Nabil Gholan Architects

AZ House

AZ HOUSE

Nabil gholam architects

AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad

ARCHITECTS
Nabil Gholam Architects

MANUFACTURERS
Vitrocsa

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Salim Chemaly

PHOTGRAPHS
Richard Saad

AREA
3900.0 m2

YEAR
2015

LOCATION
Adma w Dafnah, Lebanon

CATEGORY
Houses

AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad

Text description provided by architect.

This simple white cube, measuring 18 meters on each side, with recessed windows, carved volumes containing suspended gardens and at its uppermost level, an extruded stone and fritglass box housing the bathroom facilities of the master suite, has a Mondrian-esque façade that lends it the air of a Chinese puzzle box.

The house occupies a small but ideally located site in a densely constructed neighborhood at one end of the sweeping Bay of Jounieh to the north of Beirut.

AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad

Although it gives little hint of this at first, the house is very much designed with the drama of its surroundings in mind.

As the house faces onto Lebanon’s busy coastal highway, the first impression is of a mute, almost fortified façade but when seen from the garden, which is shielded from the neighbors by tall hedgerow, the AZ House reveals itself an exercise in expansiveness.

AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad

Whether it is from the recessed patio on the upper level, the plunge pool on the roof, the long loggia fronting the living area or the artfully placed pool at the edge of the small cliff-top garden, the house makes the most of its location.

The gaze is constantly drawn towards the sea, Jounieh’s dramatic mountain backdrop or the shimmering towers of Beirut on the horizon.

AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad

Where neighboring buildings impinge, windows become slit-like. Where the view is open, they become more generous, framing the landscape like a painting.

Though relatively modest by the standards of other family houses in its category, by orienting itself to draw in and integrate a lengthy swathe of Lebanon’s mountainous Mediterranean coastline, the house feels almost boundless, it’s sense of space further emphasized by the fact that no columns clutter its floor plan.

AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad

Family bedrooms are located on the floor above.

They are linked to one another and to the master bedroom and spacious rooftop terrace above them by a series of staircases, punched-in atria and a triple-volume louvered patio, which deftly balances the desire for openness and cross-ventilation with the need to preserve privacy.

AZ House
AZ House

With more than a touch of a Mediterranean townhouse about it, the AZ House is an oasis of serenity set in busy surroundings, an elegant architectural exercise in rigor and playfulness.


AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad
AZ House
© Richard Saad


AZ House
Upper Ground Floor Plan
AZ House
First Floor Plan
AZ House
Mezzanine Floor Plan
AZ House
Master Bedroom Floor Plan
AZ House
Roof Floor Plan
AZ House
Lower Ground Floor Plan


AZ House
East Facade
AZ House
West Facade
AZ House
South Facade
AZ House
North Facade


AZ House
Garden and Patios / Diagram 01
AZ House
Garden and Patios / Diagram 02
AZ House
Massing and Craving / Diagram 03
AZ House
Panoramic vVews / Diagram 04


AZ House
Site Plan
AZ House
Longitudinal Section

Nabil Gholan Architects
T +961 1 423513 F +961 1 423510
Nabil Gholan Architects
Jisr El Wati, Street 90, Zone 66, Building 110, 2nd Floor Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon