2025 September Issue | Architectural Record

Always eagerly awaited, our annual Record Houses returns for a survey of six dwellings—all primary residences—that are modest in scale but not without big ideas. Located in L.A, Miami, Toronto, Vancouver, Guadalajara, and Santiago, all make bold moves in their form, materiality, and embrace of local conditions. Also in this issue, we profile a trio of contemporary coastal cottages defined by their shingled exteriors; pay visits to smartly revamped townhouses in Brooklyn and Quebec City; and learn about two canonical houses by Peter Eisenman undergoing renovation. September’s CE article also sticks with the domestic theme with an examination of regenerative residential landscapes.

Check back throughout the month for additional content.

Record Houses 2025

September 2, 2025

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While more modest in scale than past awardees, this year’s six Record Houses—all of them primary residences—make their own big, bold moves that help to set them apart.

Record Houses 2025

With Lantern House, Leckie Studio Creates a Cloistered Sanctuary in a Vancouver Neighborhood

Vancouver, British Columbia

Katharine Logan

September 3, 2025

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The two-story house disregards the formal and compositional conventions of its context, while elevating locally common materials—stucco, regional cedar, and board-formed concrete—to give it a strong sense of fit.

Record Houses 2025

In Miami, Brillhart Architecture Wraps a Series of Pavilions Around a Junglelike Setting

Miami

Matthew Marani

September 2, 2025

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Tucked away in a historic enclave, Morningside Residence balances climatic demands with an approach influenced by Sarasota Modern design principles.

Record Houses 2025

Jacobschang Draws Inspiration from Its Clients’ Linguistic Expertise for a House in Culver City

Culver City, California

Sarah Amelar

September 4, 2025

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Featuring indoor and outdoor spaces that flow into each other and clad in charred timber, Translators’ House was designed for husband-wife scholars of Japanese and their children.

Record Houses 2025

Diego Baraona Realizes a Trio of Abodes for Three Siblings

Leopoldo Villardi

September 2, 2025

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The Chilean architect caps each of the dwellings with fiberglass shells, creating a series of contemplative spaces that serve different functions for each family.

Record Houses 2025

In Toronto, a House by Williamson Williamson Harnesses Light Monitors to Illuminate its Interiors

Toronto

Matthew Allen

September 8, 2025

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Daylight is smartly scooped and funneled into this modest—and aptly monikered—bluffside residence.

Record Houses 2025

Near Guadalajara, Estudio Macías Peredo Caps Casa Primaveras with a Jagged Roofline

Zapopan, Mexico

Michael Snyder

September 9, 2025

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Planning for the five-bedroom dwelling began with mapping out a perimeter around the root system of a sprawling rubber tree, adored by the clients, on the site.

Continuing Education: Regenerative Landscapes

Katharine Logan

September 1, 2025

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Residential landscapes by Surfacedesign, Design Workshop, and LaGuardia Design Group repair the land, heal ecosystems, and look good while doing it.

Josephine Minutillo, Editor in Chief of Architectural Record

September 2025 Editor’s Letter

Downsizing

Josephine Minutillo

September 4, 2025

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RECORD’s annual appraisal of houses looks at residences with a smaller scale but equally big impact.

Spotlight: Townhouse Renovations

Taylor and Miller Architecture Takes a Bold Yet Surgical Approach in Revamping a Park Slope Townhouse

Brooklyn, New York

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

September 16, 2025

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Seeking to avoid a gut renovation, the 2009 Design Vanguard preserves period touches while updating a stately 1892 structure under a breakneck timeframe.

Spotlight: Townhouse Renovations

Quebecois Architect Jérôme Lapierre Deftly Balances Old and New in Renovating a 1920s-Era Duplex

Quebec City

James Gauer

September 17, 2025

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The project, located in Quebec City’s leafy Montcalm neighborhood, stays true to Lapierre's ethos of celebrating the ordinary—with extraordinary results.

Spotlight: Townhouse Renovations

Abruzzo Bodziak Architects’ Refined Overhaul of a Historic Brooklyn Rowhouse Offers a Fresh Start to a Young Family

Brooklyn, New York

Matthew Marani

September 11, 2025

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Updating the limestone-clad 1905 structure required serious interventions, including inserting a sky-lit central staircase to directly connect the garden level with the rest of the house.

