Sinuous and textural, Wallmakers‘ Kulhad Pavilion stands on Miramar beach in Goa, India as a temporary structure for the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025. The pavilion is set along the edge of the sand and occupies a narrow, shaded strip between trees and coast beyond.

Kulhads, also known as terracotta mud cups, once defined the everyday ritual of tea at railway stations across India. Used briefly and discarded soon after, they accumulated along tracks and coastlines, leaving a quiet record of consumption. For this pavilion, more than 18,000 of these cups were gathered from local communities in Dharavi and reused as a building material with structural purpose.

images © Studio IKSHA

the vaulted structure of terracotta waste

The architects at Wallmakers form the Kulhad Pavilion through three compressive catenary vaults, each shaped to direct weight downward into the ground. Built as unreinforced masonry, the vaults rely on geometry and gravity rather than additives or frames. The earthen cups are stacked and bonded to create a porous surface that filters light and air while maintaining mass and stability.

As the structure meanders along the beach edge, it takes on multiple roles as seating, shade, and informal stage. People pause beneath the vaults to escape the sun, while animals find shelter in the same spaces. Through this simple exchange between waste material and spatial need, Wallmakers presents the Kulhad Pavilion as an example of how discarded objects can regain civic presence through careful architectural thinking.

the Kulhad Pavilion stands along Miramar beach in Goa, India

Wallmakers designs the pavilion using 18,000 reclaimed terracotta ‘kulhads’

the pavilion reuses discarded mud cups collected from Dharavi in Mumbai

the structural system comprises three compressive catenary vaults

the unreinforced vaults rely on geometry and gravity for stability

earthen surfaces filter light and breezes along the beach edge

the structure weaves between trees as seating, shade, and gathering space

project info:

name: Kulhad Pavilion

architect: Wallmakers | @ar.vinudaniel

location: Goa, India

area: 1025 square feet
completion: 2025

photography: © Studio IKSHA | @studio.iksha

design team: Vinu Daniel, Preksha Shah, Jayesh Varma
structural engineer: Steelcrete
civil contractor: Aviyon Constructions

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In 2025, architects around the world continue to expand the possibilities of domestic design, presenting a diverse collection of private houses that reconsider how we inhabit landscape, community, and climate. This year’s selection ranges from net-positive, off-grid experimentation in rural Japan to rammed-earth dwellings carved into the terrain of Crete, revealing a field increasingly attuned to resourcefulness, site specificity, and the choreography of indoor–outdoor living.

Shared themes emerge across these works — some occupying their natural context gently, others defined by a bold sculptural form. Florian Busch Architects pioneers an energy-generating modular residence amid agricultural fields in Hokkaido, while Wallmakers suspends a thatched, occupiable bridge over a gorge in India. Social frameworks also come to the fore, with TEN’s collaborative housing for women in Bosnia-Herzegovina proposing new models of care-based living. Explore designboom’s top 10 private houses of 2025 below!

arthur casas builds his own house in the forest of brazil

Hidden within the dense greenery of Brazil’s Atlantic forest, the Iporanga House stands as architect Arthur Casas’s own retreat. Conceived as a place to ‘recharge his energies,’ the home sits lightly in a protected natural reserve along the São Paulo coast. Its design is guided by a desire for harmony with the surrounding vegetation, a goal demonstrated by wood cladding that blends with the forest’s shifting tones and textures.

The plan takes the form of two symmetrical cubes framing a lofty central volume. Inside, lofty ceilings rise 11 meters (36 feet), and continuous glass panels draw in light and views, creating a breezy and fluid connection to the trees beyond. ‘The shape is simple, symmetrical, easy,’ Casas notes. He contrasts the home’s subdued form with with the ‘entropic, messy profile’ of the forest that surrounds it.

image © Fernando Guerra

florian busch architects’ modular ‘house W’ generates more energy than it consumes

mykonos architects embeds wedge-shaped n’arrow house into terrain of crete

Set to be carved into the olive-dotted hills of Crete, Mykonos Architects designs a home titled N’Arrow to respond directly to the steep topography and slender dimensions of its site. The underground, rammed-earth project is designed to avoid imposition, and instead works with the natural contours of the land, inviting the surrounding environment to shape its form. Olive groves and rolling terrain are not backdrops but rooftops, and but co-authors in the architectural narrative, pushing the residential space toward harmony rather than dominance.

