This house in London by local studio De Matos Ryan sits within a sunken courtyard, surrounded by a secret flower garden (+ slideshow). More about Sunken house by De Matos Ryan nestles in a secret garden
This weekend cabin in a Washington national park, by Seattle architect Tom Kundig, features a protective steel exterior that slides across its windows and a floor raised up on stilts to prevent flooding. More about Tom Kundig creates "virtually indestructible" steel cabin on stilts
A concrete tunnel slices through the base of this Tokyo house by Japanese architect Makiko Tsukada, creating a round hole in the facade that reveals the underside of a staircase (+ slideshow). More about Curving concrete creates a tunnel through Tokyo house by Makiko Tsukada
An austere concrete wall screens the transparent lower floor of this house in southern Brazil, while the overhanging upper storey is masked behind a layer of timber slats (photos by Leonardo Finotti + slideshow). More about MAPA's XAN House in Brazil combines raw concrete with slatted timber
Geometric patterned screens encase a pair courtyards at this timber-clad beach house by Wolveridge Architects on Australia's south coast (+ slideshow). More about Blairgowrie House by Wolveridge Architects offers a timber-clad seaside home
The glass-walled living areas of this house in Paredes, Portugal, are sandwiched between a top floor wrapped in opaque panels and a basement clad in rugged shale tiles (+ slideshow). More about Spaceworkers' 07CBE House features cantilevered and transparent storeys
This metal-clad house in Chiba, Japan, was designed by architect Yuji Kimura to fill its site, meaning a car-parking space and balcony had to be slotted within its boxy volume (+ slideshow). More about House in Chiba by Yuji Kimura hides a garage and balcony behind its walls
Architect and photographer Marc Gerritsen designed this house for himself on a Thai island, with an skeleton-like structure that frames sea views (+ slideshow). More about Marc Gerritsen's skeletal Naked House exposes its insides to the seafront
Black panels of corrugated iron clad the exterior of this lakeside wooden cabin in rural Victoria, Australia, by local firm Branch Studio Architects (+ slideshow). More about Pump House by Branch Studio Architects is a metal-clad lakeside retreat
Pointed doorways and openings throughout this house in Kyoto, Japan, were designed by Alts Design Office to mimic the building's gabled profile (+ slideshow). More about House-shaped doorways puncture Hazukashi House by Alts Design Office
A wall clad in slabs of red volcanic stone conceals the entrance to this otherwise minimal white house in a suburb of Reykjavík, Iceland, by local office PK Arkitektar (+ slideshow). More about Volcanic stone wall hides doorway into B25 house by PK Arkitektar
Chris Dyson Architects has added a soot-washed brick extension with a curved wall to a Georgian terraced house and former nunnery in east London (+ slideshow). More about Chris Dyson's curved brick extension completes a Georgian terrace in London
Charred cedar clads the walls of this house in Aichi, Japan, by architecture studio MDS, while exposed wooden beams create a rack-like effect on the underside of the diagonally slanted roof. More about Charred timber clads walls of Okazaki House by MDS
Katsutoshi Sasaki + Associates built this unusually skinny house on a three-metre-wide site in a residential district of Aichi Prefecture, Japan (+ slideshow). More about Katsutoshi Sasaki's Imai house is just three metres wide
Canadian studio Naturehumaine inserted a glass floor and skylight to draw sunlight through the interior of this two-storey house in Montreal, and reintroduced wooden boards to make a feature of the staircase. More about Montreal house by Naturehumaine features a glass floor with a skylight overhead
London studio dRMM has completed a house and studio for Hackney artist Richard Woods, using his trademark cartoon-style print to add colour to the building's facade and staircase (+ slideshow). More about Richard Wood's cartoon-style prints added to his new Hackney residence by dRMM
Architecture studio AOC has renovated a four-storey townhouse in north London, adding wall-hung vintage bicycles and timber mouldings based on the faces of the resident family. More about AOC adds wall-hung bicycles and basket-weave flooring to London townhouse
Bamboo poles were used to clad the facade and surrounding walls of this house in the Philippines by Swiss-Filipino studio Atelier Sacha Cotture (+ slideshow). More about Bamboo cladding surrounds house in the Philippines by Atelier Sacha Cotture
A grid of chunky timber beams criss-crosses a void between the ground and first floors to allow light to circulate in this Studio Aula-designed house in Shiojiri, Japan (+ slideshow). More about Criss-crossing wooden beams fill a void inside Studio Aula's Cocoon House
This house in northern Switzerland, by local architect Pascal Flammer, frames views of a vast rural landscape through round and rectangular windows, as well as through entire walls of glazing (+ slideshow). More about Pascal Flammer's House in Balsthal features wooden braces and a circular window