Villa AM

Local culture and climate are tools with which to create a dwelling that addresses the dynamics of change in the 21st-century city of Jeddah.

The Arabian house has historically been both a private sanctuary and a semi-public social space. The layout in an L  – a reinterpretation of the traditional U-shaped residence – enables Villa AM to preserve the vernacular nucleus for intimate bonds, and reconcile it with the mentality of the contemporary family. The house organizes itself in pursuit of shade and breezes, with the help of two patios that also have the effect of lightening the building.

Villa AM preserves the usual separation between guests, family, and household staff, and this is reflected architecturally  through the particular placement and sizes of doors, windows, and other elements opening out to the exterior.  Light enters through these apertures, in the process creating different color palettes that change in the course of the day, from the cold tones of the wee hours to the warm hues of sunset.