches of glass usher in natural light.

The language of the exterior continues indoors, where one finds voluminous spaces and exposed structural elements.

A number of elements that the team said contribute to sustainable design were incorporated into the campus.

A team that specializes in bioclimatic design helped conceive architectural solutions that are suitable for the site, including ways to incorporate passive ventilation and natural lighting.

Solar panels help supply energy to the facility. The campus also has its own water-treatment plant, which includes a rainwater harvesting system.

The landscape features plants that are low-maintenance and adapted to the local climate. "Dry rivers" were integrated into the site to channel rainwater toward the gardens and help water infiltrate the soil.

Other projects by Estudio MMX include a Yucatán geology museum that "consciously synthesizes" Mayan and contemporary architecture, and a Mexico City home that consists of towering volumes that step down a hillside.

The photography is by César Béjar.

Project credits:

Design: Estudio MMX and Luis Campos
Collaborators: Santiago Vázquez, Ana Nuño, Gerson Guizar, Lesly Noguerón, Gabriel González

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New York design studio New Affiliates and architect and historian Samuel Stewart-Halevy have created a prototype of their Testbeds project, which repurposes architectural models used for large projects.

Originally announced in 2020, the team has completed a garden shed, greenhouse and community space in the New York City borough of Queens that was made partly from a model created for a luxury condominium in Tribeca.

Architectural models are used in many large construction projects for design review. They are often made to the same standard as the buildings they are modelling and are usually disposed of after the building is complete.

New Affiliates and Stewart-Halevy saw an opportunity to try and use these models to replace public structures in Queens, which they noticed were often in disrepair.

"By relocating mockups to local community gardens, we imagined a new form of Manhattan transfer," said the team.

"Here the mockup becomes a vehicle, carrying the surplus value of New York’s high-rise architecture into neighborhoods that have been historically disinvested while bringing the image of the growing city down to the ground," it added, noting that this was only one of many possible uses for the mockups.

Located in Garden by the Bay in Edgemere and completed late last year, the shed repurposed the dark facade of the Tribeca building and used it as a structural wall for the primary envelope.

The mockup was originally installed in a showroom for the condo and consists of four custom concrete panels and a large glass window.

The team worked with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation's GreenThumb, an arm of the agency that promotes civic programming, to place the mockup in the centre of the urban garden.

"The project involves many leaps of faith," the team told Dezeen. "When we first approached the Parks Department, the developers, the engineers and the community members, we always anticipated encountering more skepticism."

"We were delighted at the enthusiasm and generosity with which everyone, including Cape Advisors, responded," referring to the developer for 30 Warren, the Tribeca condo for which the mockup was made.

A gabled timber frame was suspended over the mockup, connecting it to an adjacent greenhouse that has a cinderblock foundation and polycarbonate walls.

Between the mockup and greenhouse is an open space that is covered by a large metal sheet that was placed over the wooden frame to serve as a roof.

The team hopes to expand on the project by creating a number of similar structures in New York City's outer boroughs.

New Affiliates is led by Ivi Diamantopoulou and Jaffer Kolb and received AIA New York's New Practices award in 2020.

Samuel Stewart-Halevy is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University.

Other projects that repurpose structures include RSDA's repurposing of shipping containers for structures on a farm in India.

The photography is by Michael Vahrenwald. 

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Local architecture studio Erre Q Erre has created the Environmental Culture Center, a stone-clad pavilion and garden that replaces a parking lot in Bosque de Chapultepec, a large park in the centre of Mexico City.

The 90,000-square-metre project was designed as an "environmental node" to strengthen the park's environment biologically and culturally by adding more diverse plant life and public spaces.

The Environmental Culture Center comprises a large stone pavilion and a garden crisscrossed with "biocultural walks" meant to improve pedestrian connectivity in this section of the park.

It is part of the city's master plan to revitalize the park and the project was selected via a competition held jointly by the local and federal governments.

Its design is meant to improve the area's biodiversity and reflect the various biomes found in the Valley of Mexico region.

"The spatial configuration of the project arises from strategically locating the Center for Environmental Culture," said Erre Q Erre.

"It is delicately incorporated into the geometry of the lake and a natural slope with existing vegetation, which provides an optimal space to place a set of volcanic stone steps that serve as containment, rest and contemplation for the new landscape or environmental setting."

At the centre of the complex is the semi-circular forum. It has a 2,000-square-metre roof made from black volcanic stone that slopes up from the ground and is supported by massive steel trusses.

Underneath the overhanging roof, more stone was used to clad pillars that punctuate the curved glazing that provides views of the gardens. Inside, a stone floor and stone seating is framed by the semi-circular structure.

The structure references the volcanic landscapes of Pedregal, a volcanic landscape in the southern part of the city.

"The architectural language of the pavilion aims to be one more element of the landscape," said Erre Q Erre.

"This has been achieved thanks to the integration of the geometry of the roof with the topography of the site, and with the use of materials already used in the Chapultepec forest, such as volcanic stone."

Cemex Vertua concrete was used for the foundation, which the studio said reduced the emissions by 50 per cent. The formwork for the concrete was reused in the interior finishes.

Rainwater collection channels were included in the roof and in the forum area, with the water stored in collection tanks and used to help irrigate the gardens.

The gardens include a variety of plants separated into plots by stone walls.

A primary irrigation channel runs from the adjacent lake and links up with smaller channels that can be opened and closed.

The pathways through the garden take formal inspiration from the lake shore and all lead towards the "node" of the pavilion and forum.

"The Biocultural Walks adopt trajectories in the form of a concentric spiral that gives continuity to the curved lines that define the outline of Menor Lake," said the studio.

"Its tours start from the existing cultural equipment at different points around the perimeter of the land and intuitively come together in the Center for Environmental Culture," the studio added.

Other projects that use volcanic stone include Taller Mauricio Rocha's expansion of Diego Rivera and Juan O'Gorman's Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City and Intersticial Arquitectura's home in Querétaro, which rests on a plinth made from the material.

The photography is by Margarita Gorbea.

Project credits:

Architecture: Rafael Ponce Ortiz (lead architect), Juan Ansberto Cruz (project partner), Margarita Gorbea Angeles, Cesar Ávila, Oscar Díaz Gaspar, Abigail Esparza, Diego Bueno de la Paz, Valerio López Acevedo
Landscape engineering:  Juan Ansberto Cruz Gerón, Paola Patricia González Ordaz, Fabiola Alvarado, Gerardo Tapia, Eduardo Santiago, Perla Flores
Vegetable proposal: Secretaría del Medio Ambiente, Rodrigo Canjay Torres, Pamela Vélez, Fortino Acosta
Engineering and environmental design: Dr. Alejandro de Alva, Amado Ríos, Edgar Ojeda Sotelo, Oscar Ramírez, Coral Rojas Serrano, Javier Cuauhtémoc Blancas Ponce
Geometry and structural design: Eric Valdez Olmedo, Axayacatl Sánchez
Museography: Adriana Miranda
Project coordinator Chapultepec Nature and Culture: Gabriel Orozco

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A grassy mound conceals this brick pool house, which architecture studio Knox Bhavan has designed to be "virtually invisible" within the grounds of a Georgian home in Kent.

Responding to the client's request for an unobtrusive structure, Knox Bhavan took advantage of an existing slope and retaining wall on the site to help blend the building into a wider landscape redesign by Lloyd Blunt.

"Perpendicular to the house, when viewed from its windows, the pool building is almost unnoticeable, read only by its longitudinal brick spine," said the London studio.

"Viewed from above, it is subsumed into the landscape and virtually invisible," it continued.

The pool house sits beside a paved area that surrounds a rectangular swimming pool at the centre of the garden. Its red-brick frontage rises upwards, creating a short colonnade that shelters a seating area.

"Beginning in a sweeping helix-like curve alongside the York stone path, the brick spine then 'unzips', with one side climbing to hold back the earth and the other responding to the swimming pool and forming its low frontage," said Knox Bhavan.

At each end, the brick wall lowers to form a short garden wall, before becoming a "barely discernible" line of snaking brick paving that borders the adjacent flower beds.

The retaining wall has been constructed from a blockwork system, while the roof has a timber structure, supporting a drainage mat that funnels rainwater to the perimeter to then be used to irrigate the land.

Steps on either side of the pool house lead up to its walk-on roof, which doubles as an elevated garden path for access above and around the structure.

Inside, the pool house contains a skylit shower, storage area and plant room, accessed via sliding wooden doors and timber shutters. It is finished with brick-paved floors that create a continuity with the external terrace.

"The brick continues within to become the interior floor finish while the shower enclosure takes on a tube-like form, its walls clad in simple white tiles with natural daylight coming from a glazed circular opening above," said the studio.

"For the storage area, the finish is a simple screed floor and utilitarian plywood finish."

Founded in 1995, Knox Bhavan is a London studio led by Simon Knox and Sasha Bhavan. Its other recent projects include a flood-resilient house on the River Thames and the transformation of a school into two flats in London.

Elsewhere in the UK, architecture studio Surman Weston completed a pool house on a garden site in Surrey, raised on a concrete plinth to overlook the surrounding landscape.

The photography is by Knox Bhavan.

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Architecture studio Surman Weston has created a pool house in the gardens of a large home in Surrey, UK, and raised it on a concrete plinth to overlook the surrounding forest.

Located close to Reigate Heath, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the structure was designed by London studio Surman Weston with landscape designer Matthew Childs, who helped identify a site within the gardens that are already dotted with seating and terraces.

"The client commissioned to project out of a wish to make greater use of the south-facing rear garden, and create new spaces for rest, exercise and socialising," explained the studio.

"A bold geometric insertion into nature, the pool house acts as a counterpoint to the setting, a combination of mature woodland and a landscaped garden featuring exposed Westmorland stone and organically shaped ponds," it continued.

Negotiating a 1.5-metre change in level across the site, the pool house is raised on a concrete base, topped by a disc-shaped floor plate.

Acting as both podium and terrace, this circular base is half sheltered and half open to the elements, and intersected by the 10-metre-long rectangular pool which projects outwards towards the forest.

The enclosed area of the pool house, sheltered by a semicircular corrugated-metal roof, is built from exposed Douglas fir that is visible on the underside of the canopy and interior ceiling.

A kitchen and seating area with a woodburning stove sits alongside a bathroom, divided by an area of storage. Full-height sliding doors allow these spaces to completely open out onto the terrace depending on the season.

"The palette is limited to three building materials: concrete, timber and a corrugated aluminium roof which projects over the front of the pool house to create a canopy and deep threshold between inside and out," explained Surman Weston.

"Sliding doors allow the pool house to be fully opened up to the terrace, transforming the compact internal space into a far larger outdoor room suitable for alfresco dining, with a seamless transition through the use of poured concrete floors inside and out," it continued.

The restrained material palette is carried through into the interior, where the pool house's curved back wall has been finished in natural plaster with simple light fittings and wooden furniture.

London-based architecture studio Surman Weston was established in 2014 by Tom Surman and Percy Weston. Other recent projects by the studio include a teaching space in Hackney for children to learn about food, which was awarded the 2022 Stephen Lawrence Prize, and a home in Surbiton designed as a contemporary take on its mock-Tudor surroundings.

The photography is by Jim Stephenson.

