Contemporary

Designed for a textile designer and artist, Red Threads reimagines a traditional Grey Lynn villa as a home, studio and lively presence in its neighbourhood. It also marks a milestone for Pac Studio: our first carbon-positive house! Its corner site presents two public faces and a useful tension between creative openness and domestic privacy. Samuel Hartnett Samuel Hartnett Samuel Hartnett Samuel Hartnett Samuel Hartnett The original house was clarified by removing an awkward street-front addition, extending the verandah and resolving the roof into a stronger composition of gabled and hipped forms. At the rear, the new work steps down the sloping site, reconnecting rooms that once sat well above the garden. A split-... More

The parti (overarching principle) of the S House was to divide a long, thin suburban lot into two gardens – native to the east, exotic to the west, to suit the client’s respective tastes – and wrapping the house through them. This move challenged the conventional front and back yard diagram of the residential villa architecture that dot the heritage neighbourhood, but with its compact form and central circulation, the S-House provided a number of lifestyle benefits. Patrick Reynolds Patrick Reynolds Patrick Reynolds Patrick Reynolds Patrick Reynolds The elongated plan, for instance, allows greater connection to the landscape and solar penetration into the south-facing section. The entry, through a... More

Perched on the edge of a dramatic volcanic precipice, this villa extension re-establishes a conversation between architecture and topography. The original home had been burdened by a failing 1980s addition—elevated four metres above the ground, disconnected from the surrounding landscape and mature tree canopy below. Caption Caption Caption Caption The design response reengages the house with its site, stepping gradually down through three distinct levels that follow the contours of the land. The reconfigured kitchen becomes a central hinge between old and new. At the rear, living spaces open toward the garden, culminating in an elevated view of a lush, tree-lined chasm—an immersive green backdrop that funct... More

Amai Artisanal Bakehouse is a contemporary café and bakery located in Kolhapur, India. Designed by Gauche Studio, the project transforms an existing Kerala-inspired building into a warm and inviting hospitality space through a restrained architectural intervention that respects the character of the original structure. Shubham Wanjhere Shubham Wanjhere Shubham Wanjhere Shubham Wanjhere Rather than altering the building extensively, the design builds upon its existing architectural language. The pitched roof, generous volumes and natural light establish the foundation for a contemporary interior that feels both familiar and refined. New insertions are intentionally minimal, allowing the original architecture to rem... More

The parish is not a discourse, but a language. It speaks in footsteps, pauses, and repetition. Its grammar is written by daily crossings and small returns. Pulse of Parish listens for that rhythm where meaning survives. Things Studio Things Studio Things Studio Things Studio More

James Lin and Owen Liu reached out to Paul Michael Davis Architects (PMDA) to help renovate their home, where they had lived for about a year. The house was odd. In 1933, when Redmond was farmland and cabins, someone built a modest rambler overlooking the Cascade Mountains. Over time, developments filled the landscape. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft about a mile away. Mark Woods Mark Woods Mark Woods In 1991 a developer bought the bungalow and built a large addition. They also designed a matching replacement for original structure with another wing in a quasi-Craftsman McMansion style. That never came to pass. When James and Owen bought the house, they knew it would be a project, but their budget required keepin... More

Perched six feet above the sidewalk on a sloped lot in Lakewood Hills, Dallas, Casa Loma is a home built around an act of preservation. At its center is a courtyard conceived entirely to protect an existing tree — its canopy casting shifting light and shadow through the day, connecting the interior life of the house to the landscape that preceded it. Becca Lee The design reads from the street as a composition of stacked volumes: dark brick with deliberately shifting hues, cementitious panel, and warm wood siding. Each material was chosen for its dialogue with the neighborhood's earthy tones while asserting a distinctly contemporary character. Inside, the brick continues uninterrupted from exterior to interior — a cohesion... More

