FreeGreen, a provider of free and premium green house plans, recently unveiled a new premium plan called Loop House.  The modern design features a two-story rectangle covered in fiber cement panels with a loop of cedar that creates a covered porch space.  It’s easy to envision using this space in several ways — watching movies, gathering around a fire pit, and relaxing with friends.

Loop House includes 1,800 square feet and four bedrooms, allowing for a larger family, overnight guests, a home office, or something like a studio space.  Depending on options and upgrades, Loop House could cost anywhere from $180,000 – $250,000 or more to build — via Jetson Green

Jeanne Dekkers Architectuur designed a small, transparent building for the Houten Fire Brigade in De Kruisboog allotment complex. The existing surrounding buildings of the allotments were a source of inspiration. Wood and transparent materials used for greenhouse construction, applied in a contemporary fashion with an eye for detail, were transformed into a building. In the translucent garage a fire engine stands at the ready — via ArchDaily

Strong, lightweight and versatile, this home really shows what metal can do. Galvanized steel parts are shipped flat to the site, making it easier to build in remote and difficult-to-access locations (like the desert).

Even more impressive: the exterior frame takes one day and full cladding system can be set up in less than a week, making it possible to work on the weather-proof interior in a matter of days — via Dornob

A robust sandstone box with beautifully angled arches, this freshly-modified modern refab reflects contemporary needs but also draws inspiration from regional design traditions. Aspects of Arabic, Greek and Norman architecture can be found in new decorative elements retrofit into the existing structural framework — via Dornob

The project integrates the public library with a botanical garden. A 250 meter steel, concrete and glass structure surrounded by greenery and water — via ArchDaily

The unusual history of the St Bernard de Clairvaux Church adds richness to the Floridian landscape as it gives people of all ages a breathtaking escape from the showy yet glamorous side of Miami. Initially built in the town of Sacramenia of Segovia in Spain during the period of 1133-1144, the monastery was named after the famous Cistercian monk Bernard de Clairvaux almost immediately after his canonization. For around 700 years, the stone walls housed hundreds of monks until the mid-1830’s, when the Cloisters were seized, sold, and converted into a granary and stable — via ArchDaily

Perkins+Will, the 2010 Architectural Review Future Projects Award winner addresses a real problem.

By the 2300s, scientists say that (unless we reduce carbon emissions) climate change will have rendered about half this planet uninhabitable by humans, as it will be just too hot. Temperatures in the Middle East have long been close to non-survivable, already.

So the lessons of traditional sustainable architecture for desert regions will be a key to future survivability for some regions. This latticework mashrabiya is an example.

Drawing on this tradition, the Perkins and Will winning entry uses a time-honored cooling feature of Middle Eastern architecture, long employed in traditional architecture. The  mashrabiya or brise soleil screen allows cool breezes through a latticework that shades a building, by protecting it from direct sun — via Home Design Find

Japan probably has the most diverse custom motorcycle culture in the world. They like monkey bikes and mopeds and 110-cubic-inch Harleys and everything in between. And nothing is immune from the touch of the angle grinder, or the hiss of the metalflake spray gun. But there are a few companies that eschew this excess, and Sanctuary is one of them. Headquartered in Tokyo, it’s a chain of workshops that specializes in the retro superbikes of the 1970s—and Kawasakis in particular — via Bike EXIF

The McManus Galleries were originally dedicated to Queen Victoria’s Consort and named the Albert Institute. Conceived as a focus for literature, science and art, Sir George Gilbert Scott created a powerful gothic icon reflecting the city’s contemporary confidence, wealth and intellect in 1867. The Victoria Galleries were added in 1889 completing the building envelope as it is today. Effectively, the building is an assembly of distinctive rooms designed at different times for a range of related but separate functions. These rooms were clustered around the main north entrance and each has its own architectural character expressed externally — via ArchDaily

The French jeweler has recently presented its Saint-Honore Charlelie The Line limited edition watch, both an affordable and an original timepiece — via World Watch Review