Paul Kaloustian Architect shared with us his project Q Weekend House, a villa for a Sheikh in Qatar who wants to visit the house for a few days each month to disconnect from everyday life. More images and architect’s description after the break.
Located in an made made forest and zoo in the desert, the weekend house is designed horizontally as a one storey building. While surrounded by all sides with big trees, the typology of the house is based on the islamic court house where the center of the architecture is a void filled with greenery and water, a symbolic paradise. In the Q house, the geometry of the architecture is a ring with a huge water basin as a center, with islands of trees floating on the water. Based on the client’s need of privacy, the house is a result of a contradiction between openess to the outside garden and the inner oasis using total transparency, and the idea of privacy and enclosure reflecting the client’s lifestyle.
We created a total transparency with a double layer of glass with the house inhabiting the in-between and at the same time, by using curtains and vertical greenery, we allowed privacy to be present whenever the client needed it. This flexibility is achieved by the use of movable layers of curtains fixed on the outer side of the slab. The roof of the house is all planted with greenery as a protection from the heat while the curtain/exterior envelope creates a buffer zone for the direct sun light. In winter, when the temperature becomes milder, the house could be all open allowing cross ventilation with the water becoming a refreshing source in the heart of the house. The floor to ceiling circular glass panels and the water create a play of reflections with the trees and their projecting images and shadows reinforcing the idea of lightness and imateriality.
