SPOTLIGHTING THE TOP RESIDENtial projects OF 2022

Over the past year, designboom has featured a wide range of residential projects that offer their occupants a unique retreat from the outside world. In our coverage of private homes in 2022, we saw conscious interventions that respond directly to the local climate, sensitive restorations, attempts at net-zero construction, and a continued desire for a deep connection with nature. Though they vary in size and setting, our TOP 10 private homes all offer groundbreaking approaches that both respond to and interact with their surroundings — from a circular, semi-subterranean villa in Greece and a net-zero retreat in Mexico to a cluster of red arches sheltering from Indian desert heat and a hybrid home that accommodates both humans and dogs.

We continue our annual round-up of the year’s BIG stories with a look at the TOP 10 private houses and residential dwellings featured on designboom in 2022.

DECA’S ‘CRONUS’ CIRCULAR VILLA NESTLES INTO THE ARID ISLAND LANDSCAPE IN GREECE

all images © Francisco Nogueira 

Nestled on a small greek gem of Aegean, the island Antiparos, Cronus is a modern semi-subterranean villa that spills over with mesmerizing views of the vast blue. Designed by Athens-based architecture firm DECA, the modern residential project is informed by the amorphous topography translated into architectural solutions.

The architecture is a circular silhouette that emerges from the arid landscape and celebrates the sweeping sea and mountain vistas. The circular body of the roof presents itself as a modern masterpiece but also optimizes shade for the outdoor spaces. Embraced by stone and glazed walls, the central courtyard opens skywards, offering its residents a serene living place.

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NET-ZERO RETREAT IN MEXICO COMBINES HOME, STUDIO + OFF-GRID BATHHOUSE

image courtesy of Robert Hutchison Architecture

Robert Hutchison Architecture + JSa have collaborated on Rain Harvest Home, an off-grid ensemble located in the mountains south of Valle Bravo, approximately two hours west of Mexico City. Situated in a nature reserve, the project combines a home, an architect’s studio and a bathhouse, all of which are designed to operate in tandem with the local climate. The net-zero retreat can operate off the grid through a solar PV array and an on-site water treatment and storage system, making the most out of the area’s wet and rainy summers and extremely dry winters. ‘the retreat offers a new model for utilizing and conserving water in a region and country where it is an increasingly precious resource,’ explain the two architecture studios (more JSa projects on designboom here).

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SANJAY PURI’S ‘MIRAI HOUSE’ IS A CLUSTER OF ARCHES TO SHADE FROM INDIA’S DESERT HEAT

images © Dinesh Mehta

Mumbai-based studio Sanjay Puri Architects takes to the Rajasthani city of Bhilwara to complete this ‘Mirai House of Arches.’ Located along a corner plot in the residential neighborhood, the expressive architecture is designed as a direct response to the hot and dry climate of its desertous context — the city is located just outside the massive Thar Desert which covers nearly seventy percent of the Rajasthan state. Integrating passive design strategies, shaded terraces, and lush gardens, the house introduces a cool oasis for its occupants.

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EKAR ARCHITECTS HYBRIDIZES A HOME FOR BOTH HUMANS AND DOGS, WITH LOTS OF SPACE FOR PLAY

Designing a house for a human and his dogs in Thailand, EKAR Architects presents a space which combines living areas with lofty semi-outdoor space filled with vegetation. ‘Being respectful to each other is, presently, the major issue of being a human, and so be the architecture,’ the architects write. Divided between two structures, the project accommodates the humans’ areas to the north and a ‘hotel’ and grooming salon to the south where other dogs can meet and play, and where they can be brought for care.

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HERBST ARCHITECTS NESTLES THIS SOFTLY CURVING HOUSE INTO THE NEW ZEALAND DUNES

images © Simon Wilson

Auckland-based studio Herbst Architects takes to an expansive dunescape along the eastern coast of New Zealand to construct its Dune House. The dwelling is designed in celebration of its undulating site, which is covered with a native flowering plant known as Muehlenbeckia to create a lush, green landscape rolling downward to the beach. The project comprises a main house with two bedrooms and two smaller ‘sleepout’ structures, following the needs of the client, while it is perched two hundred meters from the high-water mark — following local regulations. Thus, the home is safe from flooding and enjoys sweeping views of the sparkling horizon.

