Our latest lookbook collects homes with warm, bright and tactile living spaces that are set against a backdrop of concrete blockwork walls.
Spanning the US, Australia and Japan, these examples include a concrete-block home in Melbourne, designed to reference local farmhouses, and an understated and “robust” beachside residence in Cornwall.
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring heavenly home interiors, restaurant interiors and stylish wine bars.
Photo courtesy of Roberts Gray Architects
SKI House, New Zealand, by Roberts Gray Architects
Local studio Roberts Gray Architects designed SKI House for the parents of studio co-founder James Gray, who lived next to the site in Wānaka, New Zealand, for over two decades.
Screens of lightweight steel and blackened timber contrast with its structure of exposed blockwork walls, which are paired with stone paving and warm-coloured accents in the living area.
Find out more about SKI House ›
Photo by Lorenzo Zandri
House by the Sea, UK, by Of Architecture
This understated beachside home in Cornwall was designed for an artist and surfer, who tasked London practice Of Architecture with designing a “simple, robust and utilitarian” living space.
An open-plan living, kitchen and dining space is held on the ground floor, which is framed by blockwork walls and lit by a central skylight.
Find out more about House by the Sea ›
Photo by Max Creasy
Cowshed, UK, by David Kohn Architects
London-based studio David Kohn Architects converted a cattle shed on a former dairy farm in Newton Abbot, UK, into a home and studio for artist Suzanne Blank Redstone and her husband Peter Redstone.
The studio looked to retain much of the existing structure, collaborating with engineering studio Structure Workshop to retain the original timber trusses, concrete floor and blockwork walls to define new rooms.
Photo by Tom Ross
Merricks Farmhouse, Australia, by Michael Lumby Architecture and Nielsen Jenkins
South African studio Michael Lumby Architecture collaborated with Brisbane practice Nielsen Jenkins to design this concrete-block home on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Australia.
Designed to reference local farmhouses, the home comprises six bedrooms and a large open-plan living room, where dark timber cladding complements the exposed concrete and blockwork walls.
Find out more about Merricks Farmhouse ›
Photo by Lorenzo Zandri and Jasper Fry
Blockwork walls complement oak flooring at this home completed by local architecture studio Nikjoo on a former parking space in London.
Beyond its redbrick facade, the home contains its main living spaces on the ground floor, while the bedrooms above are similarly complete with exposed concrete walls and wooden floors.
Photo by Norihito Yamauchi
House of Joy, Japan, by KKAA YTAA
A simple material palette of concrete blocks, wood and metal was used for this holiday home designed for an elderly couple in Japan‘s Ise-Shima National Park.
Completed by Japanese architecture studio KKAA YTAA, House of Joy is complete with a pitched wooden roof and minimalist concrete structure that serves as a backdrop for the home’s interiors.
Find out more about House of Joy ›
Photo by Rory Gardiner
Hedge and Arbour House, Australia, by Studio Bright
Blockwork walls were left exposed across the interior of this home in Melbourne, designed by Australian practice Studio Bright.
Named Hedge and Arbour House, the dwelling was designed by the studio as a simple, single-storey structure and is. wrapped with metal mesh screens for climbing plants.
Find out more about Hedge and Arbour House ›
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring heavenly home interiors, restaurant interiors and stylish wine bars.