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    Stephanie Brown renovates Vancouver home to have “fewer formalised spaces”

    Large family get-togethers are enjoyed in the open-concept living spaces at this house in Vancouver, which interior designer Stephanie Brown has overhauled with entertaining in mind.

    The home is situated in a quiet, upscale neighborhood in the Canadian city. Built in 1991, it originally featured a postmodern aesthetic, while subsequent renovations favoured the craftsmen style.
    The layout of the home was reorganised to create a double-height foyerIts latest iteration was devised by local studio Stephanie Brown, who was asked to design the interiors by homeowners Joanne and Alan.
    The couple has a blended family with six grown-up children, and while only one still lives at home, the others return often for dinners together.
    Small rooms were opened up to create larger spaces for entertainingAlterations to the plan of the house were therefore required to allow it to comfortably accommodate so many people in the evenings, but still feel cosy during the day.

    “Prior to the renovation, the layout featured very formal, separated rooms,” said Brown. “We re-worked the layout of the main floor to create a more open-concept space, which would provide better flow for modern family gatherings and fewer formalised spaces.”
    Jewel tones and feminine hues add variation to the predominantly white colour schemeAn enlarged family room is now adjacent to the kitchen, which includes a generous island with a teal-coloured base for preparing meals and eating breakfast.
    The same teal shade, chosen for Joanne’s “love for moody jewel tones” continues in the pantry, while more feminine pinks and purples are introduced in other spaces through furniture fabrics.
    Smaller rooms like this office space feature darker coloursIn the dining room, a large black table is positioned beneath a grid of mid-toned oak beams and a Shape-Up chandelier by Ladies and Gentlemen Studio.
    Oak is also applied as parquet flooring, adding visual interest and bringing warmth to the predominantly white palette throughout the home.

    RSAAW adds double-height library during Vancouver home renovation

    Darker colours are used in the smaller spaces, including a new mudroom with grey-and-white-patterned cement floor tiles, and a wallpapered powder room.
    By also rearranging the first-floor layout, a bright two-storey entrance foyer was created, featuring black and unpolished brass details.
    A mud room with patterned ceramic tiles was created during the renovationArtwork and decorative furniture pieces are dispersed throughout the home, intended to convey a relaxed atmosphere more akin to a city loft.
    “We drew inspiration from New York and European apartments, which feature unique collections of art, furnishings and decor set against elegant details,” said Brown.
    “We opted for a casual take on those interiors, but one where the play between classic and modern would still feel fresh and unique.”
    A powder room is lined with dark wallpaperVancouver is regularly ranked as one of the most liveable cities in the world and has a wealth of notable residential architecture and interiors.
    Other projects recently completed there include RSAAW’s renovation of a mid-century residence to include a double-height library and a house by D’Arcy Jones Architects designed to mesh with its neighbours.

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    Melanie Raines designs “weird and funky” interiors for Austin residence

    Interior designer Melanie Raines has applied her experience in hospitality design to ensure the large spaces of this Austin family home feel cosy, playful and “a bit irreverent”.

    Raines, who recently moved to the Texas capital from LA, was discovered by the clients after they visited the Soho Little Beach House in Malibu and researched the team behind its interiors.
    The home’s large living room features vertical elements including a concrete-block fireplace and a swingAfter connecting on LinkedIn and realising they are now based in the same city, the family asked her to design the interiors of a property they were building.
    The house, designed by local firm Ryan Street Architects, was originally conceived as a 12,500-square-foot (1,160-square-metre) California barn-inspired home with vast living spaces, six bedrooms and a guest house.
    Furniture is arranged to create zones, like a seating area framed by a brown leather sofaHowever, the music-loving homeowners decided that the interiors should better reflect their creative personalities, and provide a “weird and funky” environment for their four children and two dogs.

