Turning the great outdoors into the great indoors, these biophilic homes take a love of nature to the next level. While some have taken their inspiration directly from the environment around them, others seek to incorporate it subtly, with walls of trailing greenery, provision for existing trees and indoor gardens in the most unexpected places. Click or scroll through for more…
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Inhabit, Woodstock, New York
Nestled amongst dense woodland and overlooking the striking Catskill mountain range, this trapezoidal ‘treehouse’ by Antony Gibbon Designs blends beautifully with the surrounding landscape. The property actually meets the ground at three points, yet earns its treehouse credentials for its structural similarity to a tree – grounded, yet soaring skywards. It’s even crafted from locally sourced timber.
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Inhabit, Woodstock, New York
Floor-to-ceiling windows punctuate the timber walls. Each has been carefully integrated into the unusual shape of the home, while maximizing the view for an inside-out feel. The lounge overlooks a swimmable lake, terrace and hot tub, perfect for spending time outdoors when the weather’s fine.
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Inhabit, Woodstock, New York
From the lounge, a ladder leads to the mezzanine bedroom, tucked away in the eaves of the house. It also benefits from clear views over the forest thanks to windows at the sides, as well as daylight streaming in from a trio of skylights. Available to rent on Airbnb, this is one amazing wooden home we wouldn’t mind spending time in.
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Binh House, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
A nod to the lush, tropical areas that were once widespread across Vietnam, Binh House by Vo Trong Nghia includes a number of feature gardens that are scattered throughout the property. Designed for a multigenerational family who wished to experience a closer connection to the natural environment, it provides green space within the busy, bustling neighborhood.
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Binh House, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
The biophilic house has been created from vertically stacked sections that translate to multiple stepped levels. Each ‘stack’ has been combined with a rooftop garden containing local plants and trees. Vegetables can also be planted to serve resident’s daily needs. Sliding glass doors ensure good passive ventilation and plenty of daylight within each room while blurring the division between indoor and outdoor spaces.
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Binh House, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Large trees in the gardens have been planted primarily to provide shade and help keep the interior of the house cool and calm in the tropical climate. Combined with the house’s construction materials, which include natural stone, wood and exposed concrete, this reduces the need for air conditioning.
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Iporanga Residence, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Named after its location – Iporanga, an area of dense jungle near Sao Paulo – Iporanga Residence by Nitsche Arquitetos Associados was designed as a family summer holiday home. As the rainforest is protected, it was a must that the house occupied minimal space while being large enough to incorporate five bedrooms. Aluminum sliding doors lead from the bedrooms onto a shared veranda.
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Iporanga Residence, Sao Paulo, Brazil
While the kitchen, living and dining areas of the house are situated on the first floor, the second floor is raised on stilts for elevated living. As it’s home to the property’s bedrooms, this means they’re in line with the tops of the trees, creating an immersive feel. The whole design takes its inspiration from the small bridges that are common in the region.
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Iporanga Residence, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Inside, the living areas blend beautifully with the jungle setting of the house. Dining tables are topped with deep green marble, while exposed ceiling beams have been finished in the same hue. Yet it’s the large expanses of windows and sliding glass doors on all sides of the room that are the property’s main allure – offering a magnificent 360-degree view of the rainforest.
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Casa Batin, Pinamar, Argentina
Casa Batin might be a modern concrete property but thanks to its creators, Estudio Galera Arquitectura, it works seamlessly with the landscape. Located in a pine forest, the house accommodates the trees within its structure and even echoes them by incorporating vertical concrete bars and glazing, and wooden louvers.
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Casa Batin, Pinamar, Argentina
At night, the house comes to life through light. Floor-level spotlights criss-cross the ground, highlighting key features, while uplighters cause the trees to cast dramatic shadows.
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Casa Batin, Pinamar, Argentina
Elongated paving slabs also mimic the lines of the trees and lead to the entrance of the house behind a low brick wall. The covered entryway features circular holes, one of which accommodates an existing pine tree. They both allow the sun to stream through, creating discs of light that move across the space as the day passes. Once inside, views of the forest of pines blend seamlessly with the different spaces.
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Cam Thanh A&A Villa, Hội An, Vietnam
Located in Cam Thanh, an area with abundant palm forests, this house by VRA Design owes its special structural design to the shape of the leaves and trunks of the trees around it. Its inclined column structure doesn’t just add visual impact, however – it also recreates the sensation of shade beneath the palms.