A fifteen-meter setback regulation, typically a limiting factor, sparked the defining concept behind N’Arrow. Mykonos Architects saw not a constraint but a creative opportunity, transforming the elongated form of the plot into a narrow, wedge-like structure that nestles into the hillside. This bold, linear geometry sets the tone for the home’s identity, drawing attention to the power of architectural adaptation when guided by site-specific conditions.

wallmakers wraps its suspended ‘bridge house’ in skin of thatched scales

ring-shaped home by alexis dornier encircles central garden in bali

fran silvestre-designed villa zig-zags across the southern spanish landscape

Fran Silvestre Arquitectos designs Villa 95 as part of the real estate developer Cork Oak Mansion project in Sotogrande, crafting a residence that appears to glide across the southern Spanish landscape. Defined by a continuous architectural gesture, the three-story villa unfurls along a sharp diagonal, its elongated form maximizing the buildable area of the 2,317 square meter plot while framing views of Altos de Valderrama area. Developed by DUS Desarrollos Inmobiliarios, the house is part of an exclusive collection of six high-end villas.

image courtesy Fran Silvestre Arquitectos

curved green roof shields wiki world’s wooden ‘cabin of palette’ in wuhan

nendo weaves six cottages together with ‘hand-holding’ roofs in japanese forest house

arquitectura-G embeds blue concrete core with spiraling staircase in portuguese residence

In Sintra, Portugal, Arquitectura-G completes House II, the latest intervention within a long-abandoned quinta de recreio, a rural estate historically devoted to agriculture and leisure. The project forms part of an ongoing sequence of works by the studio’s team, which seeks to conserve and rehabilitate the site’s buildings and reactivate the broader territory.

Strict regulations limited any change to the building’s external profile, facades, or roof, so Arquitectura-G responded by hollowing out the existing interior, retaining only the perimeter walls, and inserting a new structural body of blue-pigmented concrete. Rising from the basement cellar, this inserted core incorporates a helical staircase and extends upward to form the slabs of the upper levels. It culminates beneath a skylight on the first floor, where daylight streams into the central void and organizes the surrounding rooms.

image by Maxime Delvaux

vivid rippled panels envelop TEN’s care-based housing for women in bosnia-herzegovina

On the outskirts of Gradačac, a town in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, stands The House for Five Women, a vibrant residence by architecture studio TEN. The project rises from the countryside to defy conventional housing models through an architecture of care, resilience, and collective authorship.

Designed with local activist Hazima Smajlović, NGO Naš Izvor, Engineers Without Borders, and the Gradačac municipality, the project provides a permanent home for five single women who have survived war, displacement, and systemic neglect. It’s positioned between privacy and solidarity to propose a new paradigm for cohabitation with five individual living units clustered around communal spaces for gathering, working, and growing food.

Artist Shirana Shahbazi sculpts the facade of the building, composing a vibrant arrangement of large, colored aluminum panels in shades of pink, red, green, and deep blue. Though seemingly spontaneous, the composition is specially calibrated, with each panel being custom-made in a local car painter’s workshop. Their rippled, high-gloss surfaces catch and distort reflections, and transform the shell into a shifting, almost liquid canvas that responds to light and movement.

image by Maxime Delvaux, Adrien de Hemptinne

see designboom’s TOP 10 stories archive:

2024 — 2023 — 2022 — 2021 — 2020 — 2019 

2018 — 2017 — 2016 — 2015 — 2014 — 2013

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The Bridge House by Wallmakers, led by architect Vinu Daniel, stands in Karjat, India, where a natural gorge divides the land. A natural stream has carved a seven-meter-deep channel through the site, creating both a challenge and an opportunity. The two parcels of land required a connection, yet no foundations could be placed within the 100-foot width of the spillway. As a result, the dwelling is suspended across this divide as an occupiable bridge.