    “By the time we were brought onto the project, they were hoping to see more of themselves in the interior design: colorful, playful, and artful people who love music and don’t take things too seriously,” Raines told Dezeen.
    Above the bar, a section of mezzanine floor is replaced with a rope net”For this reason, the central design challenge was to marry the architecture of exposed steel and reclaimed wood with an interior that felt fresh, playful, and distinctive.”
    One of the biggest challenges was to make the huge open living room feel intimate and cosy.
    Walnut is used throughout the home and prominently in the kitchenThis was achieved by arranging furniture in different zones, a trick borrowed from Raines’ career in the boutique hospitality sector.
    A large wooden ping-pong table that doubles as a dining surface sits at the centre, accompanied by velvet-upholstered stools.
    The millwork echoes the exterior reclaimed timber cladding visible through large windowsOn the other side, a curve chocolate-brown leather sofa sits atop textured red rugs to create a nook in front of a bar area, which has a built-in pizza oven.
    Above the bar, a cut-out in the floor of a mezzanine balcony is replaced with a rope net to form a hammock.
    The primary bedroom is decorated in dark colours to create a relaxing atmosphereOther vertical elements help to draw the eye up, including the fireplace clad in split-face, industrial concrete blocks and a swing suspended on ropes from the 22-foot (6.7-metre) ceiling.
    To unite the various ground-floor spaces, walnut is repeated across several surfaces and details.
    Colour is used boldly in several of the smaller rooms”Occasionally we joked that it’s the ‘house that walnut built’ – the floors, millwork, and many of the furnishings are a beautiful American black walnut,” Raines said.
    This is especially true in the kitchen, where millwork on the island and built-in cabinetry are all crafted from the material – echoing the reclaimed timber ceilings and the exterior cladding visible through giant windows.
    A green sofa set the retro tone in the dark movie roomWhile colour is used sparingly as accents in the living area, a much bolder approach was taken in other rooms.
    “The clients came to develop a trust in some colour sensibilities that became the moods around the home,” explained Raines. “We landed on a creamy off-white in the main spaces, then got especially playful in the ancillary spaces.”

    Clayton Korte clads Hartford Residence in Austin with limestone and fibre cement

    Dark blues were chosen to create a relaxing atmosphere in the primary bedroom, where a corner is designated for the couple to enjoy tea together, while a retro aesthetic was guided by a green sofa in the near-black movie room.
    Smaller spaces like closets and bathrooms are decorated with a variety of patterned wallpapers, some of which Raines described as “PG-13”.
    Wallpaper chosen for closets and powder rooms includes a design that Raines described as “PG-13″In the guest house, wood panelling paired with tan and orange leathers offers a “1970s lakehouse feel”, and the primary powder bath has a black terrazzo stone ceiling.
    “The atmosphere needed to be creative, inspirational, artful, and un-precious,” said Raines. “Anything ‘fancy’ was immediately thrown out!”
    “It was a reaction on both my part and theirs to the age of over-design, and we were really able to throw some wild ideas out to see what stuck, then remix them to create an intentional – but a bit irreverent – final design,” she added.
    The ombre wallpaper in this powder room is another example of the designer’s playful approachAustin is one of the fastest-growing cities in the US and has seen a spike in residential architecture and interior projects as a result.
    Others that have been completed recently include a gabled family home clad in limestone and fibre cement by Clayton Korte and a residence with dark grey walls and a crisp silhouette by Side Angle Side.
    The photography is by Chase Daniel.

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    Woods + Dangaran brings warmth and light to mid-century modern home in Los Angeles

    Teak wood, travertine stone and expansive glazing all feature in Woods + Dangaran’s renovation of a mid-century modern house that once belonged to singer Bing Crosby’s manager.

    Los Angeles-based Woods + Dangaran has both upgraded the architecture and designed the interiors for Clear Oak Residence, which is located on a hillside above LA’s San Fernando Valley.
    Clear Oak Residence is located on a hillside above LA’s San Fernando ValleyThe design aims to enhance the building’s relationship with its setting while also bringing an increased sense of warmth and comfort to the living spaces.
    Doorways and windows were adjusted and enlarged to enable wraparound views of the landscape, while skylights were added to highlight key moments within the interior.
    A new swimming pool cantilevers out towards the viewTravertine creates a continuous floor surface that extends out from the living spaces to a sunset terrace, while teak provides wall panelling and in-built joinery throughout.

