The kitchenette countertops are made from recycled concrete. The bathroom tile is by Pental.

Uncovering the original concrete surfacing of the columns, which are unusually thick thanks to the building’s original industrial function, was a major undertaking. Covered in successive layers of white paint, a team worked for over a week to expose the concrete, revealing the space’s gritty character.

Inside, the bottom floor contains the bedroom, off of which is the bathroom, with a tub from Kaldewei and a Duravit sink.

After an unprecedented year of earthquakes, hurricanes, and fires, a bright light has been shed on the benefits of building with concrete.

Pros: Concrete countertops are durable, resistant to heat, and can be less expensive than natural stone, especially when completed as a DIY project. Cons: Concrete must be sealed before being used; otherwise, its porous nature means that it will stain very easily.

Yumi (left) and Maya (right) cheese around on the steps leading into the front door. Inside, there is ample space for removing and leaving one's shoes, another Japanese element.

Along with its durability, concrete requires very little maintenance.

The focal point of the room is a glass fiber-reinforced concrete sink that weighs 460 pounds. The material is stronger then regular concrete, so the overall thickness of the sink is a mere two inches. By using GFRC, Archuleta was also able to create a more uniform surface with almost no pinholes—important both for maintaining the minimalistic appearance of the room and to avoid leaks in the areas that would be in direct contact with water. Concrete is also incorporated into the bathtub and shower bases.

"Key to the special nature of the pavilion’s purpose is that guests are immersed in the landscape and surrounded by the vines that produced the actual wine that they are tasting," Warner and McCabe say. We couldn't agree more. Head to quintessa.com to learn more about the winery and book a reservation to experience the pavilions firsthand.

La Aduana is an eight-unit apartment building in León, Mexico, made from 36 shipping containers.

Texas. The Cricket Trailer, made in Houston, can sleep up to two adults and two children. With integrated fresh water and greywater tanks along with a water heater, campers can live off-the-grid in the easily towable unit.

The bathrooms feature the same polished concrete flooring and poured concrete counters found elsewhere in the home. A honed granite recessed shower provides a visual counterpoint to the sea of white and steel.

Master bath

Acoustic Shells (Flanagan Lawrence: Littlehampton, United Kingdom) A visual response to the sand dunes and sea near the shore, these whisper-thin concrete curves were shaped with material sprayed on mesh, measuring merely 100 millimeters in spots. The twin bell curves function as a bandstand on one side, and a larger version of a seashell on the other—it plays back the sea’s gentle rhythms.

The exposed wooden stairwell creates a warm contrast with the concrete and metal used elsewhere.

Perforated concrete blocks in the guest bathroom provide ventilation and discreet views of the patio.

Stepstone's narrow concrete pavers add a graphic touch to the garden.

This bathroom, tiled in bright blue mosaic to offset the home’s limited materials and color palette, calls for a simple vanity. The sinks, toilets, and tubs are by Villeroy & Boch, while the faucets and towel rails are by Grohe and Avenir, respectively.

Six-year-old twins Nicolas and Constanza use Pentimento as their “little battleground,” says Pasternak. “They have some options here that they will not find anywhere else.” Among those options are a climbing wall offering easy access to the roof.

The bathroom includes a walk-in tub.

Sævik designed the wood tub in the bathroom, which features an adjacent sauna. The Inxx A5 faucet is by Mora.

A spacious deck was created as part of the addition. A cantilevered concrete bench stretches out to the rear garden and complements the adjacent concrete wall.

“A critical aspect of the project was the incorporation of natural light and ventilation within a broad footprint,” Simpson says. Conventionally private areas, like bedrooms and bathrooms, are therefore reinterpreted with more openness in mind. For instance, this bathroom’s skylights mirror those found throughout the rest of the property. The bathtub, basins, and showerhead were all purchased at the Australian retailer Reece.

When Belgian fashion retailer Nathalie Vandemoortele was seeking a new nest for her brood, she stumbled upon a fortresslike house in the countryside designed in 1972 by a pair of Ghent architects, Johan Raman and Fritz Schaffrath. While the Brutalist concrete architecture and petite but lush gardens suited her tastes to a tee, the interiors needed a few updates.

An exploration of the possibilities of materials, Souda’s Kreten Candelabra employs stretch fabric as a mold for fiberglass reinforced concrete. Designed by Isaac Friedman-Heiman, the candelabra takes its distinctive branching form through the unexpected combination of materials. Substantial and striking, this decorative item is a great gift for cutting edge design seekers.

An exploration of the possibilities of materials, Souda’s Kreten Candelabra employs stretch fabric as a mold for fiberglass reinforced concrete. Designed by Isaac Friedman-Heiman, the candelabra takes its distinctive branching form through the unexpected combination of materials. A sturdy and sculptural object, the Kreten Candelabra has three openings for candlesticks, and it can also be used as a striking decorative accent when left empty.

The Bare Bones Domino Set is cast from concrete, giving the classic game a fabricated enhancement. Completely rethought from traditional dominoes, this grainy set features an angled shape, subtle numbering system, and a weightiness that gives the dominoes an undeniably substantial quality.

Guess used inexpensive graded pine plywood so that he would get heavy grain patterns on the surfaces. One of the main goals in the kitchen was simplicity. To that end, he opted for a poured-in-place concrete island. "We didn’t know if we could afford to do that, but we found a great subcontractor [Nate Francis of Countertop Creations] here who had never really built anything like that," Guess says. "Because he was interested in giving it a shot and adding it to his portfolio, he didn’t charge an exorbitant amount of money because it was sort of an experiment for him as well." The kitchen features a GE Profile refrigerator and KitchenAid range, microwave, and dishwasher. The sink and faucet are from Kohler. The project's builder was Joe Doherty with Custom Homecrafters of Austin.

Large, dramatic openings bring transparency and contrast to the 10-inch-thick concrete facade, framing perspectival views of the landscape.

In fall, the color of this backyard in Charlottesville, Virginia, changes daily with the foliage. Elizabeth Birdsall marvels how new outdoor spaces on her property, like a patio furnished with upholstered seating from Gloster, make enjoying the woods an easy experience: “It’s like comfortable camping, all the time.”

A palette of stone, concrete, and greenery greets guests at the home’s front entrance.

At a seaside New Zealand house, the simple kitchen has strandboard cabinetry and an MDF island that conceals a fireplace at one end. The bright green cabinetry of the island are a happy pop of color that references the native greenery outside.

Builder Ross Percival helped finesse the finely tuned detailing that separates the internal slope from the rock outside (opposite). The Pedro wire stool is by Craig Bond for Candywhistle.

Sliding doors cast shadows across the concrete floor.

The ultimate luxury: a hot bath in the clawfoot tub, with the fiberglass door open wide to the woods.