The structure’s form emerged from constraint. Designed as a 100-foot suspension bridge composed of four hyperbolic parabolas, it uses minimal steel pipes and tendons for tensile strength, while a thatch-mud composite provides compressive resistance. The dialogue between these materials lends a structure that is both taut and flexible.

images © Studio IKSHA

wallmakers learns from the pangolin

Set amid dense vegetation, the Bridge House is built by Wallmakers as a natural extension of its surroundings. The thatched surface — layered in overlapping scales reminiscent to the skin of a pangolin — offers thermal insulation and gentle cooling, allowing the structure to rest lightly on the site. Only four footings anchor the bridge so as to minimize disturbance to the terrain and preserving the contours of the gorge.

The mud plaster coating serves a practical purpose as much as an aesthetic one. It prevents pests from entering the thatch and fortifies the shell against compression, maintaining the stability of the bridge without the need for vertical suspension pillars. What results is a dwelling that blends technical efficiency with organic tactility, forming a habitat where architecture and environment coexist without hierarchy.

Wallmakers’ Bridge House spans a natural gorge in Karjat, India

organic interiors of reclaimed ship-deck wood

Inside, Wallmakers’ Bridge House maintains a measured openness. The plan centers around an oculus that frames the sky and channels rain into the courtyard, turning weather into an architectural event. Light filters through the circular void and across surfaces of reclaimed timber and jute. This establishes a rhythm of shadow and air that shifts throughout the day.

The four bedrooms open toward the forest canopy or overlook the stream below. Reclaimed ship-deck wood lines the floors, while jute and mesh screens filter light and air, preserving a sense of continuity with the landscape beyond. 

For Wallmakers, the Bridge House represents an ongoing inquiry into material intelligence and site-responsive construction. In Karjat’s humid and forested terrain, the project demonstrates how local resources, however limited, can be transformed into structural innovation.

four hyperbolic parabolas form a suspension bridge made from steel tendons, thatch, and mud

an oculus at the center opens interiors to the sky and rain

only four footings anchor the house to preserve the surrounding landscape

a mud plaster layer strengthens the structure and protects the thatch from pests

the thatched exterior takes cues from pangolin scales and lends thermal insulation

reclaimed ship-deck wood, jute, and mesh screens define interior finishes

project info:

name: Bridge House

architect: Wallmakers 

location: Karjat, India

lead architect: Vinu Daniel | @ar.vinudaniel

design team: Preksha Shah, Ramika Gupta

completion: 2025

photography: © Studio IKSHA | @iksha.in

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Responding by the ubiquitous presence of toys and the lingering pain of stepping on a LEGO brick, Wallmakers‘ Toy Storey Residence in Vadakara, North Kerala, reimagines plastic waste into a sculptural and sustainable home. ‘Have you ever stepped on a LEGO block?‘ asks Vinu Daniel, lead architect at Wallmakers. This seemingly ordinary experience sparked a deeper exploration of the ubiquitous presence of plastic, particularly in toys, and its potential for repurposing. The resulting home takes shape with a complex, latticework facade of earthen tiles which integrate over 6,200 discarded toys. images © Syam Sreesylam

circular design by wallmakers

The Toy Storey Residence is designed by the architects at Wallmakers as a playful response to the ubiquitous presence of plastic waste in the area. ‘Plastic has managed to snake its way into almost every aspect of our daily lives,’ Daniel observes, highlighting the stark contrast between traditional wooden toys and the current reliance on non-biodegradable materials. He notes that with the global toy industry exceeding $107.4 billion in 2022 and most toys unsuitable for recycling, an alarming 80% end up in landfills, incinerators, or the ocean.

Toy Storey addresses plastic waste by repurposing 6,200 discarded toys into the building structure

toy storey residence: a house within a house

Located in Vadakara, a town in India known for its high toy consumption, Wallmarkers’ Toy Storey Residence embraces a circular design philosophy. Accessible from all sides, the house features a playful verandah supported by a unique combination of discarded toys and traditional Mangalore tiles. This cantilevered structure, held aloft by corbeled toys, embodies the concept of a house without a designated front or back, fostering a sense of openness and community. The positioning of the house is dictated by the presence of three large trees and the slope of the site.

The project is conceived as a ‘house within a house.’ The expansive living space is envisioned as a welcoming space for neighbors and members of the community, while the private areas are separated by translucent shoji screens, inspired by Japanese design principles. These screens allow for natural light and visual connection, promoting a sense of openness while maintaining privacy. Below, a secluded basement floor hosts a library and a bedroom.

the children in the neighborhood commonly frequent the house to look at and point out their old toys

Sustainability is woven into the very fabric of the house. The central courtyard and the innovative composite wall, constructed from compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEBs) made from soil excavated on-site, and a ‘Toy Jaali’ (latticework) of discarded toys, create a perforated external skin that facilitates natural ventilation and enhances insulation. Additionally, the project incorporates a radial ferrocement shell roof, reducing reinforcement requirements by 33%, and makes use of low-embodied energy CSEB walls and traditional oxide flooring techniques.

the residence embraces a circular design philosophy, accessible from all sides and featuring a playful verandah

the sustainable house features a central courtyard, composite walls, and a radial ferrocement shell roof

Wallmakers reimagines plastic waste into a vibrant and sustainable home

the ‘house within a house’ balances community and privacy with living areas and translucent shoji screens

Toy Storey embraces sustainable practices and serves as a reminder of childhood memories

project info:

project title: Toy Storey Residence

architecture: Wallmakers

location: Vatakara, India

lead architect: Vinu Daniel | @ar.vinudaniel

design team: Oshin Mariam Varughese, Dhawal Dasari, Mrityunjoy Pan, Rosh Saji

area: 3,843 square feet

completion: 2024

photography: © Syam Sreesylam | @syam.photographer

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The 3-Minute Corridor pavilion, designed by WallMakers focuses on tackling global waste concerns through material reuse. Displayed at the Sharjah Architecture Triennial until March 10, 2024, in line with the event’s theme, The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability, the pavilion illustrates the substantial amount of daily waste and the potential to transform these materials into practical living spaces. Comprising 1,425 discarded tires, the pavilion sheds light on the staggering scale of human-generated waste, approximately 684,931 tires daily, the quantity discarded globally in just a brief three-minute stroll through the passageway. This structure repurposes tires sourced from Sharjah’s waste facilities, pairing them with locally abundant desert sand, often overlooked in construction.

all images by WallMakers

Building Sustainability in Arid Environments

The pavilion demonstrates the durability and reliability of these materials by using mud plaster creatively, presenting a viable alternative amid the current shortage of building resources. The fusion of these materials results in a modified form of masonry that not only symbolizes a commitment to reusing discarded resources but also guarantees a thermally insulated interior, providing a cooler space within the desert environment. WallMakers‘ design demonstrates the potential for creating buildings in arid regions using locally available materials that naturally regulate temperature, highlighting a sustainable construction approach that eliminates the need for active cooling systems.

the pavilion addresses global waste concerns through material reuse

the structure utilizes 1,425 discarded tires dressed in mud plaster

mud plaster highlights durability in sustainable construction

exploring innovative uses of discarded materials in architecture

project info:

name: 3-Minute Corridor pavilion

architects: WallMakers

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Nisarga Art Hub, a community and cultural center in Ernakulam, India, has been completed by locally-based architects Wallmakers in celebration of the traditional culture of the state of Kerala. The project was created for a family of musicians, and designed as a space where the community could gather and experience art. Sited near a paddy field, the art hub draws inspiration from the traditional Kerala roofs that dot the surrounding landscape. These roofs are characterized by their sloping, tiled surfaces, which provide excellent insulation and temperature regulation. However, as Kerala roofs can also lend dark interiors, the team sought to strategically break open the roof to ensure natural light.

images © Syam Sreesylam

nisarga art hub: an amphitheater of skylights

Wallmakers defines its Nisarga Art Hub by its Kerald rooftop, incorporating both skylights which serve a dual-purpose. The architects‘ solution was to incorporate the series of skylights into the roof, angled at 35 degrees to match the angle of an open-air amphitheater. This creates a unique, occupiable surface where the skylights serve as seating for an audience, while a series of wooden planks placed over a swimming pool creates a stage for open-air concerts accommodating nearly eighty people.