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A colourful pavilion sits in the Joy Garden at Sheffield Children's Hospital, which British artist Morag Myerscough has created to offer patients and staff respite from a medical environment.

Sat at the heart of the hospital in South Yorkshire, England, the courtyard can be used as everything from a quiet sanctuary to an area for play, performances or workshops.

Joy Garden occupies an existing space at the hospital, created by London studio Avanti Architects during an extension in 2017 for which designer Myerscough created the interiors.

The outdoor space originally featured colourful seating and planters, now complemented by Myerscough's designs, but its full potential had not been realised due to a lack of funding.

"The hospital had a new wing built but by the time they got to the courtyard, money had been allocated to, what at that time, were more essential interior spaces," Myerscough told Dezeen.

"We knew the value of these outside spaces in hospitals and what a difference we could make to patients, families, carers and staff if we could make a joyous space, a secret garden, that could be used all year round."

The updated courtyard now houses extensive planting, flooring mosaics, moveable furniture and a shelter called the Joy Pavilion that is finished with Myerscough's signature bright colours and patterns.

"I felt so strongly about the potential of this space and how much it needed to happen and hoped that it will assist in some way the wellbeing of the people in the hospital and who visit," added Myerscough. "It is so important to have colour and nature around you to lift your spirits."

The Joy Garden was designed by Myerscough pro-bono and realised in collaboration with cleaning product company Method with which she has recently worked on a limited edition collection.

Several local traders also collaborated on the project, helping keep costs down.

The size of the central pavilion was developed to allow it to comfortably host workshops and performances, without overwhelming the garden.

"[It is] big enough to have a workshop or performance but not too big if you are in there on your own," Myerscough explained.

It is constructed almost entirely out of wood, chosen to add warmth to the structure.

This includes its roof, which is covered in hand-cut wooden shingles, but excludes the metal flag poles and legs for the seating inside.

The Joy Garden is complete with new evergreen planting throughout, alongside scented perennials and bulbs that will change the look of the space in different seasons.

Myerscough's previous project at Sheffield Children's Hospital in 2017 saw her design the bedrooms and the entrance glazing to the new wing by Avanti Architects.

Similarly to the garden, her interiors for the hospital are full of her trademark bright colours and harlequin prints, designed to feel domestic and welcoming to young patients.

Other recent projects by Myerscough include the colourful reinterpretation of a Roman gatehouse on Hadrian's Wall in northern England and an installation of 105 flags on Oxford Street that aim to encourage conversation about renewable energy.

The photography is by Gareth Gardner.

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Swedish practice Johan Sundberg Arkitektur has completed a cluster of timber-clad housing blocks in Ystad, Sweden, with facades of folding glass screens that allow their balconies to be turned into sheltered winter gardens.

Called Hygrometern, the cluster of four blocks provides a mixture of 20 two and three-bedroom mid-budget apartments on a sloping site overlooking the Baltic Sea.

The project marks a change in scale for Lund-based Johan Sundberg Arkitektur, which is better known for designing luxurious villas and holiday homes, often in close collaboration with their owners.

"We are proud and happy about the acknowledgment we receive for our luxury villas. But as we believe that good spaces can change people's lives for the better, we're expanding our practice to multi-family housing projects," said founder Johan Sundberg.

"[Our] take on mid-budget, multi-family housing resulted in accessible yet exceptional dwellings proving that outstanding architecture can be achieved with modest means," he continued.

Hygrometern is organised into two square blocks at the east of the site and two long, rectilinear blocks at its centre, with the space in between each used to create planting and shared outdoor spaces overlooked by the apartments.

Raised on a stepped concrete plinth, each two-storey block features a dedicated entrance into each apartment, with walled gardens for those on the ground floor and deeply recessed balconies for the first-floor dwellings.

While the entrance to the ground-floor apartments is through their front gardens, the first-floor spaces are accessed via galvanised steel staircases at the rear, which lead to a small area of deck access with additional seating.

"The programme is spread across four distinct volumes, where the interstices form human-scaled outdoor spaces," said the practice.

"A diverse range of sight lines, outdoor spaces and view contribute to the spatial qualities within the apartments," it continued.

Simple floorplans organise the living, dining and kitchen area at the front of the apartments opening onto the front garden or balcony and bedrooms at the rear, minimising the need for corridors.

One elevation of each block is comprised of a folding glazed screen in front of the balconies or gardens, with the remaining elevations clad in thin, ribbed wooden panelling.

"The folding glazed partitions, so crucial to the appearance of the facades, came as one of the many enhancements typical to projects where the architect plays an active role during the construction phase," said the practice.

"Initially considered as an optional element to be installed with the buyer's wish, the partitions were unanimously accepted, allowing the recessed balconies to become sheltered winter gardens," it continued.

In Hyrgometern's minimalist interiors, residents were free to customise fittings in the kitchens and bathrooms according to a pre-selected colour palette of pale and pastel tones.

Other projects recently completed by Johan Sundberg Arkitektur include a minimalist timber barn on a historic farm in Skåne, and a timber-clad villa close to a Swedish pine forest surrounded by terraces for following the sun.

Photography is by Markus Linderoth.

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London studio Nimtim Architects has renovated a Victorian maisonette in Camberwell with a warm palette of natural materials and a lush walled garden.

Appropriately named Walled Garden, the project was designed by Nimtim Architects to provide the owner with a "place of reflection and sanctuary from the city".

The design responds to a brief calling for greater connectivity and openness in the home, working within the constraints of the Minet Estate Conservation area near Myatt's Fields in south London.

By extending the rear of the home into the back garden, Nimtim Architects has opened up the ground floor with a large living, dining and kitchen space beneath a skylit ceiling of Douglas fir beams.

"Our clients wanted the home to feel open and connected but not cavernous," explained the studio.

"Generous openings at the rear create a focal point and frame views from the living spaces and the main bedroom to the secluded rear garden, still defined and wrapped by the original stock brick wall."

At the front of the home, the former living room has been turned into a separate guest annexe with its own dedicated entrance and kitchenette.

Above, there is a private living area positioned alongside the main bathroom and bedroom, which overlooks the extension below from a small balcony.

"We introduced an internal timber slatted balcony that permitted a dialogue between the bedrooms, the living space and the garden, lending an almost civic quality to the flat," said Nimtim Architects.

A palette of exposed brickwork, rough plaster and a raised aggregate concrete floor in the kitchen lends a warm, earthy quality to the spaces, intended to soften the light entering from the large rear windows.

"Collectively, we wanted the materials to have a rich and timeless quality and be discrete enough to provide a backdrop to the client's collection of art, books and furniture," the studio added.

"Douglas fir timber screens and slatted floor planks allow light to permeate, permitting glimpses between spaces reinforcing the sense of connection."

The studio also developed the concept for the walled garden outside, creating space for two small seating areas and a pond positioned between areas of foliage and ferns that are able to withstand its south-facing aspect.

Nimtim Architects was founded in 2014 in London by architects Nimi Attanayake and Tim O'Callaghan.

The studio has completed several refurbishments and extensions across London, including the refurbishment of a house in Southwark with plywood partitions and a cork-clad extension with pink window frames.

The photography is by Jim Stephenson.

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Canadian studios AXIA Design Associates and Arriz + Co have completed a pavilion and event space within the University of Alberta's Botanic Gardens, the final step in the master plan.

The pavilion is called the Diwan and was designed as a multi-purpose space and event venue for the university's 4.8 hectares Aga Khan Garden.

"The term Diwan has varied historical definitions, and here implies a space for meeting, cultural exchange, and celebration," explained Toronto-based architecture studio AXIA Design Associates, which worked with fellow Toronto design studio Arriz + Co on the project.

"In addition to providing multi-use functionality, the pavilion was to resonate with its rich surroundings and extend the themes of the Garden, a contemporary interpretation of Islamic landscape architecture in a northern climate and context," said AXIA.

The low-slung, stone building has a deep overhang on the front facade, which faces the garden's central axis.

"The architectural design 'offsets' some of the symmetries of the Aga Khan Garden while adhering to others, to balance the formal garden context with the pavilion’s internal function," said AXIA.

This primary pavilion has a covered area near the entrance to protect visitors from the elements.

There is a foyer and coat check, which in turn lead to the central event space. This open area occupies most of the ground floor.

"The volume of the space is grand and the use of white oak wood floors and panelling provides for a sense of warmth and comfort," said the team.

The team took cues from traditional Islamic design features throughout the building. In several areas, patterned screens with intricate geometric motifs recall traditional mashrabiya – wooden screens that filter daylight in windows.

"The design, massing, and material selection is that of a contemporary building that interprets traditional principles," said the team.

In the main hall, a bright yellow ceiling feature is framed by hanging black panels to attract attention to the intricate patterns.

Throughout the symmetrical space, floor-to-ceiling windows provide views of the surrounding gardens.

On the rooftop is a terrace, which provides views of the gardens and the university grounds in the warmer months.

The building also includes a servery on the ground floor, to accommodate catering for the various gatherings that will occur in the pavilion.

The gardens were named after Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslim community, who largely financed them. However, the Diwan was financed by the university.

Other university campus projects include the renovation of Yale University's 120-year-old student centre by RAMSA and a proposed addition to the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne by architects 3XN and Itten-Brechbühl.

The photography is by Michael Manchakowski.

Project credits:

Design architects: AXIA Design Associates Inc. Taymoore Balbaa, lead design architect; Chris Wong, design architect; Michael Good, project architect; Leisdania Reynoso, Justine Houseley, designers
Architectural & interior design: Arriz + Co. (Toronto). Arriz Hassam, lead designer; Jason Lue Choy, designer
Executive architects: Kasian Architecture, Interior Design, and Planning (Edmonton). Aziz Bootwala, principal; Emme Kanji, project manager; Chad Kern, job captain
Mechanical & electrical engineering: Williams Engineering (Edmonton). Chad Musselwhite, principal; Alexey Kalinin, project manager
Structural engineering: RJC (Toronto). John Kooymans, principal; Matt Deegan, project manager
Landscape architecture (Aga Khan Garden): Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects

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Writer Stefan Simanowitz and architect Antonio Pisanò are proposing a memorial garden for Queen Elizabeth II that would see part of the Buckingham Palace Garden converted into a "natural sanctuary" for the public.

The duo is part of a team that proposes that a piece of land alongside the busy Grosvenor Place road in central London is converted from the Buckingham Palace Garden into the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Gardens.

Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on 8 September, lived in private quarters in Buckingham Palace. Its garden is currently only open to the public as part of paid-for guided tours.

The proposed memorial garden would "turn a strip of London which is one of the most unprepossessing, most polluted parts of London into a kind of natural sanctuary, where people can have a place for tranquility," Buckingham Palace Park Project founder Simanovitz told Dezeen.

While the existing perimeter wall would be retained under the proposal, Simanowitz and Pisanò suggest opening up additional arches.

A new, high-security fence would cordon off the memorial gardens from the rest of Buckingham Palace Garden, though the exact dimensions and final content of the garden haven't yet been determined.

"Our vision is to have a place which will reflect Her Majesty’s love of nature and try and capture it in a beautiful walled garden, carved from just a sliver of the 42-acre Buckingham Palace Gardens," Pisanò said.

"It will be an act of care towards London and its unique, fragile yet resilient ecosystem."

