House Beyond the Veil
A Veil : A thing that serves to cover, conceal, or disguise.
Location
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Plot Size
2300 m²
Category
Residential
Scope
Architectural Design, Interior Design, Landscape Design.
Households in Gulf region spoke privacy, it’s a paramount in Islamic households. it should not display itself to the street outside or the guests inside.
But as houses started to mimic western cultures, they lacked privacy and proper treatments, so users started to excessively adopt treatments like external window shutters and opaque curtains that are rarely drawn.
This concept places the look, the openness and the freedom of a modern house beyond a thoughtfully placed and beautifully looking screening structures that maintains the integrity of a traditional Islamic household.
The floor plan is divided into zones, private, semi private, and family spaces, each of these zones is vast and open on it’s own.
Courtyards and green areas separate these zones visually while offering a standalone view for each zone separately.
Some of the claustra screen walls are an offset from the building, they do not obstruct the outdoor gardens view located in-between the building facade and the claustra walls
The outdoor feels like an oasis, it relocates the user from the surrounding desert environment to a more colorful set of landscape, cascading plants and shaded spaces.
The modern interior is a retreat for it’s users, its minimal lines, earthy tones and playful shadows puncturing the walls offers an inviting, calming and nurturing ambience to the space.