Nisarga Art Hub is a community and cultural center designed by Wallmakers in Ernakulam, India

wallmakers builds with repurposed debris

The interior spaces of Nisarga Art Hub are designed by Wallmakers to be open and flexible, the wooden floors integrating seating elements for lounging and dining. The walls are built with the architects’ patented Shuttered Debris Wall Technique, which makes use of construction debris collected from the neighboring town together with soil excavated from the site. These recycled materials create load-bearing walls that are strong enough to support even a four-meter cantilever on the first floor — a space which hosts a recording studio.

the project was commissioned by a family of musicians who aimed to create a gathering place for community

Nisarga Art Hub is designed with a number of green elements, including a curtain of climbing plants on the western facade to filter the afternoon sun. Meanwhile, the strategically-located skylights allow light to stream in, and are diffused by rolled burlap bags which permit the hot air to escape. A verandah is formed by reclaimed clay blocks, reminiscent of the old ‘Muttam’ courtyards of traditional Kerala homes

the roof doubles as an open-air amphitheater, with a series of skylights functioning as seating
the architects drew inspiration from the traditional Kerala roofs that dot the surrounding landscape

load-bearing walls are built using construction debris and soil excavated from the site

a curtain of climbing plants on the western facade provide shade from the afternoon sun

interiors are open and flexible, with seating elements integrated into the wooden flooring

project info:

project title: Nisarga Art Hub | @nisarga.arthub

architecture: Wallmakers

location: Ernakulam, India

lead architect: Vinu Daniel | @ar.vinudaniel, Oshin Mariam Varughese

design team: Subhrodipta Ghosh, Rosh V. Saji

area: 2,557 square feet

completion: 2023

photography: © Syam Sreesylam | @syam.photographer

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Returning with another impressive approach to sustainable architecture and waste-based design, architect Vinu Daniel from Wallmakers presents Chuzhi, a subterranean two-bedroom home emerging from the harsh, rocky landscape of a gated community in Schoolagiri, India. Nodding to the anatomy of whirlpools, the structure reveals swirling forms that snake around three large Tamarind trees found on site. To build these spiraling shapes, Daniel used ‘precast poured debris earth composite bottle beams, fashioned from 4000 discarded plastic bottles.’

all images © Syam Sreesylam

how to build on ‘inhospitable’ lands 

The team at Wallmakers took on the Chuzhi project to better understand how unsuitable sites can be converted to habitable grounds. At first glance, prior to intervention, the combination of steep rocky topography, giant trees, and thick vegetation would make any client feel reluctant to inject a home amid such a wild landscape. But Daniel and his team are no strangers to ‘building with nature’. 

After careful surveying, the architects successfully completed a subterranean refuge with spiraling columns that grew from the rock bed. Together, these structural whirls unite to shelter a private living space at the bottom without disturbing the surrounding landscape. ‘[It is]designed with an open layout and minimalistic interiors and has floors that have been made of reclaimed wood that has been pieced together,’ writes Wallmakers.

Starting as wall surfaces, the whirls gradually move upwards to shape the glazed roof, giving the impression of ‘living underneath the canopy trees’. Walking through the interiors, residents are met with generous brown-toned open spaces and plenty of glazed bay windows that let daylight pour in, further immersing them in the pristine-like context. This sense of camouflage, coupled with minimal architectural disturbance, transforms Wallmakers’ project into an essential pillar of sustainable living.