    “The architectural finish palette was intentionally limited to four materials: clear anodised aluminium, plaster, travertine, and teak for the wall panelling,” said Woods + Dangaran.
    “This visual restraint manifests in a serene ambiance that permeates all aspects of the residence.”
    Travertine flooring extends both inside and outClear Oak Residence is shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2022 in the house interior category, where it will compete with four other projects – including another one by Woods + Dangaran – for the title.
    Woods + Dangaran designed this project for client Robert Galishoff, whose brief to the architects was to embrace the building’s mid-century heritage but ensure the result exudes a sense of “effortless luxury”.
    Teak provides wall panelling and custom joineryLandscaping played a big role in the transformation. By relocating the swimming pool so that it cantilevers over the hill and adjusting the topography, more terrace and deck space could be created.
    Sliding floor-to-ceiling glass doors allow the main bedroom, the living room and the dining area to open out to this terrace.

    Woods + Dangaran updates 1960s California home by Craig Ellwood

    “Enlarged doorways and windows inside the house, including floor-to-ceiling glass doors, integrate the interior spaces with the landscape and foreground views by eliminating barriers,” said the architects.
    “Glazed openings inserted along corridors create memorable spatial experiences from new axes and vantage points.”
    Skylights create framed views of the skyThe interior furnishings include both new and retro pieces in natural materials and warm colours, which sit alongside Galishoff’s collection of objets d’art.
    The living room features a copper silk shag rug from Mehraban, a Minotti sectional reupholstered in a retro-patterned textile and a pair of the Arthur Casas-designed Amorfa coffee tables.
    “Inspired by mid-century pieces but adjusted for scale, function, and material, these pieces give the home a unique voice that mixes old and new, retro with contemporary vibes,” said Woods + Dangaran.
    The design respect’s the building’s mid-century heritageLed by architects Brett Woods and Joe Dangaran, Woods + Dangaran has developed a reputation for modernising mid-century homes but also designs new-builds with a similar character.
    Other recent projects include an upgrade of a 1960s Craig Ellwood house and a brass-clad home in Palm Springs.
    The photography is by Joe Fletcher.

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    OEO Studio adds Nordic influences to Japandi-style apartment in Tokyo

    Copenhagen-based OEO Studio combined muted colours and textured materials to create the interiors for this renovated Tokyo apartment that is characterised by its Japandi design.

    Located within the Opus Arisugawa housing complex in central Tokyo, the apartment’s interior was renovated to combine design influences from Japan and Scandinavia – a trend known as Japandi.
    The apartment’s interiors take cues from Japanese and Scandinavian designOEO Studio intended to create a serene atmosphere by adopting minimalist interior design and mainly natural materials throughout, both of which are hallmarks of the Japandi style.
    The apartment’s entryway includes a rammed-earth wall surrounded by a slatted rectilinear wardrobe that was custom-made in calming honey-hued wood.
    Curvy sofas feature in the living roomLow-slung concrete seating is also built into the hallway, which doubles as a sculptural plinth for a ceramic vase by Christian Bruun.

    A mixture of deep indigo tiles and paper yarn rugs made from Finnish birch but embroidered with Japanese textile-style patterns cover the floors.
    Wooden cabinetry lines the kitchen”The interiors reflect the studio’s cross-pollination of Japanese and Scandinavian design ideas, drawing inspiration from both cultures and reinterpreting them in new ways,” said the firm.
    The hallway leads to an open-plan living room filled with interiors in neutral tones, including cool stone floors and sleek furniture finished in smoked oak, oiled pinewood and soft wool.

    OEO Studio creates colourful cantina for Copenhagen eatery Hija de Sanchez

    Curvy Taylor sofas by Shanghai brand Stella Works are arranged around an organically shaped timber coffee table, while artworks by Jaakko Mattila line the walls.
    Japanese Ōya stone was used for the columns that divide the living area and brightly lit kitchen, which includes tactile wooden cabinetry.
    A minimal dining space with black-stained ash chairs also features alongside the kitchen.
    The bedrooms are defined by the same refined styleThe apartment’s three bedrooms also have a mixture of refined textures and shapes, while the singular pared-back bathroom displays a statement wooden bathtub at its centre.
    “We worked carefully with the zoning and the transitions between the rooms in the apartment to create an evocative yet calm, welcoming and comfortable atmosphere,” said OEO Studio.
    A light wooden bathtub features in the bathroomFounded in 2003, OEO Studio has created a number of similar projects including a Tokyo restaurant that references both Danish carpentry and Japanese gardens in its interiors.
    The firm recently created a cafe and shop at Designmuseum Denmark that pays homage to architect Kaare Klint’s original design.
    The photography is by Michinori Aoki.

