Stone villa with tall timber screens, lit from within at dusk

03 · Private residence

Private Villa, Al Raha

Location: Al Raha, Abu Dhabi
Category: Architecture
Sector: Residential

Overview

A completed residence of 960 m² on a 1,350 m² plot. The street elevation is a stone mass opened by tall timber screens, which give the rooms behind them daylight and a view out without giving anything back to the street.

Presentation sheet

The presentation sheet as issued — floor plans, zoning and circulation diagrams, form development, section and material palette.

Design narrative

Scope: Architecture, interior design, structural design
Area: 960 m² built-up, on a 1,350 m² plot
Status: Completed
Client: Private client

The screen is the project. It runs floor to soffit in front of the glazing, set at a spacing worked out from the sun angles on that elevation, so the rooms behind stay usable through the afternoon without blinds.

Stone is laid in long horizontal courses and returned around the corners, so the mass reads as solid rather than clad. Openings are cut from it; nothing is applied to it.

Inside, the same discipline continues: joinery is set out on the structural grid, and the finish schedule is short enough that the material changes fall at the junctions rather than in the middle of a wall.