Bindloss Dawes Architects has completed a unique zero-carbon eco house created from the adaptive reuse of a former tractor shed on the edge of the idyllic village of Nether Compton in Somerset. The project embodies qualities central to Bindloss Dawes' approach: agricultural architecture, contemporary design, and exemplary environmental performance. The result is a home that feels both spacious and intimate.
December invites us to pause and look back at the moments that defined architecture and cities in 2025. Reflection is not only an act of memory, but of foresight - a way to understand where we've been in order to imagine where we might go next. From shifting cultural narratives to material and technological breakthroughs, this past year underscored the importance of experimentation and adaptation across the built environment.
The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction has announced the Grand Prize Winners of the 2025 Holcim Awards, selecting one project from each global region to represent the most impactful approaches to sustainable design in this cycle. This edition marks the introduction of the Grand Prize format, replacing the previous tiered distinctions to better acknowledge diverse regional contexts and avoid hierarchical rankings. Evaluated by juries chaired by Sou Fujimoto (Asia Pacific), Kjetil Trædal Thorsen (Europe), Sandra Barclay (Latin America), Lina Ghotmeh (Middle East and Africa), and Jeanne Gang (North America), the winning projects reflect the Foundation's principles of holistic, transformational, and transferable design.
Light became architecture in this Edwardian-era home in South West London, where the promise of relocating a staircase evolved into a radical excavation that preserved only the facade. Designed by Gunter & Co, the London Arts and Crafts residence is a study in controlled demolition and strategic reconstruction - a three-story entrance void that transformed arrival into a moment of spatial disorientation, more akin to entering a contemporary art institution than a domestic setting.
New interior renders released by Studio Sofield - the firm responsible for the interiors of SHoP Architects' ultra-thin tower at 111 West 57th Street - reveal how the triangular icon is being reshaped from office spaces into a collection of homes. While the 1903-built structure is shaped strongly by its site and steel frame, its tapering geometry guides the plan of each unit.
COR Architecture + Design has finalized the Sax Music Hall in Sax, , completing a long-stalled cultural complex. Construction of a cultural complex began in 2008, intended to include a , an auditorium, chamber music rooms, a music school, and a conference hall across more than 3,000 sqm and four levels. Work was halted during the economic crisis, leaving the structure enclosed but unfinished. Limited adaptations allowed occasional use of portions of the building, but the project remained incomplete for nearly two decades.
Beal Blanckaert + 20 Category: Cultural Architecture, Educational Architecture, Refurbishment Lead Team: Nathan Gourcerol, Justine Laberenne Design Team: Beal Blanckaert Architectes Engineering & Consulting > Environmental Sustainability: Impact Engineering & Consulting > Acoustic: Vincent Hedont Engineering & Consulting > Structural: MBA Engineering & Consulting > Other: Becquart More SpecsLess Specs Beal Blanckaert Text description provided by the architects. The project involves the redevelopment of a former building that was once part of the industrial site of the Leonard Danel printing house.
The housing is located on the top floor of a building from the 1970s. Like most penthouses in the city, it is a residual space despite being the most coveted apartment. By retracting the facade, the unit is positioned above the secondary spaces of the lower floors, with narrow frames and numerous obstacles such as downspouts or ventilation ducts. The goal is to camouflage these defects and through a process of subtraction, leave its structure exposed.
India's palaces and former colonial warehouses are witnessing a new kind of restoration, one that happens beneath the surface. From discreet steel supports tucked behind centuries-old masonry to digital sensors embedded in frescoed ceilings, technology is quietly reshaping how heritage buildings are protected for the future. These upgrades are more about subtle precision and less about spectacle; invisible engineering wonders.
Adaptive reuse allows architects to conserve resources, reduce waste, and extend the life of existing structures. By working with what already exists, architects lessen the need for new materials, lower energy consumption, and limit demolition debris. This approach protects natural habitats and green spaces by reducing the demand for new land development. Through reuse, cities become more sustainable and less carbon-intensive while preserving the material and cultural value of the built environment.
