Photographer: Gijo Paul George | ArchDaily

Rawda Radiance / Studio Toggle

Andreas Luco — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 20:00:00 +0000

Rawda Radiance is a private villa in Al Rawda, Kuwait. The travertine-clad villa occupies a 750 sq m plot and balances privacy with filtered street views. The villa's facade features a composition of white plaster, stone cladding, and strategically placed louvers, providing shading and respite from Kuwait's harsh desert sun while adding elegance to the building's exterior.

Cooling Interiors Will be the Architectural Challenge of the Future

Lilly Cao — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:30:00 +0000

According to the UN, more than 7000 extreme weather events have been recorded since 2000. Just this year, wildfires raged across Australia and the west coast of the U.S.; Siberia charted record high temperatures, reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit before Dallas or Houston; and globally, this September was the world’s hottest September on record. As the effects of the climate crisis manifest in these increasingly dire ways, it is the prerogative of the building industry – currently responsible for 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions – to do its part by committing to genuine and sweeping change in its approach to sustainability.

Jade Building / Studio Toggle

Hana Abdel — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 20:00:00 +0000

Jade is a midrise multi-unit residential building in Salmiya, Kuwait. The design of the building aims to facilitate an urban and sustainable way of living for young families. The building occupies a compact urban lot in a high-density area, straddling the upscale Arabian Gulf Road and the less affluent inner-city neighbourhoods. North and west facades are privileged for their open views defining the building's image through an understated yet expressive design.

Reborn House / Alhumaidhi Architects

Hana Abdel — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 22:00:00 +0000

Reborn House is a seaside property in Bidaa, Kuwait. With the western elevation facing a busy street, we opted to carve a series of openings out of the main mass. Cuts were made at acute angles and the windows were set within a slight tilt. By partially masking the windows, we were able to create shadows that minimize solar heat gain while allowing for diffused light to enter the house. On the other hand, the eastern elevation (facing the sea) benefits from deep set openings and balconies that maximize both views and shade.

Rethinking Embassy Design: Building Diplomacy Around the World

Eric Baldwin — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 07:35:00 +0000

The architecture of diplomacy balances security and openness. As symbols of protection and representation, embassies are built for utility in both urban and rural contexts alike. At their core, they are also made to communicate the values and ideals of nations as welcoming structures and sustainable civic spaces. Today, modern embassy projects are made to meet rigorous security standards while embracing local culture and conditions.

Ternion Villas / Studio Toggle

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 01:00:00 +0000

Ternion is a composition of three independent villas in Kuwait. Variably stacked prismatic volumes create a porous-pixellated massing achieving a harmonious balance between the opposing ideals of privacy and community. The project encouraged the architects to rethink the modern suburban Arab residential block, usually populated with affluent independent villas. In a society where privacy and weather become the overriding design directives, the norm in residential architecture is to create impenetrable and introverted structures that maximize the climate-controlled built-up area. The brief dictated the creation of three independent villas with private gardens and private swimming pools, that can be used on a year-round basis.

Public Spaces with Scaffolding: an Alternative in Emergency Situations

Clara Ott & María Francisca González — Fri, 29 May 2020 05:30:00 +0000

When facing emergencies such as natural disasters, warfare or pandemics, architecture must offer immediate and effective solutions. In these unfortunate circumstances, the priority is usually to solve problems around housing, however, once the emergency is under control, the focus starts to slowly move towards meeting places such as community centers, neighborhood councils and public spaces.

The Beauty of Marble in Interiors and Facades

Eduardo Souza — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 04:30:00 +0000

Michelangelo's sculptures. The ancient Greek temples. Castle interiors and palaces. The iconic Barcelona Pavilion of Mies van der Rohe. When we approach the history of architecture and sculpture, it is inevitable that we speak of marble. Originating from a chemical reaction in limestone when exposed to high pressures and temperatures for thousands of years, this notable material is a metamorphic rock generally found in regions where volcanic activity has occurred. Its extraction, by itself, is already a spectacle.

Temporary Plazas: 13 Public Spaces that Activate the City

María Francisca González — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Normally the efforts of the construction industry are aimed to design permanent and durable spaces. However, on some occasions creating temporary spaces can be of great help, not only when providing fast assembly infrastructure after the effects of a natural disaster, but also when activating residual or abandoned spaces in our cities. To exemplify the potential of these interventions, we present thirteen successful temporary public spaces.

History of Science Centre / Hoehler + alSalmy

Rayen Sagredo — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 01:00:00 +0000

The History of Science Centre acts as a mediator bringing past Islamic sciences of the "golden age" in relation to the current university studies at the German University of Technology (GUtech) in Halban, Oman. The building aims to create a link between art and science with nature and geometry whilst symbolizing infinity and divinity.

German Embassy in Muscat / Hoehler + alSalmy

Daniel Tapia — Sun, 25 Nov 2018 02:00:00 +0000

Located in the Diplomatic quarter of Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman, the new German Embassy premises is set to be a promising landmark and a one of a kind structure in the embassy district. The building ensemble includes the Chancellery building as well as the ambassador’s Residence, with external reception areas encompassing the traditional plantation of the Sultanate.

Luminous Drapes / Studio Toggle

Daniel Tapia — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 23:00:00 +0000

Studio Toggle was invited by Nuqat, a nonprofit organization based in Kuwait to create an outdoor space for their cultural forum “The Human Capital 2018”. The location given was the outdoor plaza of the newly opened Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre in Kuwait City. The design of the pavilion stemmed from a desire to create a lightweight, soft and malleable space habitable in novel ways. The pavilion is meant to be colonized based on the activities that it will accommodate. These activities were analyzed and broken down into its anthropometric parameters.

Bean to Bar Chocolatier / Studio Toggle

Daniel Tapia — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 22:00:00 +0000

Studio Toggle was commissioned by the young Kuwaiti chocolatier, Bean2Bar to design their debut boutique in Arjan Square, a trendy F&B concept in Salmiya, Kuwait. The 33m2 space with a narrow frontage posed a significant challenge for the architects who desired to create a bright and airy atmosphere with plenty of storage space and flexibility. The architects devised a simple solution that featured a slender, cellular waffle vault along with the longitudinal axis of the store that morphed into a sleek secondary enclosure.

A House in Yarmouk / Studio Toggle

Rayen Sagredo — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 21:00:00 +0000

The Yarmouk private villa is home to two brothers and their families in Kuwait. The volume is divided in the center of the plot into two identical units housing the independent quarters of each of the two families. A series of light wells and balconies throughout the house, along with a discreet garden space on the ground floor, focuses on the project’s main narrative of diffused natural lighting.

Edges Apartments / Studio Toggle

Daniel Sánchez — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 20:00:34 +0000

The ‘Edges Apartments’; with its articulated brick cladded façade; lights up one of the back-streets of the predominantly expat neighborhood of Salmiya, in Kuwait.