Balconies

Internally, the Floris suites contain a living room that opens onto a sheltered balcony. Glazed walls with sliding doors connect the internal and external spaces, with curtains providing privacy if required.

Beyond the home's dining room lies an expansive outdoor deck where the family can play games or enjoy alfresco dinners with views of the adjacent sea and small, rugged islands.

The sheltered balconies are a deliberate design to accommodate the climate of Guangzhou, which has high temperatures and a rainy season.

Design platform Studio Curiosity worked with local residents in east London to wrap a bridge and balconies in a rainbow of ribbons as a "message of hope" during the coronavirus pandemic.

EDEN is a 104.5-metre-tall apartment building in the Newton district of Singapore, which comprises a vertical stack of homes that each have a garden.

ACA Architects painted the concrete black to contrast with the metal elements, which look like wood but are lighter and stronger. Real timber features on the modern balconies, which have been given a traditional twist with a half screen of wooden poles.

Rainscreens project horizontally from each level, forming a roof to the modernised balconies on each floor, extending further to give the hotel block an arresting profile.

Architecture firm Barclay & Crousse has used concrete plant plots overspilling with greenery to offer residents of an apartment building Lima privacy.

Renderings of the project show a pair of rounded, glazed residential buildings wrapped by curvilinear white balconies and greenery. Three lower-level buildings have a similar aesthetic.

Each of the four bedrooms is oriented towards the east where the sun rises and has an attached balcony for enjoying the outdoors.

Large expanses of glazing and 735 square feet (68.2-square-metre) of exterior deck wrap the house to overlook the deciduous site and its natural flora, which includes Douglas fir trees and vine maple. In the summer, the tree canopy is intended to mitigate the sun heating the interiors.

Measuring 723 square metres, it contains 11 guest suites and one master suite, each with a terrace overlooking the forest and ocean.

Arte, which is named after the sculptural facade, joins a number of housing projects with bold balconies where residents can enjoy fresh air.

Arte has an unusual shape, which widens towards its centre and then narrow at its top, and is accentuated by glazed balconies with Roman travertine bottoms. The terraces form expansive outdoor living areas for each unit, which are in turn shaded by the floor above.

The second level contains three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an office and two balconies – one of which has views of the Pacific Ocean and stairs that access another patio on the roof.

Boutique hotel rooms and dorm-style accommodation are reached via balconies linked by a black steel staircase zigzagging up the exterior.