Whitepod Eco-Luxury Resort
Monthey, Switzerland

High above the Swiss Alps, only an hour outside of Lausanne, is the Whitepod Eco-Luxury Resort. With the alpine landscape serving as a backdrop, 18 geodesic domes, or pods, make up the luxury retreat, offering adventure-seekers a once-in-a-lifetime experience. One of those pods, the Zen suite, courtesy of Santa Monica, California-based Montalba Architects, is a modern take on traditional Japanese design. Inspired by the Wu Ting movement theory, which postulates that everything is connected and has energy, the suite’s interiors bring the outside in. The curving wooden walls define the circular spaces, while a recessed bed in the center of the pod is “the perfect place to take in unforgettable views of the mountains,” says founding principal David Montalba.

Aurora Villa
Fairbanks, Alaska

Conceived as a getaway for aurora borealis chasers to experience the Northern Lights, the seven-room Aurora Villa in Fairbanks, Alaska “was designed following best practices for maintaining and supporting dark skies,” says John Sparano, principal of Los Angeles- and Salt Lake City-based Sparano + Mooney Architecture. Positioned at the top of a slope, the highly insulated and cedar-clad building takes advantage of its surroundings, while energy-efficient systems keep the interiors snug. To ensure the landscape remains pristine and undisturbed, the design team removed as few trees as possible and used red LED lights to lessen disturbances to guests’ eyes as they watch the waving bands of color across the night sky. Comfortable yet luxurious lodge-like furnishings, informed by Alaskan elements, were selected by the lead interior designers of GY Global. “Because the surroundings are spectacular, the color and material palette were relatively restrained to celebrate the natural context,” says Sparano + Mooney principal Anne Mooney.

Løvtag Treetop Hotel
Als Odde, Denmark

Perched on the Als Odde peninsula in Denmark, a minimalist treehouse is hidden 26 feet above the dense forest. The first of nine cabins for Løvtag, Berlin-based architect Sigurd Larsen clad the exterior in untreated larch wood that will patina and turn gray over time. “If we’re lucky, the northern side will turn green with moss,” he says. Built around an existing tree, cabins feature a living space, kitchen, bathroom, rooftop terrace, and a large bed that’s positioned toward sunset views. “The result is the experience of sleeping next to a big tree trunk that slowly moves in the wind,” Larsen says. “The dark surface of the trunk is the only rough material inside the cabin. All other surfaces are kept bright to make the tree even more present.”

Photos courtesy of Whitepod Eco-luxury Resort, Hangfei Zhang, and Søren Larsen