La Salvada is an extraordinary architectural project envisioned by Tarek Shamma in response to the client's brief of creating a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces. The project faced planning constraints, as it was limited to the existing footprint of two ruins, while also needing to preserve and design around a magnificent, sprawling cactus measuring 5 meters in height.
A few years ago, private-equity firm SC Hospitality took over a tennis club in the Hamptons and added pickleball and padel courts and a restaurant overseen by Billy Durney, the chef behind the upscale burger joint Red Hook Tavern. A number of new families joined, the club began hosting Sunday cookouts, and Daniel Haimovic, SC's chairman, started spending a lot of the summer there with his family, including his two elementary-school-age kids, who played tennis, padel, pickleball, and basketball at the club.
The Breuer Building"s adaptive reuse for Sotheby's, undertaken by Herzog & de Meuron with New York-based PBDW Architects, is approached with respect for its legacy as a New York icon. The architects retain the weight and texture of Marcel Breuer's bush-hammered concrete, which continues to express itself as both surface and structure. Along Madison Avenue, a subtle lighting scheme renews the facade's sculptural presence after dark.
In the Certosa District, located in the north-west of Milan, an area undergoing a major regeneration project promoted by RealStep and today Milan's most vibrant gastronomic hub, stands an early 20th-century villa that has been many things over time: a slaughterhouse, a squat, a forgotten fragment of the city.
Faced with the combined forces of population growth, economic prosperity, and urban expansion, cities are witnessing a significant rise in the movement of people and goods-mirroring the evolution of diverse mobility systems within urban environments. As technologies advance and modes of transport evolve, the adaptive reuse of train carriages, airplane cabins, and other service infrastructures reveals opportunities to explore their creative potential. Materials, technologies, and design tools converge around a shared goal: refurbishing and repurposing disused structures to give them new life.
There is growing awareness around sustainability-and the environmental cost of prematurely demolishing safe, structurally sound buildings only to replace them with new construction. In the broader race to reduce carbon emissions, corporations and institutions are placing greater emphasis on ESG performance (environmental impact, social responsibility, and governance). Many now require carbon accounting, set " carbon-neutral" targets, or purchase carbon credits to offset footprints.
This 18th-century vernacular farmhouse in Naxxar's historic core had been abandoned for over 50 years. Once a working farm and family dwelling, it had fallen into serious disrepair. Organised around a central courtyard and divided into three wings, the property retained significant heritage features, stone slab ceilings, timber beams, xulliel walls, arches, and a large mill room, but its fragmentation and poor condition made it unsuitable for modern family life.
Quangdam + 35 Design Team: Huu Vuong Trung, Long Ngo Thien, Huy Tran Quoc Structure And Construction Supervision: Minh Lam Co. Ltd More SpecsLess Specs Quangdam Text description provided by the architects. Design mission: Renovate the existing worship house and build a new house for three generations on the remaining land, so as not to affect the location of ancestral graves..This project aims to transform a space that is inherently solemn and spiritual into a warm, intimate, and livable home.
Last year, nearly 25,000 apartments were completed via adaptive reuse, up 50% compared to 2023 and double the amount of such conversions in 2022. A record-breaking 180,585 apartments from adaptive reuse projects are in various stages of development across the nation, mostly from office spaces up 19% compared to last year, according to RentCafe. This strong redevelopment activity indicates that major cities are actively transforming underperforming properties, revitalizing neighborhoods and continuing to adapt to the era of remote work, per the report.
Pol Viladoms + 7 City: Avinyonet de Puigventos More SpecsLess Specs Pol Viladoms Text description provided by the architects. Forn Lleva't is the transformation of an old warehouse on Carrer dels Fossos, in the historic center of Avinyonet de Puigventos, into an artisanal bakery that revives the town's bread-making tradition and restores its social and cultural role. More than a simple renovation, the project is conceived as a sensitive reading of placean architecture that listens, interprets, and supports rather than imposes.
Now, Volhard is a partner in an international commercial law firm and commutes between Frankfurt, Paris, and London. But he also studied architecture at the ETH Zurich and 25 years ago, he founded , an online magazine and platform for architecture and design products. It proved to be an invaluable resource at a time when most people in Germany were still leafing through thick catalogs in architecture offices when it came time to source products.
