On a wonderful strip of beach in Coromandel, New Zealand, Architects Crosson Clarke Carnachan’s amazing Whangapoua House is the perfect little getaway location.

Designed by Jorge Garcia of GraciaStudio, the Hotel Endemico is part of the renowned Habita hotel group. Set to open later this year, the eco-friendly hotel is located in Baja California’s Valle de Guadalupe, featuring a set of 20 independent room, or EcoLofts, each packing a floorspace of 215 sq ft. With a private wooden deck to yourself, plus clay kiva fireplace and restaurant, swimming pool and winery in the resort too. Idyllic, we’re booking a stay now.

In amongst the classic single family home that fill the streets of West Hollywood, Brooks + Scarpa Architects‘ contemporary Orange Grove is a new landmark in the area. Spanning 6,700 square feet, each space within boasts a balcony that overlooks the street, maintaining a communication with passersby.

Completed a few years ago, Work Architecture Company’s six-story studio and penthouse for Diane von Furstenberg is nothing short of extraordinary. Featuring a south-facing flexible showroom/event space, design and administrative offices for a 120-person staff, an executive suite and that penthouse for von Furstenberg’s private quarters, however, it’s the diamond-esque roof extrusion that steals the limelight, providing a lightwell for a stairway scaling the whole building.

From the outside Naf Architect & Design’s Three Way House looks like your average Tokyo building but as soon as you step through the doors, it’s anything but conventional inside. Ladders are the main way of getting between the floors, a space-saving alternative to sets of bulky stairs, though it’s the climbing wall that really sets it apart. Able to scale an inside wall all the way from the garage to the roof terrace, the space doubles as a lightwell, making the rooms throughout feel more spacious and airy.

Built in a wonderful location on the sea in Luz-Lagos, Portugal, by architect Mario Martins, House Colunata sets a contemporary aesthetic against the glorious surrounding environment. Using local building techniques and locally-sourced materials, the building was built to maximise the amazing panoramic views and yet provide effective solar orientation and wind protection.

A client project for Carl Turner Architects, Ochre Barn cost just £400k and was completed in 2010. Set to the beautiful backdrop of the Norfolk countryside, the development houses a retreat, studio space and private residential accommodation, all within wonderfully spacious barn. Maintaining the industrial character of the original structure on the outside, on the inside they kept the spaces open, carefully furnished to match.

Designed by the Baqueratta Architectural Design Office, the Japanese team have gotten themselves quite a reputation for minimal design.

Sited on the edge of a 70-metre high cliff, Holman House sure makes a mockery of the “sea view” rooms you’ll often pay a premium for at coastal hotels. Designed by Durbach Block Jaggers, “it contains a complex series of fluid living spaces set within a meandering perimeter that arcs, folds and stretches in response to sun, landscape and views.” Spaces splay out over the cliff’s edge allowing wonderful views up and down the coast while the lower floor forms a base build from rough stone walls like an extension of the cliffs below.

Designed by Tadashi Yoshimura Architects, the Wood Old House, Nara, Japan renovated a traditional wooden town house, built 200 years ago, for a young couple and their children. Consisting of several small buildings and spot gardens, the ‘void space’ in between was is adorned by materials from the old structures.