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Habitusliving.com celebrates lives of Design Hunters, exploring their homes & keeping the Design Hunter community abreast of what they’re excited about

Published quarterly, Habitus draws on the diverse landscapes of Australia, New Zealand, South and South East Asia to profile exquisite residential projects and the Design Hunters who live within them. Habitus is the only magazine of its kind to focus on the vibrant Asia Pacific region. We relate to architecture and design as expressions of personality, culture and values, exploring not just beautiful homes, but also the personalities, products, works of art and philosophies that are inside. Habitus presents intelligent ideas accessibly. Our discerning readers take pride in curating their surroundings.

‘Living in design’

29/10/2026

Elemental essentials • Zephyr House by

nominee Zephyr House — so named in honour of the north-easterly breezes — has perhaps three standout layers. First, its response to a brief calling for multigenerational flexibility. Second, the orientation of the new floorplan, focused on views, light and ventilation while nudging the home’s formal language in a much more interesting direction. Third, the aesthetics, defined by a pared-back material honesty.

“We decided that we needed to build a robust house that would last for another hundred years at least, and to be a multigenerational home,” explains

Words by
Photography by

Voting is open for the 2026 x Habitus House of the Year People's Choice Award – head to habitusliving for your chance to win a Design Hunter prize package worth over $17,000!

https://ow.ly/O0Rv5101zNf

28/10/2026

Coastal ease • Yoseki by .architects with

Rather than staking a claim on the landscape, this nominee folds itself into the site as a low, single-level concrete form that yields to views, contours and weather. From the outset, it was never intended as an ostentatious holiday home, but as a small-footprint, highly considered retreat – a place where family life, salt, sand and art could coexist without friction.

“A dynamic started to appear in the architecture as some kind of shroud or veil surrounding all the glazing that would become sculptural and offer a level of privacy,” says Harley Graham, principal of HGA Studio.

Words by
Photography by David Oliver & .studio

Voting is open for the 2026 x Habitus House of the Year People's Choice Award – head to habitusliving for your chance to win a Design Hunter prize package worth over $17,000!

https://ow.ly/zJGN5101zKM

28/10/2026

Raised among the trees • The PLATFORM by

This nominee is effectively a continuation of the Wellness Retreat at Habarana, which Kannangara completed in 2022, in that it shares an owner. Approaching the architect for a private space, the client was not looking for the luxury of a spa, but rather a simple weekender that would make the most of the climate and landscape. As such, the luxury lies in the environment, and particularly the watercourse that is effectively an overflow from the reservoir.

“My initial thought was to connect with the water visually, which we knew would be about 15 feet to see over the bund [retaining wall] and beyond to the tank water," says Kannangara. "The platform came from that kind of idea of Habarana. It’s a sanctuary for elephants, so there are plenty of platforms at the tree level of 15 feet high."

Words by
Photography by Ganidu Balasuriya

Voting is open for the 2026 x Habitus House of the Year People's Choice Award – head to habitusliving for your chance to win a Design Hunter prize package worth over $17,000!

https://ow.ly/Eltb5101zGh

27/10/2026

Winnings x Habitus House of the Year 2026 People's Choice Award is your chance to celebrate the residential design that inspires you most, with an incredible prize package up for grabs.

Explore 27 shortlisted homes from across the Indo-Pacific, vote for your favourite and enter the draw to win the Ultimate Design Hunter Prize Package, valued at over $17,000.

From statement furniture to beautiful homewares and design essentials, swipe through to discover the prizes you could win. Ready to cast your vote? Explore the shortlist and enter now at habitusliving.com/houseoftheyear.

Habitus House of the Year is proudly supported by Major Partner Winnings and Supporting Partner Rogerseller.

26/10/2026

Which home stays with you?

From innovative architecture to thoughtful interiors, the 27 shortlisted projects in the 2026 Winnings x Habitus House of the Year program showcase some of the most exceptional residential design from across the Indo-Pacific region.

