Project: Bait Al Hilal
Location: Al Sadeeq. Kuwait
Architect: AlHumaidhi Architects
The Ground Floor Oasis
The ground floor is configured through the creation of three voids, which become the lungs of the house. These voids are informed directly by plots interaction with its surroundings. Each void becomes an outgrowth of a tangency to the main setback, with the voids hierarchically proportioned in relation to their function.
The receiving garden is located on the south side, connecting the street corner to the house and announcing the main point of entry.
A ceremonial cul-de-sac entrance resolves vehicle access. The concentric curves, emanating from a great tree in the center guide visitors in. They reverberate as they transform into steps that lead up to the main entry, carrying the visitors up to a height from which the rest of the ground floor spaces and gardens gently descend.
To the north, the inhabitants discover a secret garden of an intimate scale, located at the end of the main hall and offering a space of seclu- sion away from the rest of the house. Additionally, this garden can be used as a service area during events and celebrations- able to contain within it any temporary back of house needs.
At the heart of the house is the largest of the three green spaces. We like to imagine this space as a small oasis, with its exuberant locally indigenous vegetation and large trees. Together with the swimming pool, this outdoor space will play a significant role in providing views but also controlling and limiting heat gain through shading and passive cooling.
As one enters the main reception hall they are greeted with a double height atrium. At the center of the hall stands an imposing spiral staircase. With a diameter of almost 5 meters, it anchors the building. Its geometry is in harmony with the curves of the façades and its singular monolithic character makes this a unique feature.
The guest bathroom is located just behind the spiral staircase; although discreet, the space itself surprises users as they enter with a layout that also embraces its own small garden.
The main corridors on the ground floor connect each of the three main spaces to one another: the dining, the summer room and the winter room. The long, serpentine form of these corridors allow its users to discover the route as they meander along it, generating excitement and surprise through the revealing and unfolding of the spaces behind each gentle curve. With the two main outdoor patios connected to them, the corridors start to feel more like unique spaces in and of themselves- offering an intermediary zone between the main garden rooms and the rest of the house.
The main spaces have large windows overlooking the garden. The interior and exterior will be fused through a series of curved movable glass panels, which allow for continuity between each of the rooms and the outdoor space.
The First Floor Belvedere
The first floor functions as a large Belvedere. The world itself derives from two Italian words, bel meaning beautiful and vedere which means view. With its spacious and encompassing terrace from which to contemplate the sunsets with the family, the first floor is a solemn mass shaped by the intersection of the the curved garden geometry in the front and the rectilinear plots boundary to the back. The two sides of the mass sit above the entry cul-de-sac and the secret garden, offering shade and protection from the elements as an imposing overhang and cantilever. A large 30-meter-long window runs the length of the upper facade facing the garden seemingly able to levitate without any structural column obstructions, making the visual experience incredible.
The organization of this floor is characterized by having a large open central space for the day area, with the spiral staircase separating the living space from a modern open kitchenette, all nestled amongst the surrounding bedrooms, protected and illuminated by patios the both guarantee privacy for its users.
The idea of moving forward towards the future while learning about, remembering and re-thinking the past is a good maxim for reflecting on the design proposed for this unique project. This house speaks of its owners, of their needs and sensibilities and aims to resolve the functions of inhabiting through the creation of spaces that evoke an artistic experience in its users with the idea of the courtyard house taken as a point of departure for design. The crescent form gives the Hilal House a unique expressiveness, which does not arise from a capricious gesture, but from a contextual understanding. The form of the house is a direct response to its site. Its curved, arch-like geometry provides lateral protection from the views of the neighbors, while allowing its main living spaces to turn inwards with their large windows open onto the main garden. This form allows both protection and openness. The symmetrical layout highlights the monumental nature of the proposal. evoking the solutions of ancient temples but resolved in this project in an absolutely contemporary approach.