While the proposal would leave the existing trees undisturbed, it suggests planting wildflowers and other plants from all over the British Isles to create a meadow-like garden that would also function as a natural playground for children.

Queen Elizabeth II already has a park named after her, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, but the new proposal wouldn't be "just another park," Simanowitz said.

"In terms of what you want for a memorial, having a place close to where the Queen lived, a place where she would have actually walked and enjoyed herself – because there is such an outpouring of grief, the idea of coming to a place that she loved would be very powerful," Simanowitz said.

"I think while it could be seen as just another park, giving it the name Memorial Garden and asking people to turn off their phones, making people think about what the Queen meant to them and about loss and love, would help them connect with those powerful things in a beautiful park in central London," he added.

The Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Gardens is currently just a proposal and does not yet have funding, but if it is given consent to go ahead by the palace, Simanowitz is confident that funds could be found either from the government or via crowdfunding.

The writer first proposed the park to the Royal Household in 2015 and received a reply from the assistant private secretary to the then Prince Charles – now King Charles III – who said the Prince was interested to learn of the idea.

Simanowitz shifted the proposal, which did not go further at the time, to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in 2022 and it has now evolved into the Memorial Gardens proposal.

The team behind the Buckingham Palace Park Project says it is "hopeful" that King Charles III will champion the proposal, "given his ecological and environmental credentials and his commitment to sustainable approaches to planning."

King Charles III has a history of taking an interest in architectural projects in London, which has led to the cancellation of modernist projects in the city. He has also backed the development of more traditional towns, including Poundbury, the design of which he controlled.

Queen Elizabeth II was the UK monarch for 70 years, the longest in British history. She was involved in the opening of a number of significant buildings during her time on the throne.

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Elements of the dismantled Marble Arch Mound that Dutch studio MVRDV designed for central London last year are planned to be reused in the renewal of Ebury estate in Pimlico.

Materials and trees used to create the controversial attraction beside Marble Arch will be repurposed into gardens and a play area at the redeveloped housing complex.

The plans form part of the wider redevelopment of the red-brick Ebury estate, which is being overseen by Westminster City Council – the same body that commissioned the Marble Arch Mound.

Opened in July 2021, the Marble Arch Mound installation was designed by MVRDV as a temporary landscaped viewpoint intended to resemble a hill.

It was commissioned by the council with the aim of enticing people back to the Oxford Street shopping district after lockdown. However, it was ridiculed by critics after it opened too early and the greenery began to die.

A decision was made to temporarily close the structure shortly after it opened, and when it reopened a month later entry fees were scrapped. It closed permanently in January 2022.

Westminster City Council's deputy leader Melvyn Caplan who oversaw the project resigned over the scheme, for which costs spiralled from £3.3 million to £6 million.

Since then, MVRDV has blamed Westminster City Council's "nonchalance and laxity" for the failings of the project, but added that "we stand by our initial design".

Perhaps the one success of the project is that the installation will now be repurposed just as MVRDV intended when it revealed the project.

While details of the landscaping for Ebury estate's new gardens and play area are yet to be disclosed, MVRDV had planned for all of the wood, soil, grass and trees from the installation to be reused.

Westminster City Council's phased regeneration of Ebury estate, which has been in development for 13 years, has also proven to be controversial in its own right.

Designed by local studio Astudio Architects to increase the number of homes on the site, it will see the demolition of its existing 1930s buildings in place of 758 new flats – meaning many residents are being forced to move into temporary housing. According to the BBC, 20 of them are currently refusing to leave.

Ridicule of the Marble Arch Mound continues a year on. Last month, designer Dan Douglas recreated the viewpoint within a modified version of a 1990s video game called Duke Nukem to allow disappointed visitors to blow it up.

The photography is by Dezeen.

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Architecture studio Fala Atelier has completed a garden apartment for a home in Porto, Portugal, topped by a "concrete crown" inlaid with marble geometry.

Called Very Tiny Palazzo, the 40-square-metre annexe provides a studio or guest room nestled in a lush garden, which it overlooks through fully-glazed elevations.

Small, simply finished and largely transparent, the structure is topped by a concrete roof that spans the width of the garden, inlaid with a pink circle of Estremoz marble and small black squares of Marquita marble.

"This is the smallest house we ever built," Fala Atelier told Dezeen. "Calling it a palazzo refers to the main building nearby – a palace-like house – and provides a certain ambition to the otherwise very discrete piece."

"The luxuriant environment suggested an ambivalent approach to the architectural object," added the practice.

"At human height, the palace is transparent, but its crown is proud, adorned with precious stones and spanning across the perimeter walls."

Inside, a set change in the level of the concrete floor creates two distinct areas that can be used as living, bedroom or studio areas, with a bathroom and storage area tucked behind a full-height white cabinet.

Metal-framed sliding glass doors at either end allow this interior to be completely opened to the landscape, enabling the structure to function either as a more intimate residence or an open, pavilion-style space.

"In an [Adolf] Loos-like manner, two representative areas are defined by the different floors, with different degrees of intimacy," said the practice.

"The bathroom and storage room are hidden behind a unitary cabinet of lacquered wood, whose scale deliberately sits somewhere between architecture and furniture. A palace shouldn't be too simple after all," it continued.

Taking inspiration from French artist Henri Rousseau's painting "The Dream", the narrow garden, designed by landscape architects Oh!land studio, is filled with lush vegetation, surrounded by a wall of stone and metal fencing.

An informal path of wooden planks and stones cuts through this garden, connecting the main home and the rear of the plot to the Very Tiny Palazzo at its centre.

Fala Atelier was founded in 2013 by Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares and Ahmed Belkhodja, and is known for the often colourful, geometric aesthetic used in its designs across Porto.

Previous projects by the practice include a home in Porto finished with candy-coloured accents, and a series of micro-apartments around a communal courtyard created by renovating two granite buildings.

The photography is by Ivo Tavares.

Project credits:

Architect: Fala Atelier
Project team: Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares, Ahmed Belkhodja, Lera Samovich, Ana Lima, Rute Peixoto, Paulo Sousa
Landscape architect: Oh Land
Client: Private

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Architecture studios BIG and Carlo Ratti Associati have completed a 280-metre-tall skyscraper in Singapore designed to offer visitors a "seamless transition between the garden and the city".

Located at the heart of Singapore's financial district, the 51-storey mixed-use CapitaSpring building incorporates large pockets of greenery that are framed by sculptural facade openings.

It was designed by Danish studio BIG and Italian firm Carlo Ratti Associati with local studio RSP on a site containing a public car park and hawker centre – a type of open-air market that is commonly used to sell cooked food.

Inside there is a mix of restaurants and office spaces, alongside serviced apartments, a replacement hawker centre and a series of gardens that aim to bring nature to the city.

"CapitaSpring is like a vision of a future in which city and countryside, culture and nature can coexist, and urban landscapes can expand unrestricted into the vertical dimension," said BIG's founder Bjarke Ingels.

"In our design, this manifests as a seamless transition between the garden and the city, articulated in the facades and a series of lush spiraling gardens connecting between various programs and filled with amenities representing a spectrum of use," added the studio's partner in charge Brian Yang.

The 93,000-square-metre CapitaSpring skyscraper was first revealed in 2018. It was commissioned by real estate companies CapitaLand Development, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Mitsubishi Estate.

Now complete, it is the joint-second tallest building in the country, followed by SOM's Tanjong Pagar Centre, which rises 283.7 metres.

"When we first got invited to join the architectural competition, we saw a great opportunity to team up and join forces with BIG to achieve a uniquely bold result together," added Carlo Ratti Associati's founding partner Carlo Ratti.

"I am proud of how we enhanced the public spaces across the building, creating the best experience for all users, leveraging both technology and unprecedented integration with natural elements."

Housing over 80,000 plants, CapitaSpring is a reflection of Singapore's reputation as a garden city, where greenery is found throughout much of its contemporary architecture.

Vertical elements across its facade are pulled apart to frame views of the pockets of green spaces and gardens that feature at its base, middle, and rooftop.

One of the most striking elements of the building is a four-storey vertical park named the Green Oasis, which is placed in the middle of the tower.

The four connected levels are filled with spiralling walkways and tropical plants and trees, designed as a space for everything from work and events to relaxation and exercise.

Here, the landscape design is intended to echo the natural "plant hierarchy of tropical rainforests", where shade-tolerant plants with large leaves are found on the forest floor and species with a smaller leaf structure requiring more light are found at a higher position.

On top of the building is a sky garden, featuring 150 species of edible plants that provide ingredients for the building's restaurants and cafes.

At ground level, BIG and Carlo Ratti Associati have created a linear park and public plaza to introduce green public space to the surrounding high-density financial district.

This park area incorporates meandering pathways that lead to an 18-meter-high space at the base of the tower named the City Room, which houses various entrances for the building's tenants and visitors and a shelter from the tropical weather.

Other highlights of the building include the new hawker centre, which sits on the tower's second and third floors and contains 56 different food stalls.

Above it, the first eight floors of the building contain the serviced residences and their facilities, including a swimming pool, jogging track, kitchen and residents' lounge.

The office spaces complete CapitaSpring, occupying the top 29 floors. These rooms have openings that grant tenants panoramic views of the Singapore River and Marina Bay.

One of the most notable examples of where architecture meets greenery in Singapore is the Gardens by the Bay project by Grant Associates and Wilkinson Eyre Architects. The enormous tropical garden contains tree-like towers, shell-shaped greenhouses and a 30-metre-high man-made waterfall.

Other skyscrapers in Singapore that feature planting are the 175-metre-high Robinson Tower by Kohn Pedersen Fox and Architects 61 and the residential EDEN tower by Heatherwick Studio.

The photography is by Finbarr Fallon.

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A winding wooden path leads to a natural amphitheatre created by rippling mounds of grass at this garden in Lijiang, China, which was designed by landscape studio Z'scape and has been shortlisted for the Dezeen Awards 2022.

Located at the Linjiang Hilla Vintage Hotel complex, the Wilderness Garden and Amphitheatre extends an existing landscape designed by the Beijing-based practice last year.

The new additions have been shortlisted in the landscape project category of Dezeen Awards 2022.

For the new area of wild grassland, Z'scape worked with a botanist and local villages to find native plant varieties that would naturally thrive without needing any maintenance or irrigation, introducing greater biodiversity to the site.

A wooden boardwalk, raised 60 centimetres to allow animals and insects to move underneath, cuts through this wild garden, with an elevated platform providing a lookout.

Areas of open grass, large rocks and two small wildlife ponds are interspersed throughout the garden and were also designed to help minimise the risk of wildfires spreading.

"Providing a critical habitat that offers rich nutritional value and shelter, Wilderness Garden is a haven for wildlife," said the practice.

"To strike a compelling dialogue, a zigzag boardwalk weaves its way through the grassland to give visitors an extraordinary experience with dramatic and intimate overlooks," it continued.

The wooden boardwalk leads to the new amphitheatre at the north of the site, making use of an existing sunken area in the landscape's topography and defining it with concentric ridges that overlook a central performance lawn.

Recycled timber has been used to create simple benches that follow the contours of the amphitheatre's ridges and are dotted with works by local sculptors.

As well as a space to watch performances, the amphitheatre looks out across a dramatic landscape, including the UNESCO heritage site of Baisha and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

"Natural play opportunities are embedded in the landform, where children can run, climb, jump, dance or roll," said the practice.