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    Makhno Studio celebrates Ukrainian craft in all-beige home near Kyiv

    Kyiv-based Makhno Studio has paired soft, bumpy textures and intricate ceramic walls inside this all-beige home in Ukraine, which was completed right before the Russian invasion.

    Located in Kozyn, a rural town just south of Kyiv, Mureli House is a celebration of summertime and Ukrainian design, with mureli being an old Ukrainian word for apricot.
    Intricate ceramics feature throughout the Mureli House interior by Makhno StudioThe home, which was completed just two months before the start of the invasion in February 2022, comprises an open-plan living room and kitchen, three bedrooms with three bathrooms, a guest bathroom, a laundry room and a garage with a terrace.
    The clients – a local Ukrainian couple with a large family – requested from the outset that Makhno Studio should work with as many Ukrainian manufacturers and craftsmen as possible to create bespoke products for the house.
    A bulbous sculpture decorates the fireplace mantel in the lounge”All materials in the home are natural,” the studio’s founder Serhii Makhno told Dezeen. “The team used almost all Ukrainian brands and worked with several local contractors to minimise the distance and logistics.”

    The clients wanted a neutral, beige interior across all of the rooms to create a cohesive look. As a result, the house’s second floor is finished mostly in wood while the entire ground floor is decorated with beige-coloured plaster.
    Makhno designed the pendant lights in the lounge to resemble seed podsMakhno Studio emphasised the generous volumes and curved staircase in the home’s entrance hallway through a wall of three-dimensional ceramic tiles and a dramatic cluster of pendant lamps made of clay and polystyrene foam.
    References to the natural world are integrated throughout the interior. Highlights include a cluster of Makhno-designed pendants in the living room that resemble seed pods and washbasins that appear like hollowed-out boulders.
    The entire ground floor including the kitchen is finished in beige-coloured plasterThe only exception to Mureli House’s monochrome colour scheme is the main bathroom, which features pink accents including ombre shower doors and scale-shaped concrete tiles that can be tilted away from the wall to double up as hooks for hanging towels and bathrobes.
    “Ceramic craftsmanship is an ancient Ukrainian tradition,” Makhno explained. “At the end of the 1920s, the ceramic tradition began to be restored in various parts of Ukraine. At Makhno, the tradition is continued today to highlight its uniqueness and naturalistic appeal.”

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    Mureli House currently stands empty since the owners were forced to flee to safer areas in the west of Ukraine following Russia’s attempts to storm Kyiv in the early days of the war.
    The exact condition of the home is unknown. But Makhno Studio says a Russian military plane and several missiles were shot down over the surrounding area in Kozyn.
    Russian troops were forced to retreat from Kyiv at the start of April but left behind a trail of destruction in the city’s outskirts and have since carried out a number of airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital.
    The monochrome colour palette extends into the home’s three bedroomsIn total, more than 143 significant cultural sites have been damaged in Ukraine since the start of the war, including the Ivankiv Museum in Kyiv and several second world war memorial monuments in the surrounding region.
    Serhii Makhno says he currently remains safe in Ukraine, while the rest of his team is scattered throughout Europe and is working mainly on international projects.
    Boulder-like sinks and scale-shaped tiles feature in the main bathroomThe studio is among a number of Ukrainian practices that have told Dezeen they are now looking for support and commissions from foreign clients.
    Previous projects from the studio include Makhno’s own thatched-roof house in Kozyn and his duplex apartment in Kyiv.
    The photography is courtesy of Makhno Studio.

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    Arquitectura Nativa creates rammed-earth retreat for retired archaeologist

    Arquitectura Nativa has completed a home in Mexico for a retired archaeologist and their partner, using “rudimentary and artisanal techniques” that help the home blend into its surroundings.