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NINKIPEN! PERCHES CONCRETE SEASIDE HOUSE ON RUGGED NATIONAL PARK LANDSCAPE IN JAPAN

all images by Hiroki Kawata

Amid the rugged landscape of a national park in Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture, architecture studio Ninkipen! designed a concrete residence titled ‘Yasun’ that offers expansive views of the Pacific Ocean. Taking into account the local seaside climate, the structure was built of durable reinforced concrete and supported by a stiff frame structure of four pillars along the sloping site. Large openings encourage the occupants to form a close bond with the unique location, while expansive terraces with open-air baths allow them to experience the natural surroundings in the comfort of their own home.

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THATCHED BRICK ‘NIEBY CROFTERS COTTAGE’ TRANSFORMED WITH MODERN GLASS RENOVATION

In a collaborative effort between Copenhagen-based architects Jan Henrik Jansen and Marshall Blecher, an abandoned cottage in northern Germany is given a new life. The structure had punctuated the vast marshlands it was built by farmers, or ‘crofters,’ in the 1800s — a heritage which lends the Nieby Crofters Cottage its name. Left abandoned for more than a decade, the small building had fallen to disuse, its roof partially collapsing and its ceilings hanging low.

The current owners called on the design team to renovate the cottage, restoring the original brick structure and thatched roof through a contemporary lens. The result stands as a thoughtful hybridization of the historic, rural, and modern architecture.

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MERGING TWO STACKED CONCRETE BOXES, ‘CASA AZUL’ BY STUDIO MK27 FADES INTO THE BRAZILIAN FLORA

all images © André Scarpa

‘Casa Azul’ perfectly exemplifies how to build among lush and protected nature without damaging it. The nestled dwelling by Studio MK27 is located in Guarujá, a coastal region in São Paulo, just 500 meters from Iporanga Beach. As it’s an environmentally protected area, the architects had to adhere to strict parameters; they began by defining a two-meter offset from the house to keep the rest of the land untouched.

Once the perimeter was set, the studio decided to raise the house on pilotis, revealing an elevated 15 x 8 m structure shading the main social and leisure areas of ‘Casa Azul’ on the ground floor.

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BLOCK722’S ‘HILL HOUSE’ IS A CLUSTER OF STONE VOLUMES AMONG THE WILD LANDSCAPE OF CRETE

images © Ana Santl

The Athens-based architects at Block722 have completed the ‘Hill House’ as a celebration of this nearly untouched swath of land in Crete. The private dwelling is embedded into the northern foothills of the Thrypti mountain range on the eastern side of the island, and takes shape as a cluster of stone volumes integrating natural plant life atop their terraced roofs.

Respecting its natural context, the architecture discreetly harmonizes with the mountains, plains, and mediterranean sea beyond. The structure is sited along a sloping plot of wild land and negotiates the topography with stepping terraces. At the same time, the design team honors the richness and heritage of the island’s traditional craftsmanship through a contemporary lens.

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CENTRAL PATIO INVITES THE SURROUNDING NATURE INSIDE OODA’S CASA CM IN PORTUGAL

image courtesy of OODA

Located in Oeiras, a town west of Lisbon, Casa CM by OODA is a private residence that celebrates the surrounding topography as the main guiding principle of its design. Incorporating an existing slope, the house takes shape around an open, central patio that connects the interior to the site’s lush nature. This central void is formed by three sides that are ‘diluted in the terrain’, one with social spaces and the other with private rooms, joined to the center by a ‘transparent and absent spatiality’ that dissolves to articulate the entrance. ‘The strategy involves confronting and reconciling artificial and natural data, believing in the affirmation and configuration of architecture, through a regulating and distributing patio for the program,’ explains the Portugal-based studio.

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see designboom’s TOP 10 stories archive:

2021 — 2020 —2019 — 2018 — 2017 — 2016 — 2015 — 2014 — 2013