"A series of long benches offer historic views to the snow mountain and the best views of the central performance lawn," it continued.

The original landscape design incorporated the remains of an abandoned village built by the Naxi people, and every year a traditional torch festival creates an "immersive and interactive environment" for celebrating Naxi culture and craft.

Z'scape was founded by Zhou Liangjun and Zhou Ting, and has a particular focus on landscaping projects for cultural tourism projects, boutique hotels, urban spaces and residential developments.

Other projects that join the Wilderness Garden and Amphitheatre on the landscape project shortlist of Dezeen awards 2022 include a rural farm in Iran co-designed with local communities, and Heatherwick Studio's Little Island in Manhattan.

The photography is by Holi Landscape Photography.

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As summer continues in the northern hemisphere, we've curated a lookbook of lush gardens with private swimming pools that are perfect for cooling off in balmy weather.

Outdoor pools have existed for centuries, but it wasn't until the 1950s that they became a household staple for many people living in warmer climates.

Today they can be found in all shapes and sizes, standing bold above the ground or embedded within it to create a more subtle addition to an outdoor area.

The examples listed in this roundup demonstrate that contemporary architects are opting for the latter, achieving visually simple pool designs that slot seamlessly into their landscapes.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing organic modern design, bookshelf staircases and homes with hammocks.

Moore House, USA, by Craig Ellwood

This 18-metre lap pool was added into the sloped backyard of architect Craig Ellwood's mid-century Moore House in Los Angeles during a renovation by US studio Woods + Dangaran.

On one side, its slender perimeter meets a terrace and original rock-lined koi pond, while its other edge runs alongside adjacent treetops due to the site's gradient.

Find out more about Moore House ›

Cork Oak House, Portugal, by Hugo Pereira

Architect Hugo Pereira designed a low-lying linear form for this concrete house in Portugal, which is echoed by its elongated pool that sits flush with the ground.

Demarcating the surface change between water and grass is a wooden deck, furnished with a white Low Lita armchair by Paola Navone that is ideal for lounging in after a dip in the water.

Find out more about Cork Oak House ›

Ksaraah, India, by Taliesyn

The architectural diversity of the Ksaraah House in Bangalore is mirrored in its garden, where a swimming pool is accompanied by tiered terraces, snaking pathways and tropical planting.

Architecture studio Taliesyn designed a simple look for the water feature, combining a rectangular form with square stone slabs that retain focus on the house.

Find out more about Ksaraah ›

M3 House, Israel, by Pitsou Kedem Architects

A statement swimming pool forms the centrepiece of the lush garden at the M3 House, which architecture studio Pitsou Kedem Architects designed in Israel.

Bounded by unevenly-shaped stone slabs and lined with agate-green tiles, it blends in with the hues of the surrounding mature trees, grasses and shrubs.

Find out more about M3 House ›

San Ignacio, Mexico, by Palma

This Mexican home on the Pacific coast is organised around its circular swimming pool, which sits at the heart of a gravel-lined and plant-filled tropical garden.

Shallow edges of the pool cause the water to create reflections of the trees while offering users a space to sit before immersing themselves in the deep section at its centre.

Find out more about San Ignacio ›

Los Altos Residence, USA, by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

A wide pathway that runs the length of the outdoor space at Los Altos Residence is flanked by a meadow and a slender pool overlooked by two tan butterfly chairs.

The pared-back pool is an apt accompaniment to the low-slung dwelling, which was designed by American firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson with a deliberately simple layout and detailing.

Find out more about Los Altos Residence ›

Casa Ter, Spain, by Mesura

Architecture studio Mesura visually connected the Casa Ter house with its private pool by using a consistent terracotta-hued material palette of pigmented concrete and earthenware tiles.

The tiles line both the terrace and the pool, as well as the series of stairs that form a link between them. The earthenware can also be found internally on ceilings and doorways.

Find out more about Casa Ter ›

Villa Aa, Norway, by CF Møller Architects

This vast garden terrace is almost double the footprint of its adjoining Norwegian house. It incorporates flower beds, seating and two pools – one for swimming and one for collecting rainwater.

According to its architect CF Møller Architects, "the water in the pools reflects the sky and light in the same way as the fjord does, and appears as a visual connection to the open water".

Find out more about Villa Aa ›

Casa Aviv, Mexico, by CO-LAB

Surrounded by lush greenery on a site hidden on the Yucatán Peninsula coastline, the Casa Aviv residence is designed to offer a calming atmosphere.

In its garden is a compact plunge pool with crystalline water that flows right to the edges of the home, and is accessed by steps down from the adjoining living room.

Find out more about Casa Aviv ›

Villa Tennisvägen, Sweden, by Johan Sundberg Arkitektur

A pool area slots effortlessly into the centre of the verdant courtyard at Villa Tennisvägen, a dark brick home nestled in a ​pine forest in the Swedish county of Skåne.

The water is used as an anchor for the dwelling, which Swedish studio Johan Sundberg Arkitektur designed as a series of interconnected volumes arranged in a U-shape.

Find out more about Villa Tennisvägen ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing organic modern design, bookshelf staircases and homes with hammocks.

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Latvian photographer Anna Dave has released photographs of Javier Senosiain Aguilar's El Nido de Quetzalcóatl in Mexico, a work of organic architecture shaped like a snake.

Named El Nido de Quetzalcóatl – or the Nest of Quetzalcóatl – in reference to a god with a serpent form in Aztec religion, the structure was completed in 2007 by Senosiain who describes the project as a work of organic architecture.

Following design principles that take into account place and tradition laid down by architect Juan O'Gorman, Senosiain said that organic architecture is "the philosophy of architecture that searches for harmony between men's habitats and the natural surroundings".

Construction on the project began in 2001 on a plot of land in Naucalpan, a municipality outside of Mexico City.

Officially finished in 2007, the project has continued to grow and now has 10 apartments in the main body as well as sculptures and detailed landscaping that all contribute to the overall design in the form of an iridescent snake.

The whole complex unfolds over a 5,000-square-metre plot of land that has expanded to include Parque Quetzalcóatl, a sculpture garden and reserve to maintain local plant life.

The park includes a greenhouse embedded into the landscape that has a tile-lined passageway that leads to a massive atrium with a water feature and a stained-glass atrium.

"We had to analyse deeply the topography of the site since it had caves, very pronounced level curves, a glen that crossed the whole site through the middle, et cetera," Senosiain told Dezeen.

The apartments fill the parabolic body of the primary structure, the exterior of which is made of ferrocement and the facade is covered in portals that serve as windows for the dwellings but also add a scaley texture.

"The interior spaces were built according to the necessities of human beings, the snake shape was given after because of the organic shapes but it wasn't taken into account as a design principle, it's more of an accident, however, it is fun for the designers and for the inhabitants," said the Mexican architect.

From the parking area, inhabitants enter the body of the snake. From here, one moves along a corridor that accesses the first of the apartments.

Then, as the snake curves down back towards the ground, a staircase leads down to another set of apartments.

From this landing, an outdoor bridge embedded in the back of the snake leads to the final three homes.

The interiors of the 200-square-metre apartments are minimal compared to the exterior. White plaster covers the walls and shelving on the wall slopes to match the curvature of the envelope.

Tile flooring in regular and irregular patterns is mixed with carpeted areas.

Outside the main structure, a series of sculptures trail off into a garden with terraced lawns and ponds.

The architecture team said that ponds were designed to both cool the site and maintain the humidity for the flora.

The complex has its own treatment plant that recycles the water for use in irrigation.

"With time the vegetation has been reinforced and the building seems more integrated to the natural surroundings, it's as if they created a connection of nature with the building," said Senosiain on the perceived changes of the site since its completion.

The gardens and complex are private, but many of the apartments are available as Airbnbs.

Dave said the project attracted her because she tends to avoid the "conventional HDR-esque style of architecture photography, whether in my choice of gear, light or angles."

"It seemed to encourage the visitor to crawl into nooks and crannies, rather than seeing it from a bird's-eye view," she continued.

"It's a project that is overwhelming to photograph because of how unique it is. Each view and corner of it seems eccentric, stimulating, never-before-seen."

Organic architecture as an explicit design term can be traced back at least to Frank Lloyd Wright, whose projects emphasized designs that integrated the structure and nature – though the practices are certainly much older.

Organic principles have been prevalent in moves toward more sustainable design. Under the name biomicry, designers have moved beyond replicating natural forms and have begun using organic materials in the shaping of structures.

In 2021, American-Israeli architect Neri Oxman released a manifesto called NATURE X HUMANITY that called for reintegration of human building practice with organic forms.

The photography is by Anna Dave

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A stilted hut for ceramics and an artichoke-like garden room are among the home studios featured in Work From Shed, a book that explores the "new fluidity about where we work".

Published by Hoxton Mini Press, Work From Shed brings together garden studios, garages and sheds from around the world that give their owners a space to work from home.

According to its publisher, the book was produced in response to the "new fluidity about where we work and how", prompted by the coronavirus pandemic and national lockdowns.

The spaces featured in it range from simple structures that reinterpret traditional sheds to more elaborate and extravagant buildings tailored to the needs of their owner.

Hoxton Mini Press' creative director Martin Usborne said that this illustrates the "architectural possibilities" of outhouses used as workspaces.

"Working from home is so personal it allows for much greater expression as to what a working space can look like," Usborne told Dezeen.

"We wanted to explore and celebrate that. We wanted a selection of sheds that were surprising and playful and beautiful but also as varied from each other as possible – some more extravagant, some more achievable," Usborne continued.

"Clearly there are no rules when you make a space in your garden. Other than not pissing off your neighbour."

Read on for Dezeen's selection of 10 home studios featured in the book.

Remisen-Pavilion, Germany, by Wirth Architekten

This brick garden office in Lower Saxony was designed by studio Wirth Architekten to double as everything from a parking space to a dining room.

Its exterior is broken up by large oak wood doors and perforations in the red brickwork that both naturally ventilate and light the interior.

Find out more about Remisen-Pavilion ›

Writer's Studio, Scotland, by WT Architecture

WT Architecture created this tiny garden studio for a pair of writers outside their Victorian house in Edinburgh.

It marries a low brick base with an exposed timber and steel structure, designed to be visually simple and echo a dilapidated greenhouse that previously occupied the site.

Find out more about Writer's Studio ›

LA Pottery Studio, USA, by Raina Lee and Mark Watanabe

Nestled amongst trees and accessed by a wooden bridge, this stilted shed is used as a studio and display space for ceramicist Raina Lee.

It was created by Lee with her partner, architect Mark Watanabe, from an existing structure in their backyard in Los Angeles. Pottery is displayed on shelving salvaged from shipping crates and branches from the surrounding trees.

Find out more about LA Pottery Studio ›

Two Pavilions, England, by Carmody Groarke

This artist studio was one of two pavilions that architecture studio Carmody Groarke created in the garden of a house in rural Sussex.

The workspace occupies the brick walls of a ruined 18th-century farmhouse, extended with weathered-steel panels that frame large windows and create a sheltered outdoor space.

Find out more about Two Pavilions ›

Light Shed, Japan, by FT Architects

A timber framework supports corrugated plastic walls at the Light Studio, an open-plan photography studio that FT Architects created in Japan.