    Casa Martha is located on a steep and rocky site facing the ocean in La Misión, a small village situated roughly halfway between the cities of Tijuana and Ensenada, in the Baja California region of Mexico.
    The La Misión home by Arquitectura Nativa stretches across three levelsThree levels step down a hill, forming the living spaces for a couple and their guests.
    Local architect studio Arquitectura Nativa laid out the most public areas of the home on the lowest level. On this floor, there are two guest bedrooms, a dine-in kitchen and a generous outdoor patio facing the street.
    Many of the materials used in the home, such as the artisanal wooden shutters and rammed-earth walls, were chosen for their hand-made qualities and appropriateness to the building’s context.

    The public spaces can be accessed through the folding doors on the house’s lowest level”Casa Martha is modelled with deep sensitivity and respect for its surroundings,” Arquitectura Nativa principal Alfredo Navarro Tiznado explained.
    “The main construction element is compacted earth. In this way, the site and its topography are consolidated as the raw materials of the project,” he added.
    An open-plan living space takes up the second floor”The first level is divided into two areas, the visitor area made up of two rooms and the study area that can function as a painting and carpentry workshop or as a garage,” Tiznado explained.
    A breezeway open to the elements separates the two halves of the home. At the back of the property, two smaller courtyards ensure that every space gets natural ventilation and daylight.

    MDO converts rammed-earth houses in rural China into holiday villas

    A flight of stairs flanked by rammed-earth walls leads to the intermediate level, which the architect described as the “heart” of the home. This is where the main living space is located.
    An open-concept kitchen, living and dining room are flanked by glass walls, which open out towards the landscape and are shaded by an overhanging concrete slab.
    The home is surrounded by a sheltered walkwayA walkway surrounds the home that can be closed off with wooden shutters.
    “This lattice generates protection from the prevailing winds, as well as a component of privacy towards the interior,” Tiznado explained.
    Outdoor terraces can be accessed from the upper floorsThese handcrafted panels also create a “play of light and shadows,” Tiznado added.
    The studio also laid out two terraces on the roof of the spaces below, offering the occupants a variety of places to enjoy the outdoors.
    Walls of rammed earth and doors made from wood let the building blend in with the siteThe topmost level is significantly smaller than the two lower floors and is reserved for the owners.
    The second-storey perch offers the best views of the surrounding landscape and is separated from the guest rooms to give all occupants plenty of privacy when using the 310-square-metre home.
    “The main chamber has a view of the context’s landscape — in this space, the interior is blurred with the exterior,” said Tiznado.
    Wooden shutters help modulate the sunOther recent buildings in the Baja California area include a private residence that was converted into a hotel by Paolo Sarra and studio Punto Arquitectónico, and a hotel that combines modern design with traditional influences by Max von Wertz.
    The photography is by Oscar Hernández Rodríguez.
    Project credits:Architect: Alfredo Navarro TiznadoDesign team: Kenia Esmeralda García Rosas, Hanna Appel Hernández, Giancarlo Reyes OlguinConstruction: Pedro Luis Curiel Bojórquez, José Francisco Ramírez García, Alfredo Navarro Tiznado,

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    Studio Modijefsky favours clean lines in renovation of Dutch dyke house

    Amsterdam interior design firm Studio Modijefsky has created a contemporary family home inside of a local dijkhuis – a traditional Dutch dwelling set next to a dyke.

    Located in the north of Amsterdam, the house was originally built for a middle-class family in the 1800s. But the building suffered substantial fire damage while serving as a kindergarten in the 1980s and had to be completely rebuilt in the same style.
    Home Dijkhuis is a renovated dyke house in AmsterdamStudio Modijefsky was asked by the new owners to create an interior that would respect the building’s heritage while introducing modern touches.
    Spread across 260 square metres, the home features an entrance, living area and study on the same level as the dyke. A spacious kitchen, dining area and garden are set a level down at the back of the house, while four bedrooms occupy the first floor under the gabled roof.
    Its low timber-beam ceiling is left exposed in the kitchenThe Netherlands has a long history of building next to its vast network of dykes – the embankments stretching thousands of kilometres along its coastlines and riverbanks to protect the low-lying country from flooding.