In Focus: Comtemporary Shingled Cottages

In New Brunswick, MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Designs an Off-Grid Cottage for a Nonagenarian Client

New Brunswick

Suzanne Stephens

September 11, 2025

One Comment

The hip-roofed pavilion claims a pair of disparate influences: rural Scottish shepherd huts and Charles Moore’s own Bay Area residence built in 1962.

In Focus: Comtemporary Shingled Cottages

Waechter Architecture Clads a Modest Getaway on the Oregon Coast Entirely with Eastern White Cedar

Manzanita, Oregon

Suzanne Stephens

September 12, 2025

Constrained by a tight oceanfront site, the sauna-equipped cottage features a pinwheeling plan and pyramidal roof.

In Focus: Comtemporary Shingled Cottages

Architect Paul Masi’s Saltbox Cottage on Block Island Serves as a Summertime Family Escape

Block Island, Rhode Island

Suzanne Stephens

September 15, 2025

One Comment

The Bates + Masi partner designed the shingle-clad second home as a place to get away from the seasonal gridlock of Long Island's East End.

RECORD Interviews

Andrew Ferentinos Rehabilitates Two Eisenman Houses

Leopoldo Villardi

September 10, 2025

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The Connecticut-based architect details the in-progress metamorphoses of two canonical, early-career residences designed by Peter Eisenman.

Books

Fall Book Roundup: RECORD Editors Survey New Titles on Houses and Residential Architects

RECORD Editors

September 5, 2025

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Our dwelling-focused picks include monographs dedicated to Tom Kundig and Anne Fougeron, an expanded edition of ‘Fire Island Modernist,’ and a history of Neutra’s Lovell Health House.

Snapshot: Alvisi Kirimoto Completes a ‘Tiptoe’ Intervention at Rome’s Basilica Maxentius

Rome

Gabriele Neri

September 19, 2025

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A versatile piazza anchored by a reconfigurable stage fuses together the ancient Roman civic space’s three halls.

Guess the Architect: September 2025

RECORD Editors

September 9, 2025

Overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, this reddish-pink villa is the product of a series of disagreements between the architect and the client, a colorful writer.

Products

New Window and Door Products for Fall 2025

September 22, 2025

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Skylights, sliding doors, and a seamless automation system are among our top picks.

Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 ICC CEU

Explore modern façade and glazing systems that enhance daylighting, fire safety, and thermal performance while expanding architectural design possibilities.

Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 ICC CEU; 1 PDH

Explore façade retrofit strategies and award-winning design concepts that can transform aging office buildings into healthier, higher-performing workplaces for today’s hybrid workforce.

Our Publications

Architectural Record

2025 September

Building Type Study

Record Houses 2025

With Lantern House, Leckie Studio Creates a Cloistered Sanctuary in a Vancouver Neighborhood

In Miami, Brillhart Architecture Wraps a Series of Pavilions Around a Junglelike Setting

Jacobschang Draws Inspiration from Its Clients’ Linguistic Expertise for a House in Culver City

Diego Baraona Realizes a Trio of Abodes for Three Siblings

In Toronto, a House by Williamson Williamson Harnesses Light Monitors to Illuminate its Interiors

Near Guadalajara, Estudio Macías Peredo Caps Casa Primaveras with a Jagged Roofline

Architectural Technology

Continuing Education: Regenerative Landscapes

Departments

September 2025 Editor’s Letter

Taylor and Miller Architecture Takes a Bold Yet Surgical Approach in Revamping a Park Slope Townhouse

Quebecois Architect Jérôme Lapierre Deftly Balances Old and New in Renovating a 1920s-Era Duplex

Abruzzo Bodziak Architects’ Refined Overhaul of a Historic Brooklyn Rowhouse Offers a Fresh Start to a Young Family

In New Brunswick, MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Designs an Off-Grid Cottage for a Nonagenarian Client

Waechter Architecture Clads a Modest Getaway on the Oregon Coast Entirely with Eastern White Cedar

Architect Paul Masi’s Saltbox Cottage on Block Island Serves as a Summertime Family Escape

Andrew Ferentinos Rehabilitates Two Eisenman Houses

Fall Book Roundup: RECORD Editors Survey New Titles on Houses and Residential Architects

Snapshot: Alvisi Kirimoto Completes a ‘Tiptoe’ Intervention at Rome’s Basilica Maxentius

Guess the Architect: September 2025

Products

New Window and Door Products for Fall 2025

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