Its unusually-shaped roof was engineered to maximise open space and minimise structural elements that may prevent the photographer owner from taking a clear photo.

Find out more about Light Shed ›

A Room in the Garden, England, Studio Ben Allen

The form and colour of an artichoke were among the visual influences on this garden room, which Studio Ben Allen covered in green shingles.

Built from a flat-pack kit of CNC-cut timber elements, the structure can be easily dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere if its owners ever move house.

Find out more about A Room in the Garden ›

Enchanted Shed, Austria, by Franz&Sue

A light-filled writing studio sits on the upper level of this black timber shed, which Franz&Sue created by converting a 1930s outhouse near Vienna.

Accessed through a brass hatch, the space features a glazed gable end and upholstered seating and sleeping area. It can also be used as a guestroom or playspace.

Find out more about Enchanted Shed ›

Forest Pond House, England, by TDO

Aptly named the Forest Pond House, this studio is suspended over a body of water hidden in the garden of a family home in Hampshire.

The structure features a curved plywood shell with a glazed end wall that studio TDO incorporated to immerse occupants in nature and help them relax and focus.

Find out more about Forest Pond House ›

Art Warehouse, Greece, by A31 Architecture

A curved concrete shell encloses this art studio in Boeotia, designed by A31 Architecture for an artist on a site adjacent to his home.

Accessed by a wooden door within a glass-fronted entrance, it features a spacious open-plan interior to allow the owner to construct large sculptures. Floating steps on one side lead to a mezzanine storage level.

Find out more about Art Warehouse ›

Tini, Spain, by Delavegacanolasso

This wooden office in Madrid is a prototype of Tini, a prefabricated structure that is designed to be ordered online and delivered on the back of a truck.

Architecture studio Delavegacanolasso developed it to be constructed from galvanised steel, orientated strand boards (OSB) and local pine wood. It was lowered into this garden by crane, preventing damage to the site.

Find out more about Tini ›

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Artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg has created a digital AI tool named Pollinator Pathmaker to design the best possible gardens for bees and other insects to enjoy.

The Pollinator Pathmaker project has opened its third public edition in the gardens around London's Serpentine Galleries, following commissions by Cornwall's Eden Project and Berlin's Light Art Space.

At the same time, people are invited to participate in their private gardens, by using the Pollinator Pathmaker online tool to create a planting plan tailored to their plot.

The work is intended to raise awareness about the decline in pollinators, which as well as bees includes butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles and other species that are essential for plant reproduction and ecosystem survival.

At the same time, Ginsberg aims for the project to build empathy with other species.

"I wanted to make art for pollinators, not about them," said Ginsberg. "Pollinator Pathmaker is an ambitious art-led campaign to make living artworks for other species to enjoy."

"Modern humans have reshaped the planet for our own benefit, while forgetting that other
species and their needs are essential to our own survival," she told Dezeen.

"Decentring ourselves is a powerful way to think about other species: encouraging us to see the world as they do, to have empathy for them, and most importantly to inspire humans to care for them."

Ginsberg sees Pollinator Pathmaker as encoding empathy into an algorithm, in this case by defining empathy as a design that would support as many pollinator species as possible.

She worked with horticulturalists at the Eden Project, which first commissioned the project, along with pollinator experts and Google Arts & Culture to develop the digital tool.

It asks the user to input information about the size and conditions of their plot, and then play with the "empathy" sliders to choose whether they want more or fewer plant species, a bold or intricate pattern, and a flight path or patches.

Some pollinators, such as bees, learn and memorise an efficient route for themselves, so they would be drawn to the flight path, while other insects explore more randomly.

The algorithm generates a different garden design each time, which users can see as a 3D visualisation composed of Ginsberg's digital plant paintings. They can also see how it will change from season to season and what it looks like in "pollinator vision".

To realise the garden design, they download planting instructions, which come complete with a certificate of authenticity for their editioned artwork.

The Serpentine's version of the artwork fills a 227-metre-long area in Hyde Park's Kensington Gardens with more than 60 species of plants. It is part of the institution's newly opened Back to Earth programme, themed around the environmental emergency.

The garden is intended to be in place for two years, during which time the artist hopes to open further editions worldwide, using each commission as an opportunity to develop a new regional "plant palette" so the tool can be used in more locations.

"The aim is to make the world's largest climate positive artwork," said Ginsberg. "Each time a large Edition Garden, like the two we've planted in the UK, is commissioned, we create a new plant palette for the region and donate this back to www.pollinator.art to encourage local visitors to join in and plant their own artworks."

"Gardens are not isolated entities; they are interconnected in the landscape. Your flourishing garden supports the flourishing of your neighbour's, so we need as many pollinator-friendly gardens as possible to be planted."

Ginsberg's art focuses on technological and environmental themes. Her past work has included Machine Auguries, which artificially recreates the dawn chorus of birds, and The Wilding of Mars, which explores what would happen if the red planet were colonised by plants and not humans.

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Danish studio Loop Architects arranged this circular care home in Selfoss, Iceland, around a landscaped central garden to create a "homely and stimulating" environment for residents with dementia.

The specialist facility in the town in southern Iceland contains 50 private accommodation units in a two-storey, ring-shaped building with a courtyard garden at its centre.

Aarhus studio Loop Architects worked with Reykjavik firm Urban Arkitektar to develop the project for Iceland's government property agency FSRE.

The team set out to develop a new format for dementia care facilities that provides a safe and comfortable environment tailored to the needs of the residents.

"With this project, we have designed a building that embraces its residents and simultaneously opens onto an inner, sensory world in the lush and protected courtyard," explained Loop Architects partner Mette Nymann.

"We see great potential in rethinking dementia and care homes to make them more homely and stimulating while being sustainable."

The circular floorplan is designed to facilitate continuous movement through the building, providing access to amenities including communal lounge areas while ensuring residents always end up back at their accommodation.

"The shape is democratic and creates equal opportunities for all," Loop Architects added, "as everyone shares common functions located along the inner part of the circular building."

Residences are arrayed along the building's perimeter to make the most of views of the surrounding countryside, including Ingólfsfjall mountain and Ölfusá river.

The 22-square-metre dwellings feature a standardised layout, with the en-suite bedrooms opening onto terraces at ground level and balconies on the first floor.

The care home was constructed with a concrete framework cast-in-situ. It is wrapped in imported Norwegian timber that introduces warm and tactile surfaces to the exterior.

Concrete and wood also form the basis for the internal palette, which comprises a number of recyclable materials.

At the centre of the building is the garden, which incorporates typical domestic features including drying areas with clotheslines to remind residents of their previous homes.

The landscaped outdoor space also includes a water feature filled using harvested rainwater, along with a kitchen and herb gardens. Indoor spaces for occupational therapy and physiotherapy open directly onto adjacent terraces.

Loop Architects was established in 2011 and is headed by Mette and Morten Nymann.

Other projects by the studio include a visitor centre in Denmark's Northern Jutland that is partly embedded in a sand dune.

The photography is by LOOP Architects.

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Italian architect Stefano Boeri has collaborated with shoe brand Timberland to create a "floating forest" on the Darsena dock as part of this year's Milan design week.

Created by Stefano Boeri Interiors, the Floating Forest installation aimed to promote the idea of regreening urban areas while also showcasing Timberland's environmentally focused product innovations.

Located on the Darsena, a former dock in Milan's Navigli district, the island contained 610 plants from 30 different species, including maple, birch and apple trees, and aronia berry, hydrangea, mahonia and pittosporum bushes.

At four points on the path through the installation, Timberland products or brand values are featured.

One exhibit prompts visitors to scan a QR code for an augmented-reality experience and another suggests you "leave your footprint and be part of the change".

Boeri explained that the Floating Forest began with the idea of presenting something "totally unexpected" and developed into a demonstration of the power of urban greening to combat climate change and improve people's quality of life.

"For us, it is a demonstration that it is possible," said Boeri. "It is one of the ways to demineralise the surfaces of our mineral urban environments."

"We know so well the advantages of this intensity and density of plants and trees: they clean the air, they absorb CO2, they produce oxygen and they reduce the heat."

The Floating Forest had originally been planned for Milan design week 2020, which was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Stefano Boeri Interiors and Timberland wanted the project to leave a legacy for the city, so with the close of the event, the trees will be donated to Soulfood Forestfarms Hub Italia – a nonprofit dedicated to transitioning land to biodiverse, regenerative "forestfarms" that merge agriculture and timber production.

The trees may be used at one of the group's projects at Vettabbia Park in Milan. The materials used to build Floating Forest can also be reused, as they were dry assembled so they can easily be pulled apart.

Stefano Boeri Interiors is the multidisciplinary studio of Boeri and fellow architect Giorgio Donà.

Boeri's best known projects involve plants in features such as vertical gardens and include the Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex, the first of which opened earlier this year.

Milan design week took place from 6 to 12 June 2022 in Milan, Italy. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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As the start of summer in the northern hemisphere promises warmer days and longer evenings, our latest lookbook features 10 garden studios that provide extra space for work or relaxation.

For homes with large gardens, a small studio can be a practical way to create a separate hideaway for working from home – which has become commonplace in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic – or simply to retreat to for privacy.

From a timber-clad prefabricated cabin in Spain to architects' self-designed home offices in London and the US, we round up 10 garden studios as the summer season begins.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks including green living rooms, mezzanine-level bedrooms and winding staircases.

Tini, Spain, by Delavegacanolasso

Architecture studio Delavegacanolasso created a modular, prefabricated cabin called Tini that can be inserted into a garden and used as a peaceful home office.

Clad in poplar OSB panels, Tini's interior provides space for minimal furniture, including geometric desks and glowing table lamps framed by floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows.

Find out more about Tini ›

Garden room, UK, by Alexander Owen Architecture

Yellow Valchromat MDF and birch plywood line the walls of this London garden room by Alexander Owen Architecture, which is defined by internal timber cladding.

The small building offers a place to entertain guests while it is also used as a minimal home office during the week, featuring a built-in desk designed with the same wood as its boxy cupboards and alcoves.

Find out more about this garden room ›

Writer's Studio, UK, by WT Architecture

Designed to create the "sense of being almost outdoors", Scottish firm WT Architecture added a glass writer's studio to the garden of a Victorian villa in Edinburgh.

Inside, the space was curated to provide an uncluttered working environment defined by serene blue accents and a petite wood-burner that nod to the idea of a peaceful retreat.

A minimal wooden desk cantilevers over the studio's lower wall, which is located next to a raised plinth that creates additional seating.

Find out more about this writer's studio ›

Shed-O-Vation, USA, by Best Practice Architecture

Best Practice Architecture transformed a storage shed into a backyard studio at a house in Seattle after the pandemic prompted increased working from home.

Called Shed-O-Vation, the project features its original wooden black siding that mirrors the black synthetic rubber used to cover the floors and a portion of the walls inside.

There is space for both working and exercising, with both a built-in green desk and a designated area to hang bikes.

Find out more about Shed-O-Vation ›

Long Studio, USA, by 30X40 Design Workshop

30X40 Design Workshop founder Eric Reinholdt placed a barn-style home office on the grounds of his residence on Mount Desert Island, off the coast of New England in America.