    As these dykes raise the ground level, a dijkhuis is often split across storeys of different heights and lighting conditions, which creates both challenges and creative opportunities according to Studio Modijefsky.
    “To create an interior that fits the original architecture while freshening it up, the spatial qualities of each living area were assessed and the properties of height, light and each building structure and window shape were maximised,” explained the studio.
    A green corduroy sofa and a walnut cabinet dominate the loungeIn the downstairs kitchen and dining area, a low timber-beam ceiling creates an intimate space anchored by a large table, where the family can come together for meals or enjoy views over the garden through the wide French windows.
    In the kitchen, a terrazzo-topped island is complemented with dark wooden door fronts, a backlit glass display cabinet and terracotta tiles on the floor.
    Marble detailing features throughout the house in fireplaces and splashbacksUpstairs, on the level of the dyke, the house’s entrance hallway leads into a bright living room, which the design team describes as “the most lavish space in the house”.
    It features tall arched windows and a high curved ceiling with art deco ornaments, giving the room a spacious and welcoming feel.

    Rainforest foliage and mirrors feature inside Amsterdam bar by Studio Modijefsky

    The walls and ceilings are painted in three different hues of white, strategically placed to enhance the room’s architectural features.
    “In a room with so much natural light, darker colours could be used to dramatic effect such as on the dark herringbone floor,” said Studio Modijefsky. “But all eyes will here be drawn to a monolithic walnut cabinet, whose shape mirrors the windows opposite it.”
    A built-in bar is set in one corner of the loungeIn addition to the walnut cabinet, the room is furnished with an olive-green corduroy sofa and a built-in cocktail bar with a terrazzo top.
    Across the hallway is a toilet decorated with off-white tiles that are glossy on the walls and matt on the floor. Other furnishings include wooden plinths, a purple marble splashback and an oak-wood cabinet with brass details.
    The study, which doubles as a guest room, has built-in storage cabinets and an en-suite bathroom with travertine instead of marble detailing.
    The curved ceilings of the dijkhuis create a sense of being envelopedFour bedrooms, two bathrooms and a separate toilet are squeezed onto the dijkhuis’s first floor. To create enough space for these living arrangements, the design team installed two dormer windows that run along two-thirds of the roof’s length.
    The floors and walls here are lighter compared to downstairs, with parts of the original beamed roof left exposed.
    Bathrooms on this floor feature rectangular tiles arranged in a herringbone pattern, which is echoed in the parquet of the bedrooms. In the corridors, the studio switched the pattern to straight planking in order to emphasise the vertical dimensions of the house.
    Four bedrooms are housed on the first floor under the home’s gabled roofStudio Modijefsky, which was founded by interior architect Esther Stam in 2009, has completed a number of projects in the Dutch capital in recent years.
    Among them is a travel-themed eatery with swampy purple ceilings and yellow-tiled walls that recall grassy meadows, as well as the renovation of a 119-year-old restaurant.
    The photography is by Maarten Willemstein. 

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    Ten multi-generational homes that organise space in interesting ways

    A Mumbai apartment with its own temple and a Tokyo home for three generations and eight cats feature in this lookbook highlighting ten intergenerational households that showcase how interiors can balance privacy and community.

    Multi-generational living, in which several generations of a family cohabit under one roof, is already common practice in many parts of Asia, the Middle East, southern Europe and Africa.
    But with the growing price of housing, as well as elder and childcare, these kinds of communal living arrangements are now becoming increasingly popular around the world.
    This has prompted architects and designers to devise clever ways to divide up interiors, balancing the need for both private and communal spaces by using everything from staircases to moving partitions and planted terraces.
    Many also integrate accessible design features for their elderly inhabitants, such as wheelchair ramps and elevators.