Now, it's your turn to have your say.

Explore the shortlist, discover the homes that inspire you and cast your vote in the People's Choice Award for your chance to win the Ultimate Design Hunter Prize Package, valued at over $17,000.

Vote now at https://www.habitusliving.com/houseoftheyear.

25/10/2026

Light and legacy • Leesthorpe Mosman by

There is a particular quality of light throughout this nominee – the kind that does not merely illuminate but gloriously animates, gently moving across Venetian plaster walls, softly ricocheting off marble surfaces and finding its way into every corner of a home that was, not so long ago, quite deliberately keeping it out. That this property in Sydney’s north is now a luminous, spatially flowing family sanctuary is testament to the vision of Miriam Fanning, founder and principal of Mim Design, along with lead designer Stephen Tieppo, who collaborated with and to reimagine one of Sydney’s quietly significant heritage homes.

Words by
Photography by
Styling by

Voting is open for the 2026 x Habitus House of the Year People's Choice Award – head to habitusliving for your chance to win a Design Hunter prize package worth over $17,000!

https://ow.ly/kR275100mXR

23/10/2026

Reworked harbourside heritage • Bradleys Head House by

This nominee is a 1900s Federation-era Arts and Crafts dwelling in Sydney’s harbourside suburb of Mosman. Having seen a proportioned extension designed by , the recent internal transformation responds to the house’s period character and Arts and Crafts origins. It honours them through the extraction and use of design elements that create a cohesive relationship between the original house and the new additions. Across three storeys — which include a large kitchen, informal lounge and parents’ retreat, as well as a poolside rumpus room — the result is a dwelling that is informed by its heritage while distinctly of the present.

Words by Fiona Rivers
Photography by

Voting is open for the 2026 x Habitus House of the Year People's Choice Award – head to habitusliving for your chance to win a Design Hunter prize package worth over $17,000!

https://ow.ly/3AcG5100mR5

23/10/2026

Playhouse on the corner •

nominee Playhouse reworks the familiar Victorian terrace around light, flexibility and a more generous relationship with the street. Its defining arched window makes that ambition visible, transforming a device for privacy and daylight into a playful contribution to the neighbourhood. Read the full article to learn about how Carter Williamson Architects dealt with privacy in relation to a corner site.

Words by Dakota Bennett
Photography by
Styling by

Voting is open for the 2026 x Habitus House of the Year People's Choice Award – head to habitusliving for your chance to win a Design Hunter prize package worth over $17,000!

https://ow.ly/hmcL5100mE1

22/10/2026

Rozelle Cloche by

Behind a cottage in Sydney’s inner west, there is a roof unlike anything else on the street: a tent-like form clad in vertical standing-seam zinc, catching and shifting colour with the light. This is nominee Rozelle Cloche, an addition by architects Benn+Penna centring to create a multigenerational home centring on courtyard and pool, with landscaping by Ross Mills.

Words by Fiona Rivers
Photography by &

Voting is open for the 2026 x Habitus House of the Year People's Choice Award – head to habitusliving for your chance to win a Design Hunter prize package worth over $17,000!

https://ow.ly/g3y150ZZWFl

20/10/2026

Modern apartment, old soul • Travancore Penthouse by .manzur

This nominee is an apartment set within a high-rise in old Trivandrum, one which called for a careful balance between rootedness and modernity. The brief involved reworking the original three-bedroom layout into a generous two-bedroom home, to make the spaces feel more open, comfortable and attuned to the life of its single occupant. “The client’s roots are in Kerala," says Faisal Manzur, "so I wanted the apartment to evoke the feeling of an old family home, with oxide flooring, lime-washed walls and terracotta roofing, all of which are traditional to the homes in the region.”

Words by
Photography by

Voting is open for the 2026 x Habitus House of the Year People's Choice Award – head to habitusliving for your chance to win a Design Hunter prize package worth over $17,000!

https://ow.ly/oTvP50ZZbBq

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