The interiors of the Douglas fir-lined architects' studio are designed to be flexible, with an Ergonofis sit-stand desk and space for tables that can be moved around according to the day's work.

A gabled roof frames the space, which includes cosy loft-like platforms that can be accessed by ladders.

Find out more about Long Studio ›

Greenhouse extension, UK, by McCloy + Muchemwa

A formerly dilapidated garage in Norwich, England, was transformed into a timber-framed greenhouse extension by architecture studio McCloy + Muchemwa.

Designed to accommodate DIY and other hobbies during national lockdowns, the "orangery" has polycarbonate cladding and houses various amenities including a workbench and storage for power tools.

The eye-catching orange framework that lines the extension's exterior is repeated in its interior details such as a bright orange clock and table legs.

Find out more about this extension ›

The Light Shed, UK, by Richard John Andrews

London-based architect Richard John Andrews designed the Light Shed to house his own studio, with black corrugated fibreglass cladding and a gabled roof.

Built in just 21 days, the volume's interior opens out onto Andrews' garden with sliding doors that reveal space for two to three people to work below a utilitarian shelving unit.

"The studio aims to create a flexible approach to work and play, flipping its function to become an entertaining space for summer gatherings and more intimate functions," explained the architect.

Find out more about The Light Shed ›

The Enchanted Shed, Austria, by Sue Architekten

A trapdoor leads visitors to a writer's studio and playroom in The Enchanted Shed, a black-timber converted 1930s outhouse designed for a property near Vienna.

Arranged over two storeys, the upstairs gable is glazed to provide treetop views, which mirror the varnished grey fir ceilings and walls. Spotlights illuminate the shed's interior throughout, creating a tranquil hideaway for working or relaxing.

Find out more about The Enchanted Shed ›

Garden Room, Belgium, by Indra Janda

Simply called the Garden Room, this small building was designed by architect Indra Janda for the garden of her parents' house in northern Belgium.

Scale-like shapes formed from translucent polycarbonate shingles clad the volume and create playful shadows that are reflected in its interior. The furniture in the space includes a deep-red butterfly chair and a wooden table.

"The material is semi-transparent, which is nice in summer and winter, and gives a totally different feeling from day to night," Janda said of the structure's statement cladding.

Find out more about Garden Room ›

Cork Study, UK, by Surmon Weston

Local architecture office Surmon Weston created a cork-clad shared workspace for a musician and a seamstress in the garden of their north London home.

The cubic structure features birch plywood furniture that cantilevers off the walls and forms twin desks for the couple, which are framed by playfully colour-coded chairs.

A skylight throws natural light on the interior, diminishing the boundary between inside and outside space.

Find out more about Cork Study ›

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing basement conversions, open-plan studies and residential interiors illuminated by skylights.

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The latest edition of Dezeen Debate features a pyramidal timber playhouse in a London garden. Subscribe to Dezeen Debate now!

Readers are swooning over a "treeless treehouse" named Penfold, which architecture studio De Matos Ryan created for a London garden.

Accessible only by crawling beneath it, Danger Mouse is a 4.1-metre-high structure featuring triangular windows that frame views of its surroundings.

One commenter said: "I could live in this playhouse!"

Other stories in this week's newsletter include David Chipperfield Architects' transformation of a 20th-century office block in Paris, Heatherwick Studio's sculpture containing 350 trees and an apartment block in Veracruz, Mexico.

Dezeen Debate

Dezeen Debate is a curated newsletter sent every Thursday containing highlights from Dezeen. Read the latest edition of Dezeen Debate or subscribe here.

You can also subscribe to Dezeen Agenda, which is sent every Tuesday and contains a selection of the most important news highlights from the week, as well as Dezeen Daily, our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours.

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Architecture studio De Matos Ryan has created a "treeless treehouse" named Penfold in the garden of a London home, with a pyramidal timber structure that is accessible only by crawling beneath it.

Named after a character in Danger Mouse, the favourite cartoon of the client's children, the 4.1-metre-high playhouse references elevated lookouts and crow nests and features triangular windows that frame views of its surroundings.

"Our client was a young family who lamented the loss of an ailing tree in their neighbour's garden," explained De Matos Ryan.

"The children longed to have a treehouse but were prevented from doing so by having no trees of their own. The brief was therefore to design a treehouse without a tree."

Penfold is built from a series of triangular Douglas fir frames and accessed via a low crawlspace at its base, meaning adults are "somewhat prevented" from entering.

Its framework is left exposed and was prefabricated to allow for its individual components to be carried through the existing home and onto the site.

The modular design also ensures the structure can be easily demounted and taken away when the house is sold, which was a condition for planning permission being granted.

Inside, two levels are connected by a timber and rope ladder and lit by an openable skylight at the pyramid's apex. The skylight is fitted with sensors that automatically close it when it rains.

Triangular windows that mirror the structure's form are strategically positioned at different heights around Penfold to create a variety of lookout points and can be opened to ventilate the space.

External grade LED tube lighting mounted on the internal walls ensures that the space can be used long into the evenings.

"The unusual form and scale of the structure provides scope for imaginative play and permissive exploration," said the studio.

"At any point it can be simultaneously reminiscent of limitless dramatic inquiries such as a hollowed tree trunk, a spaceship, or a castle turret."

A stainless steel cable lattice covers the timber-slatted exterior of the form, which will gradually fill with climbing plants.

According to the studio, this is hoped to "ultimately create the sense of the tree that never was."

De Matos Ryan was founded in 1999 by architects Jose Esteves De Matos and Angus Morrogh-Ryan.

The studio has previously designed a larch-clad extension to a traditional pub in the English village of Nun Monkton and refurbished the heritage-listed York Theatre Royal.

The photography is by Hufton+Crow. 

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In our latest lookbook we've collected 10 homes with water features to aid relaxation in warm weather, from an indoor reflective pool to a house perched on a pond.

Nothing is more effective than a water feature for imbuing an outdoor space with a sense of calm and tranquility.

The examples listed below demonstrate a range of different ways to introduce soothing aquatic visuals and sounds to a residential project without the need for a swimming pool.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing homes with outdoor terraces, fire pits and courtyards.

Beverly Hills villa, USA, by Heusch

Los Angeles architecture studio Heusch renovated this mid-century Beverly Hills villa, which had been left to fall into disrepair.

As part of the work, the architecture studio uncovered this original water feature at the entrance to the home made up of two shallow pools mirroring one another through a glazed wall, one inside and one out.

Find out more about Beverly Hills villa ›

Cork Trees House, Portugal, by Trama Arquitetos

Small reflective pools divide the two main volumes of this house perched on a hillside near Braga, helping to manage the site's ambient temperature during the scorching summer months.

"Visually it is something that stands out because it is reflecting the rooms all the time and because that brings the idea of life, nature and green spaces literally through the house," said Bruno Leitão, co-founder of Trama Aquitetos.

Find out more about Cork Trees House ›

Mercer Island Modern, USA, by Garret Cord Werner

At the entrance to Mercer Island Modern, a residence in Seattle designed by Garret Cord Werner, is a reflective pond dominated by a rock sculpture connected to a lap pool and an infinity jacuzzi by two boarded bridges.

"The experience of walking up to and...over water, both inside and outside of the home, creates a dramatic and tranquil feeling that one rarely experiences inside a residential building," said the studio.

Find out more about Mercer Island Modern ›

Kua Bay Residence, USA, by Walker Warner Architects

This house, designed by Walker Warner Architects, sits on a Hawaiian mountainside among dramatic volcanic rock formations.

Shallow pools run alongside elevated courtyards at the side of the building, forming a grotto-like terrace with the water intended to mimic molten lava.

Find out more about Kua Bay Residence ›

Casa em Cotia, Brazil, by Una Arquitetos

A snaking pond winds its way around this concrete modernist house in São Paulo, designed by Una Arquitetos.

It undulates underneath a ramped walkway that connects separate volumes of the house, which have been placed on different levels in response to the sloped nature of the site.

Find out more about Casa em Cotia ›

Guadalajara house, Mexico, by Delfino Lozano

Architect Delfino Lozano modernised this family home on a tight site in Guadalajara by rearranging the living spaces so they look onto a pair of brick-paved courtyards in order to bring light and air into the surrounding rooms.

The house's original fountain was retained in the smaller of the two patios, protruding from a rough, plastered boundary wall and providing a gentle background burble for the neighbouring bedroom.

Find out more about this house in Guadalajara ›

AM House, Vietnam, by AmDesign Office, Time Architects and Creative Architects

AM House, designed by three young architects and located in a rural area of Vietnam's Long An Province, opens out onto a large koi pond around two sides of the building.

A decking area accessed by a line of stepping stones is marooned on the pond, which is intended to help the large house merge with its lush surroundings.

Find out more about AM House ›

The Perch, USA, by Chadbourne + Doss

Intended to instil an "idealised atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest" according to local architecture studio Chadbourne + Doss, this courtyard lies at the centre of a house in Seattle.

The main focus of the clearing is a mossy island bearing ferns, boulders and a tree, surrounded by a water feature that also has a walnut swing suspended above it.

Find out more about The Perch ›

Hawaiian villa, USA, by De Reus Architects

Visitors to this villa on Hawaii's Big Island, designed by US practice De Reus Architects, are greeted by a large water feature set within a paved entry court.

Igneous rock boulders emerge from the zigzag-edged feature, while a fountain spouts from one of the house's walls.

Find out more about this Hawaiian villa ›

Casa Sierra Fría, Mexico, by JJRR/Arquitectura

One of the steel columns supporting the thin concrete canopy at the front of this home in Mexico City drops down into a black-bottomed shallow pool next to the entrance door.

Mexican studio JJRR/Arquitectura also installed a dramatic sculpture on a plinth rising up from the water, its delicate appearance contrasting with the monolithic volcanic stone wall adjacent.

Find out more about Casa Sierra Fría ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing homes with outdoor terraces, fire pits and courtyards.

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Mexican architect Ian Pablo Amores has completed a boutique hotel in San Miguel de Allende with a pink facade and a landscaped garden lounge.

The Quinta Amores hotel is located in the Los Frailes neighbourhood of San Miguel de Allende, a city in central Mexico that is known for its Spanish colonial architecture and cobblestone streets.

Five pink-hued buildings make up the resort, which was built on a rectangular lot filled with vegetation.

From the street, guests pass a gate into a reception wing, which has roof projection to provide shade and support a hammock.

The colour, which was prepared specifically for the hotel, was mixed on-site and chosen for its relationship to the colonial buildings of San Miguel de Allende.

"In the state of Guanajuato, you can see these colors (reds, orange, pink, etc) in almost every colonial building," Ian Pablo Amores told Dezeen.

"I try to relate the project with the context of San Miguel de Allende. I made around 15 samples of colour and I saw that this type of pink was very special with the natural light of the site," the architect added.

A lush courtyard has landscaped paths and a sunken conversation pit.

"The set is built around a spacious amenity that functions as a meeting point between families," said the architect, describing the courtyard as "a space that conveys a sense of belonging that accompanies the guest in his voyage through San Miguel de Allende."

Four suites make up the small hotel. Two single-storey rooms are at the front of the property, with another pair of two-storey volumes at the back that can accommodate families.

