Residential kitchens illuminated by skylights are the focus of this lookbook, which includes homes everywhere from Australia to Mexico and Japan. A popular feature in many contemporary kitchens, skylights are typically used to maximise natural light in rooms that sit below ground or in the depths of a plan. However, they are also helpful for saving valuable wall space in areas for food preparation, leaving more room for cabinets and shelving, or they can simply be installed to create a focal point. The eight examples below show how skylights can be made in all shapes and sizes to enhance and ..read more

Chinese studio AIM Architecture has transformed a series of former oil silos in Changzhou into Cotton Park, a mixed-use community space surrounded by a public garden and play areas. Shanghai-based AIM Architecture was tasked with transforming the hollow silos into a cluster of spaces for the local community to gather and host events. The four silos remain standing in a row with elements of their weathered-metal forms preserved, serving as a reminder of the area's industrial heritage. The weathered-metal forms are retained "Our goal was to breathe new life into the city and foster community en ..read more

For our latest lookbook, we've brought together eight houses from Mexico to Norway featuring pyramidal ceilings that reveal their structure and create a sense of depth. Similar to domed and vaulted ceilings, pyramidal ceilings have four panes that angle upwards towards a central point. Because of their depth, they often conform to architectural elements visible on the exterior of a structure. The ceilings can have skylights on their apexes to bring in light and provide a sense of height to structures that are often single-storey. While it can be rendered in a variety of materials, the feature ..read more

A series of circular voids and "halo" skylights create spaces for trees to grow through this home in Semarang, Indonesia, which has been completed by local studio Tamara Wibowo Architects. Named Halo House, the dwelling comprises two gabled, barn-like forms clad in charred wood flanking a central strip of internal and external spaces that sit beneath a flat concrete roof. The residence comprises two gabled structures and a central strip A series of circular cut-outs define this central roof. Above the external spaces, large voids open to the elements have been created, forming a canopy for th ..read more

Local practice Slow has created a family home in Nagoya, Japan, which has a raw exterior of blackened wood and corten steel topped with an overhanging pitched roof. Occupying a slightly raised corner plot bordered by roads, Slow gave the home, named Yamaguchicho House, an almost windowless exterior for privacy, making use of skylights to illuminate its "healing", sanctuary-like interiors. The home's exterior is clad with charred cedar wood Fronted by a sloping garden that wraps around the building to create external paths, the entrance to Yamaguchicho House is set within a box ..read more

Local studio Oliver Leech Architects has extended a Victorian terrace house in south London, introducing a four-metre-wide skylight at its centre that offers views of a wildflower meadow roof. Located in the Poet's Corner conservation area of Herne Hill, the studio was tasked with retaining the late 19th-century building's character while opening up its "disconnected and dark" interiors. Prioritising natural light, Oliver Leech Architects expanded the ground floor with an open living, dining and kitchen space, which meets the existing building with a large skylight and a window seat overlooki ..read more

Funnel-shaped concrete skylights illuminate a plant-filled courtyard at the centre of this home in Bangalore, India, which has been designed by local studio A Threshold to "blur boundaries between the inside and outside". Named Ineffable Light, the four-storey family home is located on a tight urban plot with neighbouring buildings on three sides, which required the careful balancing of natural light and privacy. In response, A Threshold opened-up the eastern facade of the home with glazed openings and stepped balconies and created a large skylit void at its centre, both of which are shaded b ..read more

Chilean architecture studio Stanaćev Granados has created a seaside house with a concrete and wood-clad exterior and a cargo net in the floor in Chorrillos, Chile. Known as the Primeriza House, the 2,750-square foot (256-square metre) residence was completed in 2020 in a small clearing in a cypress-filled hill that slopes steeply down to the Pacific Ocean. Stanaćev Granados perched Primeriza House on a cypress-filled Chilean hill Stanaćev Granados, a Santiago-based studio run by Nataša Stanaćev and Manu Granados, designed the home to make the most of outdoor living while creating multiple int ..read more

Gridded fibre-cement cladding and a swimming pool with underwater windows feature at the East Van Residence in Vancouver by Canadian firm SMStudio. The project is in Hastings-Sunrise, a residential neighbourhood in East Vancouver, a mixed residential and industrial area that borders the city's harbour. SMStudio designed the concrete-clad home to replace a "tired, 1950s bungalow" The home replaces a "tired, 1950s bungalow" that did not accommodate the client's needs, said SMStudio, a local firm led by Simon Montgomery. "This house was designed for a small family that loved their neighbourhood ..read more

Shingle-like panels made of weathering steel clad the pyramidal forms at the River Bend Residence, a project designed by Texan studio Lake Flato Architects to "sit lightly upon the land". Located in a region known as Texas Hill Country, the house is in the city of New Braunfels, just north of San Antonio. The area is known for its German heritage, cultural activities and two rivers. River Bend Residence overlooks the Guadalupe River Respecting the natural setting was a guiding concern for the design team, as the home sits on a wooded perch overlooking the Guadalupe River. "River Bend Residenc ..read more