The building from episode 8 of the build timelapse. Fewer storeys than the stack villa (four) but each one wider — a sky villa, 23 layers and 2,172 blocks, in smooth sandstone, white concrete, brown terracotta columns and stripped jungle log bands.
The video's 2,982 blocks include landscaping, which the pattern leaves out. It is designed to grow up rather than out, so the building fills a vertical Shorts frame.
The key idea — storeys jut out in turn and step back
Storeys are 4 blocks tall, and every other storey is two blocks wider. The wider storey overhangs the one below as a cantilever, and four storeys stacked this way give a zigzag silhouette.
At the same time, each storey steps back a little. The exposed roof below becomes a terrace; a single slab railing is enough to make it read as a terrace rather than an unfinished spot. A tall wall would hide the outline again.
A log band rings each floor line. Without that horizontal line, a stack of glass does not read as storeys.
Layer by layer
LAYER 1–2 — deck and pool. A two-layer 21 × 23 deck with 40 cut sandstone mixed into the top and a 9 × 3 pool (27 water) on the south side. Orange carpet marks the interior.
LAYER 3–5 — ground floor. A glass ribbon between brown terracotta columns, wooden louvres on one end, an open carport beside it.
LAYER 6 — second floor. White concrete floor and a 45-log band. Wider than the ground floor — this is where the cantilever starts.
LAYER 7–9 second storey, LAYER 10 third floor, LAYER 11–13 third storey, LAYER 14 fourth floor, LAYER 15–17 fourth storey. The top storey narrows to 7 blocks. The first row of each storey (7, 11, 15) carries the terrace railing and props.
LAYER 18–19 — roof. A 13 × 13 smooth sandstone roof with slab railing and jungle stair benches.
LAYER 20–23 — stairwell and pergola. An off-centre stairwell with one row of windows and a pergola opposite. LAYER 23 is the stairwell's 3 × 3 cap.
Gathering materials
978 smooth sandstone and 184 slabs is 1,070 blocks with a stonecutter — about 4,300 sand. Add 290 glass and it is over 4,500 sand, so build near a desert or stockpile first.
Brown terracotta: mine it in badlands or dye 8 terracotta with 1 brown dye. 235 white concrete is 30 batches of powder. The fiddly props are 10 sea lanterns and 3 flowering azaleas; glowstone gives the same light as a sea lantern.