Each of the guest rooms has a private exterior space that is separated from the communal garden by a stone wall. These smaller courtyards are the main access to the guest rooms, and some of them include a sculptural stone bathtub.

The buildings' exterior surfaces are all the same pink colour, which provides some contrast to the courtyard's greenery and natural stone floors. The finish is a cementitious material similar to stucco.

Inside, the architects used a palette of warm wooden furniture, red tile floors, and simple white walls.

Ian Pablo Amores started his eponymous architecture practice in 2021 called Estudio Ian Pablo Amores and nicknamed Estudio IPA. The boutique hotel counts as one of his first individual projects.

Mexico has recently seen the construction of several smaller, design-forward hotels. Other examples include a hotel in Querétaro that was built within a neocolonial villa that belonged to a local philanthropist and the El Perdido hotel in Baja California Sur, which was made of rammed-earth walls covered in thatched roofs.

The photography is by César Béjar.

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For our latest lookbook, we've rounded up 10 homes from the Dezeen archive with inviting, inventive or unusual terraces each offering a pleasant place to while away a warm evening.

Terraces can be an effective, low-maintenance way to provide an outdoor spot for relaxing or entertaining without requiring an abundance of space. Typically they take the form of a raised, flat outdoor area adjoining a building.

The examples collected below range from the fairly familiar to the distinctly unconventional, including roof terraces, back garden terraces and enclosed terraces.

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing homes centred around interior courtyards, interiors with conversation pits and buildings that make use of Mediterranean-style tiling.

Terrace with a House by the Lake, Poland, by UGO

Sliding doors open onto a 120-metre-long wooden terrace enclosed by this U-shaped holiday home, designed by Polish architecture studio UGO to create the feeling of being immersed in the rural surroundings.

"Its slightly raised platform was intended to allow the household members to commune with nature, without interfering with it," UGO said of the terrace, which is lined with Siberian larch.

Find out more about Terrace with a House by the Lake ›

Villa MSV, Sweden, by Johan Sundberg Arkitektur

This T-shaped house in southern Sweden, designed by Lund-based studio Johan Sundberg Arkitektur, has not one but three terraces around its living spaces so its users can follow the sun throughout the day.

They are shaded by canopies made from zinc and larch with varying sizes and forms to respond to the direction of the sun, some with timber slats to filter light and others blocking it out completely.

Find out more about Villa MSV ›

Maison 0.82, France, by Pascual Architect

A huge, round hole punctures the concrete roof above this terrace at a villa in southern France by Pascual Architect, causing a shaft of light to move across the space during the day.

Wooden benches and a dining table occupy the patio, which wraps around the southern side of the house and is accessed by floor-to-ceiling glass doors.

Find out more about Maison 0.82 ›

North London House, UK, by Cathie Curran and O'Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects

As part of their overhaul of this house in north London, Cathie Curran and O'Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects added a roof terrace connected to the kitchen and dining room on the first floor.

In order to retain privacy from the windows of neighbouring houses, the 18-square-metre terrace is lined on three sides with a series of solid-ash posts supporting opaque glazing.

Find out more about North London House ›

Fuzzy House, Thailand, by SO

Architecture practice SO topped this bunker-like concrete house in the Thai city of Chiang Mai with a stepped terrace where residents can sit and look out over the square below.

Inside, the shape of the rooftop terrace forms a stepped ceiling peppered with skylights above the living area and bedroom.

Find out more about Fuzzy House ›

Weather House, Japan, by Not Architects

External staircases wrap around two sides of this three-storey corner house in Tokyo designed by Not Architects Studio, creating multiple terraces linked to the home's open-plan living areas by sliding doors.

These outdoor living spaces are screened with chain-link wire mesh, up which plants will eventually climb to form a layer of vegetation offering privacy from the outside world.

Find out more about Weather House ›

Amott Road house, UK, by Alexander Owen Architecture

Alexander Owen Architecture added a colourful terrace to the back garden of this house in London, attached to the kitchen by arched double doors.

It was informed by the owners' love of modernism and pop art including Jasper Johns, Peter Blake and Terry Frost, with geometric shapes and bold pigments.

Find out more about this Amott Road house ›

Villa Aa, Norway, by CF Møller Architects

Villa Aa, designed by Danish studio CF Møller Architects, is a 375-square-metre home half-buried in a shallow hill on a Norwegian farm overlooking a nearby fjord.

A pair of stepped terraces with almost double the footprint of the villa's entire interior sit alongside the house. One is occupied by planted beds and seating and the other, lower terrace comprises a rainwater pool and a swimming pool.

Find out more about Villa Aa ›

Portable Cabin, Poland, by Wiercinski Studio

This 25-square-metre roof terrace emerges out of a portable house made from two shipping containers stacked on top of another two containers used for garden storage.

Polish practice Wiercinski Studio decked the terrace, which has views over a nearby river, and wrapped it in a curved metal balustrade.

Find out more about Portable Cabin ›

Curved House, Menorca, by Nomo Studio

Architects Nomo Studio suspended this terrace in the top of a cube-shaped Menorcan villa which is arranged over six stepped levels on a small footprint.

Two sides of the terracotta-tiled patio are fully glazed, allowing sunlight to flood down into the home's interior while keeping the outdoor space sheltered enough to use for stargazing or open-air film screenings.

Find out more about Curved House ›

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing homes centred around interior courtyards, interiors with conversation pits and buildings that make use of Mediterranean-style tiling.

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Argentinian architectural office Colle-Croce has designed this white home on a compact lot in Buenos Aires to make the most of the available outdoor space.

Colle-Croce, based in the city, completed Casa Tronador for an infill lot between two existing party walls, in a neighbourhood that includes a mix of private homes and shops.

The architects decided to place the living areas at the back of the plot.

This decision opens up the ground floor to a terrace, which has a reflective pool in order to provide a tranquil atmosphere. Overhead, steel beams run across the garden.

The 150-square-metre home includes three bedrooms, and is laid out over as many floors. The ground floor includes the home's entertaining areas, which open to the yard via sliding glass doors.

The yard also contains an outdoor kitchen, a key feature in many Argentinian houses due to the nation's tradition of asado – communal grilling.

At the front of the property is another small exterior space, giving the dining room access to fresh air from two sides.

"The ground floor, the living room, dining room and kitchen expand to the garden," said Colle-Croce.

"Every first category space ventilates to a yard whose proportion and orientation allows excellent conditions," the studio added. "The backyard allows natural lighting at the services spaces, providing cross-ventilation."

On the first floor, the architects included two bedrooms, which share a bathroom on the landing. The second floor contains the primary bedroom, which enjoys its own ensuite and a walk-through closet.

Within each of the bedrooms, Colle-Croce included a small balcony that looks out onto the terrace. The rooftop has an expansive terrace, which the architects describe as a "lookout" to see the neighbourhood better.

A restrained palette was applied to the house, rendering in white almost every surface, including walls, cupboards, railings and beams.

The flooring on the upper levels were left in a natural wood finish. On the ground floor, tiles match the exterior paving.

Colle-Croce is led by Sebastián Colle and Rodolfo Croce, who both attended the University of Buenos Aires, and together oversaw this project.

Other projects in the Argentinian capital include a residence that is topped with arched brick vaults by Fabrizio Pugliese, and a home in the outskirts of the city by Barrionuevo Villanueva Arquitectos that marks its entrance with a dramatic cantilever.

The photography is by Federico Kulekdjian.

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Researchers from ETH Zurich are building a tall architectural structure that will evoke the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, in a project that involves working collaboratively with robots.

Called Semiramis after the Assyrian queen who is sometimes associated with the ancient garden, the project has been designed with the help of artificial intelligence and is being built with the assistance of four robots.

The structure will feature five geometrically complex wooden pods, each planted with trees and other vegetation. It will reach 22.5 metres into the air and be supported by eight thin steel pillars.

Semiramis is destined for the grounds of Tech Cluster Zug, an innovation centre under construction in Zug, Switzerland. The structure will be erected and planted out in spring 2022.

A research group from ETH Zurich, led by architecture professors Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler, designed Semiramis, with assistance from Müller Illien Landscape Architects and timber construction company Timbatec.

The design involved software and algorithms created by the Swiss university's researchers and applied for the first time on this project.

A machine learning algorithm, developed in collaboration with the Swiss Data Science Center, presented the researchers with a range of design options that fit their inputted requirements.

The options included different pod shapes and spatial arrangements and would highlight how the differences affected individual target variables, such as pod irrigation.

The researchers then tweaked the designs in the Immersive Design Lab, an augmented reality laboratory on the university's Hönggerberg campus.

This used a software developed jointly with ETH Zurich's Computational Robotics Lab, and allowed the researchers to explore and fine-tune the designs together in augmented reality.

The software would adjust the structure's entire geometry around any change, always generating the most efficient and load-bearing configuration.

"The computer model lets us reverse the conventional design process and explore the full design scope for a project," said Kohler. "This leads to new, often surprising geometries."

The final design the researchers chose for Semiramis is now under construction at the Robotic Fabrication Laboratory at ETH Zurich, where four suspended robotic arms work in tandem to assemble its wooden pieces.

The robots work directly from the computer design, picking up panels and maneuvering them into a precise position, but humans are also integral to the process, as expert craftspeople apply a special casting resin to glue the panels together while they are held in place.

This has benefits for both the workers and the environment, as the craftspeople avoid the work of heavy lifting and positioning, and no resource-intensive substructures are required.

Each of Semiramis' pods is composed of 51-88 wooden panels, and the algorithm calculating the robot arms' movements makes sure they avoid collision.

"Semiramis has been a beacon project for architectural research, bringing together people inside and outside ETH and advancing the key research topics of the present, such as interactive architectural design and digital fabrication," said Kohler.

ETH Zurich is one of the world's leading technology universities and undertakes many complex architectural projects. Its recent work includes the DFAB House, which is entirely designed and built using new digital processes, such as robotic timber construction and 3D sand printing.

Its researchers were also behind the Kitrvs winery in Greece, which has a wall laid using a technology dubbed "augmented bricklaying".

Project credits:

Industry and research partners involved in the project: Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich
In collaboration with: Müller Illien Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH, Timbatec Holzbauingenieure Schweiz AG
Client: Urban Assets Zug AG
General contractor: Erne AG Holzbau
Team: Matthias Kohler, Fabio Gramazio, Sarah Schneider, Matteo Pacher, Aleksandra Apolinarska, Pascal Bach, Gonzalo Casas, Philippe Fleischmann, Matthias Helmreich, Michael Lyrenmann, Beverly Lytle, Romana Rust
Industry partners: TS3 AG, Intrinsic
Selected experts: Chair for Timber Structures, ETH Zurich; Computational Robotics Lab, ETH Zurich – Krispin Wandel, Bernhard Thomaszewsky, Roi Poranne, Stelian Coros; Swiss Data Science Center – Luis Salamanca, Fernando Perez-​Cruz

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Large glass doors open a double-height living space out onto a lush garden in this annexe to a 19th-century home in Porto by Bak Gordon Arquitectos.

Named Casa 2, the building was conceived by the Lisbon-based studio as a standalone "garden pavilion". It contains four ensuite bedrooms, a kitchen, library and communal living room across two floors, set within a large garden at the rear of the existing home.

Almost the entire southern end of the concrete building is wrapped in tall glass doors framed in oxidised brass, allowing the living area to blend with the garden in summer.

