A spacious loft room bordered by a slender handrail is located beneath the steeply sloping wooden rafters of this Tokyo house by Apollo Architects & Associates (+ slideshow). More about Nord house by Apollo Architects boasts a spacious loft room for children to play in
Huge steel beams with I-shaped profiles were stacked to form the framework of this Tokyo house by Mount Fuji Architects Studio, which features a red spiral staircase winding between its floors (+ slideshow). More about Log Rhythm house revives old Japanese building technique using steel beams instead of wood
This house for two retired lecturers in the Indonesian city of Salatiga was designed with multiple bamboo funnels on its roof to echo the area's mountainous topography (+ slideshow). More about Budi Pradono Architects' bamboo house mimics the shapes of nearby buildings and mountains
Square windows and a matching door puncture the dark brick facade of this extension to a 1920s house in a Sydney suburb, designed by local office Tribe Studio (+ slideshow). More about Tribe Studio adds contemporary brick extension to a 1920s Sydney bungalow
Triendl und Fessler Architekten has completed an affordable home in an Austrian village, featuring a hole in its centre that provides residents with a secluded garden courtyard (+ slideshow). More about Triendl und Fessler Architekten plans low-cost family home around a secret courtyard
This raw concrete house in Tokyo was designed by Japanese firm Apollo Architects & Associates as a family home for a couple whose interests include contemporary art and cars (+ slideshow). More about Apollo Architects creates spaces for artwork and cars in raw concrete Grigio house
Hall + Bednarczyk Architects paired rugged sandstone with contemporary details to create this rural house in Wales, which pays homage to vernacular barns (+ slideshow). More about Sandstone-clad house in Wales designed by Hall + Bednarczyk to resemble local barns
The upper storey of this forest house near Ottawa projects out from the landscape, creating a cantilevered living room offering views through the trees towards a nearby lake (+ slideshow). More about Canadian forest retreat by Christopher Simmonds stretches out towards lake views
Canadian studio YH2 has completed a series of cabin-inspired homes for a woodland development between the shores of Lac Supérieur and the Mont-Tremblant ski resort in Quebec (+ slideshow). More about YH2 reinterprets the Canadian log cabin for lakeside housing development in Quebec
Broad white piers create a rhythm of regular openings around the facade of this small residence near Stockholm by architecture firm Hermansson Hiller Lundberg (+ slideshow). More about Hermansson Hiller Lundberg references Classical architecture with monochrome House Skuru
Anodised aluminium panels surround windows and doors set into the angular concrete facades of this house in Tübingen, Germany, by Steimle Architekten (+ slideshow). More about S3 House is a concrete and aluminium villa by Steimle Architekten
Walls of frameless glazing offer uninterrupted views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay from this 1970s California house, which has been reworked and extended by local studio Swatt Miers Architects (+ slideshow). More about California home by Swatt Miers Architects faces out over San Francisco Bay
This timber-clad Copenhagen house was designed by local studio EFFEKT to be flexible for a growing family, but also to match the cost of the country's cheapest kit homes (+ slideshow). More about EFFEKT's Villa One is a low-cost home designed to suit a growing family
Lumps of flint give a textured facade to this English countryside residence, completed by London firm Skene Catling de la Peña for one of the world's richest families (+ slideshow). More about Flint House features rugged stone walls that gradate from smoky grey to chalky white
This Vietnam house extension cantilevers off the edge of a stone plinth, protecting the rooms inside from annual flooding (+ slideshow). More about Nha4 Architects adds flood-proof extension to family home in Vietnam
This dog-friendly guesthouse and residence in the South Korean province of Chungcheongnam features doors decorated with canine illustrations and a sloping playground overlooking the rural landscape (+ slideshow). More about Bow-wow House by Design Band YOAP is a guesthouse for dog lovers in rural South Korea
The glazed lower level of this house by Switzerland's Lake Biel are sandwiched between two concrete slabs, helping to protect living spaces and an outdoor terrace from flooding (+ slideshow). More about Slabs of concrete frame glass walls of house near a Swiss lake by MLZD
Students and faculty members at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have designed a tiny house to help address the city's low-cost housing shortage. More about UCLA research lab unveils micro dwelling to help combat affordable housing crisis
Flower beds and vegetable gardens cover the rooftops of this mixed-use property in Halifax, Canada, designed by architect Susan Fitzgerald as a space for her to live and work in (+ slideshow). More about Susan Fitzgerald's live-work space in Halifax features a rooftop vegetable garden
Architecture studio Adamo-Faiden has transformed the vacant roof of a 15-storey block in Buenos Aires into a home for a young couple, by installing a glazed pavilion-like structure surrounded by plants (+ slideshow). More about Foliage-clad pavilion by Adamo-Faiden creates a home on a disused roof