Residential project designed by the Spanish-Kuwaitian design firm

All images and graphics courtesy of AGi Architects; © by AGi Architects; see full project credits at the end of this post

A Kuwaitian project designed by international design studio AGi Architects with landscape design by Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture.

GALLERY HOUSE

Dahiat Abdullah Al Salem, State of Kuwait
Focusing on creating a gallery house within the city, the design calls for shifting the busy urban experience into a serene getaway escape. A wall is used to achieve this notion and becomes the main defining design element of this project.

This wall acts as the boundary wall to shield the house from its surroundings; it integrates with the landscape and uses it to fuse with the house. It manoeuvres subtly throughout the project to create certain niches in this landscape; where it rises, lowers and eventually bends to define the main entrance of the house and becomes part of the interior space, where it opens up to create interior program in between.

The house hovers delicately above the landscape and its form shapes this landscape to create different spatial experiences throughout the project, both on the interior and the exterior. The house bends and opens up to views of the large neighbouring garden. At this point, the wall is at its lowest to allow the landscape to visually extend onto the outside, yet still shielded by the trees of the garden for privacy beyond.

The plot is lifted from the street level to further enhance the privacy for the client.
Approach from the street, therefore, is by means of a ramp that is defined by the wall.
This provides glimpses of the landscape but does not reveal it until it reaches the main public space, which completely opens up and seamlessly extends onto a deck floating over the pool.

At ground level, strong dialogue is created between the public space and the different layers of the open space. On the upper private level, the house is lifted away from the landscape to discover the city.

ground floor

first floor

second floor

model

model

model

Project Name: Gallery House

Type: Residential

Size: 4500m²

Location: Dahiat Abdullah Al Salem

Country: State of Kuwait

Client: Private

Architect or Principal Designer: AGi Architects, Dr. Nasser B. Abulhasan, Mr. Joaquin Perez-Goicoechea, Gwenola Kergall, Fabio de Carolis

Landscape Architects: Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture

Project Status: On drawing board (2007-2011)