project info:

name: Chuzhi 

location: Schoolagiri, Tamil Nadu, India 

architecture: Wallmakers 

lead architect: Vinu Daniel | @ar.vinudaniel 

photography: Syam Sreesylam | @syam.photographer

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images by anand jaju, syam sreesylam

wallmakers‘ jackfruit garden residence is largely constructed with compressed stabilized earth blocks and rammed earth walls. the earthen walls are characterized by strategically placed apertures which allow for cross-ventilation. the compressed stabilized earth blocks are mud blocks produced by compressing gravel, sand, and cement together and whose embodied energy is four times less than that of a typical fired brick. these walls take the load of the ferro-cement roof structure and its pre-cast, steel reinforced, arched shells. these shells effectively reduce the overall cement consumption by 40% and steel consumption by 30%.

the interior of wallmakers’ jackfruit garden residence hosts an organically sculpted stair that seems to float over a luminous atrium. the form of the staircase suggests a fallen cloth spreading over a series of crisscrossing pipes. meanwhile, the design team covers the large windows with a protective lattice, designed by piecing together discarded pipes from the scrapyard. the pipes fold dynamically to become chandeliers in all the rooms, celebrating the use of upcycled scrap materials to sustainably create art pieces that cast patterned shadows throughout the day.

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project info:

project title: jackfruit garden residence

architecture: wallmakers

location: vengola, ernakulam, kerala, india

lead architecture: vinu daniel | @vinudaniel

completion: 2021

photography: anand jaju, syam sreesylam

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all images by jino sam

wallmakers introduces its breezy and luminous ‘pirouette house’ with influence from british-born indian architect laurie baker. the 20th century designer famously made use of similar passive cooling strategies and a perforated brick material palette. the new construction is designed as a modification of his language, iconic among the trivandrum area. the team employs a masonry strategy that the late architect had introduced known as the ‘rat trap bond’ technique in which bricks are laid with a rotated vertical orientation, creating a cavity within the wall that increases thermal efficiency and cuts down on the total volume of bricks used.

the design team at wallmakers further develops this masonry technique to sculpt the pirouette house’s defining slanting walls. these dynamic elements dance from left to right, converging only to support the ferrocement shell roof. each staggered wall has been individually crafted to most efficiently divide the interiors of the house, resulting in larger volumes and an element of privacy. scaffolding pipes left behind from the construction stage were repurposed to form the central staircase and the grillwork. discarding nothing as ‘waste,’ the wooden scaffolding planks were also pieced together to form part of the flooring in the living areas.

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project info:

project title: pirouette house

architecture: wallmakers

location: maruthamkuzhi, trivandrum, kerala

lead architect: vinu daniel

client: mr. kiran

engineering: adcons infrastructure

landscape: vinu daniel and team

fabrication team: kunjumon james and team, j.k steels

carpenters: sarath prasad and team, shivadas

masons: ezhil and team, deepu and team

completion: 2020

photography: jino sam | @jino_sam_

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all images by prasanth mohan

to find a suitable solution, wallmakers experimented with waste cloth hung from the ceiling to delineate different areas inside the new ‘tease me café’. the material was also draped over solid objects before being finished with a layer of ferrocement and grey oxide. the result is a 2.5 centimeter (1 inch) thick, solid surface with undulations and folds that tumble down to become seats for the diners. the surfaces were refined further with waxing and polishing with the technique even used in the restroom.

at the rear of the restaurant, pipes — which function as both spotlights and exhausts that remove smoke from the café — protrude from the wall. the kitchen is an integral part of the design and is located at the center of the space. ‘the appetizing smells waft right over to the customers and the entire process of the cooking of food would be intriguing and visible to them,’ explain the architects. ‘the café seems to be a poetic expression of the beauty of free-falling cloth manipulated to be of utility, with an added sculptural quality.’

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project info:

name: tease me café
architect: wallmakers
location: kottayam, kerala, india
gross built area: 695 sqf / 65 sqm
lead architect: ar. vinu daniel
team members: pinak bhapkar, pushkar sharma, srivarshini J.M, sagar kudtarkar, apoorva goutham, dhawal dasari, oshin varughese
other participants: oxide team; antony T.A. and team
fabrication team: 
kunjumon james – J.K steels
photography: prasanth mohan

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