    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing decorative ceramics, bathrooms with statement tiles and dining areas anchored by sculptural pendant lights.
    Photo is by Peter Bennetts StudioCharles House, Australia, by Austin Maynard Architects
    Pocket sliding partitions connect the rooms in this home so that its interiors can grow with the owner’s children and ultimately also accommodate their grandparents.
    Complete with a wheelchair-accessible garden, the building is one of a growing number of multi-generational houses being designed in answer to Melbourne’s housing crisis.
    “A diverse family home is often a healthy family home,” said Australian studio Austin Maynard Architects. “However, multigenerational homes also reflect the nature of our economy.”
    Find out more about Charles House ›
    Photo is by Ossip van DuivenbodeThree-Generation House, Netherlands, by BETA
    The Three-Generation House in Amsterdam was designed to resemble a “mini apartment building”, housing a young family on the lower floors and the grandparents on the top floor, which can be accessed via a private lift.
    A bright yellow staircase runs through the centre of the plan, helping to divide the open-plan interior while effectively connecting all the different levels of the home into a cohesive whole.
    Find out more about Three-Generation House ›
    Photo is by Katherine LuVikki’s Place, Australia, by Curious Practice
    Instead of doors, slim wooden blinds and raised plywood platforms help to demarcate the bedrooms in this Australian home, designed to accommodate the owner as well as her grown-up son and his family, who often come to stay for extended periods of time.
    “The play with the levels enables the architecture to act as furniture, which accommodates more or fewer guests for different occasions,” architect Warren Haasnoot of local studio Curious Practice told Dezeen.
    “Manoeuvring between spaces and levels invokes a sense that one is navigating between levels of terrain rather than moving room to room or outside to inside.”
    Find out more about Vikki’s Place ›
    Photo is by Albert Lim K SCornwall Gardens, Singapore, by Chang Architects
    Planted terraces are organised around a central pool in this family home in Singapore, providing each of the six bedrooms with natural vistas and a sense of privacy despite the busy floorplan.
    Local studio Chang Architects conceived the project as a “tropical paradise,” complete with a Koi carp pond and a waterfall to encourage the owner’s children to raise their families here once they’ve grown up.
    Find out more about Cornwall Gardens ›
    Photo is by Michael MoranChoy House, USA, by O’Neill Rose Architects
    Two brothers, their families and their mother share this residence in Flushing, Queens, which New York studio O’Neill Rose Architects describes as “three homes under one roof”.
    Designed to fuse American and Chinese ways of living in a nod to the client’s mixed heritage, the house effectively provides two separate homes for the two siblings, connected by a communal lower level that is also home to their mother and can be accessed via stairs hidden behind semi-transparent screens.
    Find out more about Choy House ›
    Photo is courtesy of NendoStairway House, Japan, by Nendo
    Three generations of the same family share this three-storey home in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, with the more accessible ground floor given over to the grandparents and their eight pet cats.
    Japanese studio Nendo bisected the floorplan with a huge fake staircase, which provides a visual connection between the different levels while accommodating a bathroom, a playroom for the cats and a plethora of potted plants.
    Find out more about Stairway House ›
    Photo is by Javier Callejas SevillaResidence 1065, India, by Charged Voids
    Indian studio Charged Voids designed this house in Chandigarh to combine the communal focus of “Eastern spatial planning” with the “Western aesthetics” of Le Corbusier.
    Housing a family of six – including a couple, their parents and their children – the residence features private areas on the second floor and communal areas on the ground floor, which can be conjoined or separated using collapsible partitions.
    Find out more about Residence 1065 ›
    Photo is by Yao LiSong House, China, by AZL Architects
    A wheelchair ramp wraps its way around this house in the rural village of Nansong, which is inhabited by a couple in their 50s alongside three older family members, as well as occasionally their children and grandchildren.
    Like a traditional Chinese farmhouse, the building is organised around a central courtyard, with glazed openings providing views across the plan to create a sense of community and connection.
    Find out more about Song House ›
    Photo is by Matt GibsonWellington Street Mixed Use, Australia, by Matt Gibson
    Set on a narrow infill site in Melbourne, this home is constructed from irregularly stacked boxes that can be segmented to cater to different generations of the same family.
    A central atrium connects the different levels to the kitchen on the ground floor, while also functioning as a lightwell and a cooling stack for ventilation.
    Find out more about Wellington Street Mixed Use ›
    Photo is by Ishita SitwalaMumbai apartment, India, by The Act of Quad
    Indian practice The Act of Quad designed the “minimal but playful” interior of this three-generational apartment in Mumbai to consolidate the pared-back aesthetic of the owner, who is an engineer, with the more irreverent style of his cartoonist father.
    Intricate woodwork pieces were brought over from the family’s former home and refurbished to create a sense of tradition and continuity, while a small temple was tucked away behind folding doors with amber glass portholes.
    Find out more about Mumbai apartment ›
    This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing decorative ceramics, bathrooms with statement tiles and dining areas anchored by sculptural pendant lights.

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