Maana Kiyomizu

Nestled in the heart of Kyoto, Maana Kiyomizu is a hidden treasure surrounded by ancient heritage sites, serene gardens, and charming cafes. This project seamlessly connects the city's past and present, blending old and new elements to showcase the essence of Kyoto.

The three suites at Maana Kiyomizu are designed to embrace light and create a tranquil atmosphere, harmonizing with the surrounding nature. They pay homage to traditional machiya architecture while daringly reimagining its modern form. Collaborating closely with architects Shigenori Uoya & Takeshi Ikei, they managed to introduce light and air into these once dim and narrow spaces.

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The Secret Garden House

The Modern House takes us to rural Devon, where they are welcomed into the remarkable home of Nigel and Eileen Dutt. A retired couple, Nigel and Eileen worked with the architects McLean Quinlan to build a certified Passivhaus stitched into the remnants of a Georgian walled garden.

The garden they acquired was of “negligible ecological value” and Eileen has made it her full-time job to transform their surroundings, planting around 140 trees and 400 metres of hedgerow, a productive vegetable garden, meadow garden and swathes of deep, densely planted beds, threaded with narrow paths that encourage contemplative meanders through the textured foliage.  Gardening is a daily and defining ritual for Eileen, who adopts a gloves-off approach to her work so she can fully immerse herself in the task.

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Library in the Earth

Hiroshi Nakamura’s Library in the Earth in Chichu, Japan is an underground sanctuary where architecture humbly serves both humanity and nature, honoring the soil’s vitality and the power of shared knowledge.

Built on a reclaimed valley once cluttered with debris, the project embodies an ethos of restoration and humility, intertwining architectural minimalism with ecological restoration. The design seeks to merge with its environment rather than dominate it. By situating the structure beneath the cultivated soil layer, Nakamura preserves the terrain’s biological richness, allowing native vegetation and microorganisms to thrive above the space. From above, the library resembles a droplet of water, emphasizing its role as a vessel for life and knowledge.

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Mountbatten House

Think of hanging gardens and lush cascading green terraces and the image conjured up might not immediately take you to Basingstoke, UK.

Yet this is exactly where such a project is located; welcome to Plant, the impressive new scheme by Studio Knight Stokoe. Founded in 2022 by partners Martin Knight and Claire Stokoe, the landscape practice, was called upon to revive the protected gardens of an important Grade II listed modernist building - Mountbatten House.

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Highgate

A garden for an architectural one-off in the heart of North London.

An intimate copper rill connects 3 levels from the upper terrace to a lower pool. Exposed aggregate concrete was used to echo the internal beams of an arts and crafts-inspired house. Inspired & loosely based on the Venetian gardens of Carlo Scarpa, as beloved by the client.

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