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Cam Thanh A&A Villa, Hội An, Vietnam
Both the indoor and outdoor areas of the house have been designed so that greenery is often in view. While trees outside shade the expanses of glass to keep the living space cool, natural motifs and materials adorn the rooms, from flower-shaped light fixtures to palm patterns etched into dark timber doors.
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Cam Thanh A&A Villa, Hội An, Vietnam
Compact gardens divide the elongated house into three short sections, helping to boost the light and ventilation inside. This central block is home to a stylish open-plan kitchen and dining area, yet it’s just steps away from a green space and water feature on the other side of the staircase.
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Sierra Fría House, Mexico City, Mexico
Deep in the heart of this brick-clad house in Mexico City, a hidden garden brings a sense of light and space that contrasts against the contemporary monolithic architecture. Created by design atelier Esrawe, the house flows around the central green space seamlessly, forming a horseshoe shape.
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Sierra Fría House, Mexico City, Mexico
Floor-to-ceiling windows ensure the rooms that wrap around the garden remain bright and welcoming. Low-level shelving tucks below the windows on one side, providing a savvy storage solution and helping to maintain the symmetry of the glazing.
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Sierra Fría House, Mexico City, Mexico
As well as an outdoor patio and rooftop terrace, the property includes four bedrooms and a studio. A spa-style bathroom on the top floor benefits from a partially glazed ceiling, creating an indoor garden corner that’s perfect for humidity-loving ferns and trees.
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Writer’s Shed, Melbourne, Australia
Camouflaged by fast-growing Boston ivy, the Writer’s Shed by Matt Gibson Architecture + Design is a stunning garden room that is virtually hidden at the end of a suburban Melbourne garden. As well as concealing the 100-square-foot structure, the leafy climber covering shades the building, helping to passively cool the space on sunny days.
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Writer’s Shed, Melbourne, Australia
Simple yet purposeful, the interior of the studio is constructed entirely from plywood and offers a contrast to the exterior, with a wraparound desk and open shelving. A large picture window offers views over the rest of the yard, and a skylight above the working area makes sure it is light-filled.
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Writer’s Shed, Melbourne, Australia
There are two entrances to the studio: a glass door to the yard and a mirrored door opposite that leads to a lane beyond – allowing easy access for visitors and deliveries. However, there’s still a corner for a houseplant, bringing a touch of greenery inside.
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Himchori Residence, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Comprising two-and-a-half stories draped in trailing greenery, Himchori Residence in Bangladesh by River & Rain is no ordinary apartment block. The villa has a backdrop of verdant hills and overlooks the sea, so taking inspiration from its surroundings was a natural move. Other features also make it feel more organic, such as recycled ship planks repurposed as decking.
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Himchori Residence, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Inside, recycled and vintage materials add a laid-back elegance, while sliding glass doors and walls blur the boundaries between inside and out. The overall effect helps the space to feel both welcoming and airy at the same time.
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Himchori Residence, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
At the front of the property, an off-center entrance, raised concrete slabs, grassy areas and a shallow pond help to ease the building harmoniously into the landscape.
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One Central Park, Sydney, Australia
A collaboration with botanist Patrick Blanc, One Central Park by Ateliers Jean Nouvel uses Australian flowers and plants to cover a pair of residential towers in Sydney. On the side of the tallest tower, a large cantilevered panel of mirrors bounces sunlight into the lower levels and gardens below. At night, the mirrors feature LEDs that turn them into a light installation.
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One Central Park, Sydney, Australia
Using 250 species of Australian flowers and plants, the building’s façade features one of the tallest living walls in the world. Vines and foliage weave between the floors, which contain more than 600 homes.
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One Central Park, Sydney, Australia
More than 300 feet above the ground, a sky garden creates an elevated peaceful place for residents far from the bustle below. It features a dip pool, sculpted timber seating and its own lush greenery.
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Ananda House, Abiansemal, Indonesia
Set into a hillside in Bali across multiple levels, Ananda House by architects IBUKU takes the form of three separate structures, each topped by teardrop-shaped roofs. As the roofs have been built from bamboo, the material dictated the curves, meaning that holes had to be cut into the eaves to leave space for trees during construction, creating the illusion of an indoor rainforest.
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Ananda House, Abiansemal, Indonesia
The structures nestle around a central corridor of black palm trees, so that viewed from above, the house looks like a scattering of leaves amongst the forest. Each bedroom has its own balcony overlooking the valley from a different angle.
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Ananda House, Abiansemal, Indonesia
At the heart of the house is the family pavilion. Its kitchen features a sweeping breakfast bar, countertops made from river stone and more bamboo in the form of seating, pendant lights and cabinets.
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