In the colder months, the space functions as a "winter garden" centred around a fireplace in the western corner.

"[Casa 2's] communal space is a generous, double-height winter garden, which ensures the transition between the intimacy of the rooms and the outdoor space," said Bak Gordon Arquitectos.

This contrast between openness and intimacy is reflected in the annexe's materials, with both the exterior and the living space finished with exposed pigmented concrete.

In the bedrooms and library, this rougher material is swapped for carpeted floors, Tadelakt plaster walls, fitted wooden furniture and terrazzo bathrooms.

The bedroom block has a trapezoidal shape, creating two small pockets of garden space at either side of the outbuilding, which the rooms overlook through deep-set windows on both the ground and first floors.

"The volume rests on the ground with specific geometry, committed to the multiple environments that gravitate around it," described Bak Gordon Arquitectos.

A staircase behind the living room leads up to the library, which houses a bookcase and small seating area illuminated by a skylight as well as an internal window that looks down onto the living space.

"The kitchen and the library are small spaces directly related to the circulation and characterised by their thermally-modified wooden cabinets that contrast with the Tadelakt-finished walls and the concrete floor," the studio added.

Two further skylights illuminate the centre of the plan, while two circular windows sit on the ceiling of each ensuite bathroom.

The annexe is surrounded by raised planted beds and two paved pathways, which connect to a route that surrounds the existing home and leads to an adjacent garage.

A white wall lined with trees surrounds the site boundary and a raised swimming pool sits at the centre of the garden.

Bak Gordon Arquitectos has completed several homes across Portugal, including an apartment renovation in Lisbon that introduced a small courtyard space and a home in the Alentejo region with an elongated swimming pool.

The photography is by Francisco Nogueira.

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Artists and designers are turning away from working on projects that damage the planet and instead exploring ways to benefit it, according to Es Devlin.

"I've observed in my colleagues that there is already a burgeoning sense that this is the way we want to practice," she told Dezeen.

"I don't think we want the burden of having done harm on our conscience."

The artist and designer made the claim in a video interview last week as part of the Dezeen 15 digital festival.

Devlin was speaking live from the COP26 climate conferencein Glasgow, where she has created an installation of 197 potted trees for the New York Times Climate Hub.

The trees, which represent the 197 countries that have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, will be permanently planted after the conference ends.

Devlin said that projects of this nature are becoming commonplace as creatives assess the damage their profession is doing to the environment.

"As Hans Ulrich Obrist has been finding in a lot of his conversations, quite a lot of artists and designers would rather make gardens at the moment to try and do no harm," she said, referring to the artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries.

Devlin claimed her Glasgow project is carbon negative since "the carbon embedded in the transportation of these trees and the temporary installation of them is far outweighed by the carbon they will sequester in their lifespan."

"They are all local species chosen specifically to survive well once planted on a site in Glasgow," she said.

Trees used in another project at Somerset House earlier this year as part of the London Design Biennale have already been replanted in Southwark and Islington in London.

"They are sequestering the carbon that they emitted in the process of setting that exhibition up," she said.

In her manifesto for Dezeen 15, Devlin called for cars to be replaced by trees in cities around the world. She also proposed that architects and designers sign "a code of conduct like a Hippocratic oath in medicine or an ethical code of practice in law and accounting, promising to do no harm to the planet as they practice."

The Dezeen 15 festival, which celebrates Dezeen's 15th birthday, will see a total of 15 creatives present ideas for how to change the world over the next 15 years. Running from 1 to 19 November, it will feature a different manifesto and live interview each weekday. See the line-up here.

The photography is courtesy of Es Devlin.

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A meandering wooden path leads towards a centuries-old oak tree situated at the centre of this alpine garden in China's Yulong County, which landscape design studio Z'scape created to celebrate the region's native plants and indigenous culture.

The Hylla Alpine Garden project forms part of the Lijiang Hylla Vintage Hotel complex in the foothills of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang, Yunnan province.

The garden was designed by Beijing-based studio Z'scape and is shortlisted in the landscape category of Dezeen Awards 2021.

The hotel project is inserted carefully into the existing landscape, and features buildings constructed using reclaimed and local materials to ensure it links the past with the present.

The landscaping adopts a similar approach, employing local stonemasons and carpenters to create a contemporary design that feels connected to the site's history.

Native plants, local stones, textures and water features that recall the wells found in nearby villages all contribute to an environment that invites visitors to explore the local culture.

"The design effort draws upon the site," explained the architects, "establishing a distinct closeness with indigenous Naxi culture and alpine nature in creating a place of comfort, solitude and peace."

The garden is located close to UNESCO world heritage sites including Yuhu village and the historic town of Baisha, both of which are overlooked from the elevated site.

A Naxi village that was abandoned for several decades has been renovated to form the basis for the hotel and garden, which covers an area of approximately four hectares.

At the heart of the garden is a large oak tree, which would have been a sacred feature of the original village. Trees such as this were called Xupai by the Naxi people, who believed they would help to protect their land.

"The design team carefully kept [the Xupai tree] untouched and used it as a visual focal point to create a culturally sensitive landscape which blends together new and old seamlessly," Z'scape added.

Visitors enter the site along a path flanked by a wall made from white stone, before stepping down onto a wooden boardwalk that meanders across a lawn towards the oak tree.

The alpine lawn is used as a gathering space for events and provides the best views towards Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the town of Baisha.

All of the stone and timber elements included in the project were crafted by local workers using traditional techniques that have been passed down through generations. This helps them to retain a sense of the Naxi identity and a cultural uniqueness that is regionally specific.

Some of the walls include water features designed as abstract interpretations of the historic "three well" irrigations system developed by the Naxi people.

This system channels melted snow from the mountains into an upper well used for drinking water, a middle well for cleaning fruit and vegetables, and a lower well for washing clothes. The outflow is then used to irrigate the surrounding farmland.

The irrigation system informed two water features that feature long channels set into the stone walls. Water flows along the channels and pours down into stepped pools that represent the three wells.

The overall approach to the landscape design aims for minimal intervention and was created without the use of heavy machinery to protect the existing ecosystem.

A large forest that was preserved in the north and west of the garden contains oak trees, sumac, paulownia and Yunnan pine trees. Native plants such as rhododendron, irises and euphorbia were also introduced to reinforce the unique alpine ecology.

Z'scape was founded by Zhou Liangjun and Zhou Ting, and creates landscaping for clients involved in sectors such as cultural tourism projects, boutique hotels, urban spaces and residential developments.

Other projects shortlisted in the landscape category of Dezeen Awards 2021 include WAA's refurbished industrial buildings which are used as a children's community centre and playscape, as well as Qidi Design Group's landscape project with curving paths and bridges.

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Dezeen promotion: landscape designer Thomas Hoblyn has created a Secret Garden-inspired show garden featuring a hand-carved oak screen and walls textured with Armourcoat limestone render.

Hoblyn designed The Boodles Secret Garden for this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which took place in London from 21 to 26 September. It was installed by garden designers The Garden Builders.

The designer's aim was to create an enclosed retreat in the spirit of the secret garden featured in the children's book by Frances Hodgson-Burnett.

To achieve this, he planned a series of walls to divide up the space using materials that have just as natural a texture as the planting areas.

The two walls that form the backdrop to the garden are hand-finished with Armourcoat's exterior polished plaster (PPX).

This limestone render is durable, low-maintenance, and offers the appearance of naturally honed stone.

"The garden has a very naturalistic feel about it, using a lot of natural products like timber in its raw form and hand-dressed stone," said Hoblyn, "and I really wanted to create a wall that had the same mood."

"Armourcoat PPX creates this lovely pitted effect, so it looks like it's been there for a long time, which is bang on for the ambience I was trying to create for the sanctuary garden," he explained.

The garden's undulating wooden screen forms the entrance to the enclosed garden.

The screen is made from consecutively cut oak sheets that have been hand carved to create a rippling surface. There are gaps between each sheet, as well as a doorway cutaway, offering visitors a glimpse inside.

On either side of these walls, Hoblyn added ornamental grasses, tree ferns, and flowers in shades of pink and blue.

This is the seventh garden that Hoblyn has created for the Chelsea Flower Show, which typically takes place in May but was postponed this year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Here, he hoped to highlight the importance of finding sanctuary and restoring wellbeing at a time of global crisis.

The designer points out that this is not his first time using Armourcoat PPX in a show garden, as he believes the product is well suited to an outdoor setting.

"It's a perfect exterior product as it looks flawless and is designed to last," he said.

"I would use it for all my show gardens because it's a great way to get a really good effect, but it's a real product that you can use outside," he added. "This is not a stage set; this is a real garden."

The Boodles Secret Garden was awarded a Silver Gilt medal from the organisers, recognising it as one of the best in show.

For more information about Armourcoat PPX, visit the manufacturer's website.

Photography is by Patrick Kerrigan-Hall.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Armourcoat as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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A scalloped roofline defines this playful backyard studio that Los Angeles architects Byben & Skeens completed for a writer and filmmaker to have a "solitary space for creation".

The compact project replaces a derelict shack in the steeply terraced back yard of a new homeowner's property in LA's Echo Park neighbourhood.

"The previous owner decorated the backyard in a lyrical antique style, with circuitous crumbling stairs winding up the hill and a hand-made shack on the brink of collapse," explained architects Byben & Skeens.

"Inspired by the whimsical setting, the client wanted to replace it with a writing studio and guest house that evoked the past but was firmly contemporary."

The 480-square-foot (45-square-metre) building is rendered in white stucco, with arched openings that recall the Art Deco style that can be found all over LA.

It contains a single room that the client uses as a writing studio or occasional guest house, with a toilet at the back.

"To the west a full-length skylight illuminates the room, the light modulated and diffused by a curved wall sweeping into the space below," said Byben & Skeens.

Two separate entrances lead into the building: one from the back yard, where large double doors allow the interior to be open to the elements; the other from the street.

This allows the owner to invite clients or collaborators over without needing to go through the main house.

The project makes the most of its steep site, which offers it a degree of separation from the owner's home below.

"The arched windows and doors avoid views into the house to focus on the surrounding trees and sky, creating a sense of escape and immersion in nature," the architects explained

The slope also facilitated building in theatre-like seating outside the building's double, doors, allowing the owner to put on small plays in the yard, or to sit and work with rehearsing actors.

Towards the back of the property, an exterior staircase leads to the roof, which overlooks the home below and enjoys views of the LA skyline beyond.

"A sun deck is bound by the peaks and arches of the crown-like parapet of the building," said the architects. "Facing East, the deck has an intimate interior feeling produced by the dappled light of a closely overhanging tree canopy while to the South and West, it provides clear views of downtown LA."

Small buildings like this, which are sometimes known as accessory dwelling units (ADUs) when they contain a bathroom and kitchenette, have long been prevalent in Los Angeles, where the relatively large land parcels and high cost of living have driven up demand for accommodation.

In recent years, the trend has accelerated, as the city has offered incentives to homeowners to build these structures in an effort to make more housing available.

Those working on replicable ADUs for LA include a startup called Cover, which uses proprietary software to create a design suited to a specific site, and architects SO-IL, which unveiled a prefabricated, flower-shaped design earlier this year.

The photography is by Taiyo Watanabe.

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