This family home in Surrey, England, is fronted by an asymmetric wall of blue bricks, described by designer Groves Natcheva Architects as a "lighthouse in a sea of green" (+ slideshow). More about Esher House by Groves Natcheva Architects pairs blue brickwork with red wood
The cantilevered upper storey of this house in Katowice, Poland, looks even more dramatic than it really is – because the podium that supports it is camouflaged behind a wall of mirrors (+ slideshow). More about Mirrors emphasise the cantilever of Robert Konieczny's Living-Garden House
Japanese studio Naf Architect & Design rounded one corner of this Tokyo home to broaden a footpath, then clad the walls in glossy midnight-blue tiles to offer reflections of the streetscape (+ slideshow). More about Half & Half House in Tokyo has a curving wall to allow pedestrians to cut the corner
This black building stretches 37 metres along a narrow plot in the heart of Austria's Rhine Valley to provide a home for a young family and a studio for a graphic designer (+ slideshow). More about Juri Troy Architects creates 37-metre-long house and studio in the Rhine Valley
Dark grey bricks alternate between protruding and receding rows to give a ribbed texture to the facade of this family house near Brussels by Belgian studio Lezze (+ slideshow). More about Protruding brickwork gives a ribbed facade to Lezze's House VR in Belgium
Over three years after completing their first prefabricated dwelling, architects Mário Sousa and Marta Brandão have now installed modular homes all across Portugal. Their latest is a summerhouse in scenic Alentejo (+ slideshow). More about MIMA House in Alentejo is the latest in a series of prefabricated Portuguese homes
The upper storey of this home in the Lithuanian countryside is contained within a pointy shale-clad roof, while glazed walls provide woodland views for rooms on the ground floor (+ slideshow). More about Aketuri Architektai clads woodland house in Lithuania with shale tiles
Photo essay: for the last four years Hannes Coudenys has been photographing houses across Belgium but, instead of selecting the best examples, he only shoots those he deems ugly. More about Ugly Belgian Houses: Hannes Coudenys creates an archive of unattractive architecture
Diagonal strips of timber clad this single-storey addition to a Hampstead apartment block, which also features a rooftop garden that can be used by neighbouring residents (+ slideshow). More about Claridge Architects inserts timber-clad house behind north London mansion block
Blackened timber, zinc and cement boards add variety to the facade of this beachside home near Melbourne, which is made up of several intersecting and overhanging blocks (+ slideshow). More about Mt Martha Beach House by Wolveridge Architects is clad in a mixture of weather-resilient materials
Four "legs" support the upper level of this house in Portland, Oregon – a design intended to offer the openness of a glass house, without compromising on privacy (+ slideshow). More about The form of Ben Waechter's Pavilion house is derived from a dining table
British architect Richard Rogers is gifting the seminal Wimbledon home he designed for his parents in the late 1960s to the Harvard Graduate School of Design. More about Richard Rogers donates house designed for parents to Harvard architecture school
An arched tunnel is formed between these two houses located beside a Japanese tea garden near Tokyo (+ slideshow). More about Pair of houses by Naf Architect & Design stand together to form an arch
Positioned in a pine grove on the Swedish coastline, this concrete house features an entirely glazed facade so that residents can catch glimpses of the Baltic sea through the tree trunks. More about Concrete and glass house completed by Arrhov Frick in a Swedish woodland clearing
The sloping roofline of an old extension to a London residence is surrounded by the pale brickwork of its replacement, designed by local studio Tsuruta Architects (+ slideshow). More about Remodelled London house extension reveals the outline of its predecessor
Photographer Ed Reeve has applied for planning consent to dig a private railway station underneath his home – the David Adjaye-designed Sunken House in north London. More about Private Crossrail station planned underneath Adjaye-designed London house
This blackened plywood box added by architect Antonin Ziegler to one end of a rural home on France's northern coast provides a private library and garage for its inhabitants (+ slideshow). More about Blackened timber reading room extends a coastal home in northern France
A tall white wall wraps around the base of this house in Tsukuba City, Japan, screening it from the street and creating the illusion of a triple-level structure (+ slideshow). More about Japanese house hides a balcony and terrace behind tiered walls
A sloped section of roof joins this timber-clad extension by Melbourne studio Julie Firkin Architects to the adjacent weatherboard house (+ slideshow). More about Triangular void connects a two-storey timber extension to a Melbourne bungalow
Dark brick cladding contrasts with the pale wood and plasterboard interior of this house in Oslo by local architecture office Narud Stokke Wiig (+ slideshow). More about Villa Wot is a brick cuboid punctured by different-sized windows