Residence 408

Design is about combining elements. Reversing design trends and patterns is potentially as potent way to go about this. In the case of this residence, tucked away in a somewhat anonymous neighbourhood in Nicosia, the reversal involves bringing the private element of the house to the front of the plot. It is not unique but it is enough to require a certain level of specific consideration. So, the pool, which is normally tucked away at the back of the house comes to the front, creating a insertion into the volume of the building itself. This is celebrated with menhir like columns. Elements that enjoy an interesting tension with the shuttered concrete surfaces that describe much of the architectural structure of the residence itself. Screening these events from the street are not high walls but a dense rhythm of poles and a thick layer of planting. A system which is also employed in the upper level, where posts and planting create undulating shapes that describe the external spaces and create a sense of enclosure. This flow is at contrast to the rest of the design again, providing a different experience of the design from without as from within. Privacy is often about having secrets to one’s self, secrets held within the confident husk of architectural volumes.