This 5,550-square-foot whole-home renovation in Evergreen, Colorado reimagines a dated mountain residence into a refined contemporary retreat, balancing modern livability with timeless alpine character. Chris Robbins Chris Robbins The scope of work included a comprehensive interior transformation, exterior architectural refinement, and upgraded systems throughout. The home’s layout was strategically reconfigured to improve flow, natural light, and connection between spaces—creating a more cohesive open-plan living environment tailored to modern family life and entertaining. Chris Robbins Chris Robbins At the heart of the renovation, the kitchen was completely redesigned with custom white cabinetry, black gr... More

The Coffee Park pavilion is located at the heart of the Côte‑des‑Neiges | Notre‑Dame‑de‑Grâce borough, at the intersection of De Maisonneuve Boulevard and Broadway Avenue, slightly set back from the park’s main circulation routes. It appears as a discreet, welcoming contemporary pavilion, evoking a single‑storey house that is legible and reassuring, scaled to the families and children who use the site. The architectural concept is based on a simple, almost archetypal volume: a small, pitched‑roof chalet finely shaped by its envelope. A pleated metal roof and light brick façades are treated as a continuous skin folding down to shelter the interior spaces, creating protective porches and overhangs at the entrances. T... More

Set on a plot surrounded by nature and light, Vila Pima is spread across a single floor in an “L” shape, embracing the outside space as the central element of daily life. GV+A The social area, where the living room and kitchen merge into a single gesture, extends outwards through a wooden pergola that filters natural light and introduces a movement of shadows across the day. The swimming pool extends the visual horizon from the main spaces of the house, establishing a direct relationship between the interior and the surrounding landscape. GV+A The four suites are organized in a functional and sheltered way, ensuring comfort and privacy. On the lower level, a technical basement includes a garage with capacity for five... More

Shielded by a screen of Douglas fir and redwood, a contemporary home’s glass walls and earthly elements blur the line between indoors and outdoors. Tom Rossiter Looks can be deceiving. Designed with clean-lines from honest materials like steel, reclaimed wood, concrete, and zinc, this Woodside home is seemingly simple. Tom Rossiter Tom Rossiter But despite the structure’s copious use of clear glass, there is something that cannot easily be seen—the complexity of its siting and footprint. The 13 acre site had suffered from unsustainable alterations that caused significant erosion and steepened the natural slope. The design response was to extensively regrade the hill returning it to more natural grades. The... More

Set on a large plot in Talatona, Luanda, the school covers a gross floor area of 14,226 m², spread over three distinct volumes: the school and administrative building, the auditorium and sports hall, and staff accommodation. GV+A The layout respects the natural topography and green surroundings, resulting in a design of solids and voids that organizes the outdoor spaces, playground, and accesses. The main building, dedicated to teaching, is structured around a central atrium and interior courtyards, connecting classrooms, administrative areas, library, and support spaces. Circulation takes place in galleries, ensuring transparency and integration with the exterior. GV+A GV+A The auditorium, with a capacity for 212 seat... More

Developed over three floors, the five-bedroom single-family home is spread over two floors above ground level and one floor below, incorporating a swimming pool and landscaped outdoor areas. The upper floor houses a roofed garage for four cars and five bicycles, a suite, and a support area, connected to the vertical communications. GV+A On the ground floor, three suites—two with direct access to a shared balcony—are distributed around the main hall, complemented by stairs and an elevator, ensuring comfort and fluidity of movement. GV+A The lower floor includes a suite, living room, and kitchenette, as well as the technical area that houses all the equipment necessary for the functioning of the house, with direct acce... More

Set within Ahmedabad’s Transit Oriented Development Zone, Navratna Corporate Park by INI Design Studio responds to the shifting dynamics of contemporary work with an architecture rooted in flexibility, sustainability, and urban identity. Positioned on a prominent 10,000 square meter corner plot, the complex is composed of two striking 70-meter towers that rise as a new landmark in the city’s commercial skyline. Their form composed of stacked volumes wrapped in double-skin high-performance glazing, hosts premium workspaces while integrating biophilic breakouts, advanced infrastructure, and environmentally responsible systems. Karan Gajjar / The Space Tracing Company Karan Gajjar / The Space Tracing Company INI Design... More