VILLA CH

The concept is based on a staging of existing olive trees, in fact the project composes the living spaces in the different axes of these trees.
The villa consists of a single, monolithic volume. The latter is deployed over the length of the field. The swimming pool, facing south-east, sits in the same direction as the volume of the house to reinforce the depth of the land and project the house towards the garden.
The recess on the adjoining, not being large enough and sufficient to highlight the volume in question from the outside, the architects create a spatial, functional and effective device to stage, from the inside, the volume. They divide the latter, in two, lengthwise. They have, on one side, two levels, facing south-east, and on the other, a single level with a double height.
Thus, on one side, there are the services on the ground floor and the bedrooms upstairs and on the other, the common areas, namely the living room and vertical circulation.
The entrance to the house announces the volume, in its integrity, by being implanted in its longest axis and by creating a breakthrough that extends over the entire depth of the volume to the outside, in a visual alignment with an olive tree.
The double height attributed to the living room gives a very clear reading of the volume of the whole house and reveals its proportions. These are accentuated by the effect of the overhead light at the level of the upper slab which sweeps over the walls of the living room, which is 7.3m high.
The fireplace in the living room, unique in its exaggerated lengthwise proportion, is clad in black metal sheet which emphasizes its contemporary character. Like a slit in the double height wall, it crosses it from end to end. The latter seems suspended.
Upstairs, the bedrooms are distributed by a passageway, overlooking the living room, which runs along the entire length of the volume and, in turn, allows you to appreciate its height and geometric purity.
The stairs leading to the second floor are hidden in the volume of the library, made of concrete. Due to its central position, the library animates and organizes the various living spaces. A footbridge connects the stairs to the passageway. Designed in glass, this walkway maintains the “autonomous” character of the “library / staircase” volume.
Overall, the house doesn't have a lot of material changes. The white walls are dominant. The ground surface is homogeneous thanks to a unique choice of material, the local beige Thala marble, highlighted by tiles of unusual elongated dimensions.
The ceiling, in concrete, painted white, is distinguished by its irregular texture, generated by the trace of the wooden formwork.
Of course, the vocabulary of this work is part of a refined geometry. However, volume subtraction games are not just formal. The subtraction on the south-eastern facade was created to provide a breakthrough on one of the olive trees, lighten the volume and visually enlarge the space. The second subtraction in the mass of the volume, on the west facade, was a way to protect the living room space from direct sunlight.