SC Villa

Up in the mountains at an altitude of 1200 meters, this house perched on a cliff edge came about as the result of a special request of a client seeking both distance from and a break with the city.

Dressed in local stone mounted upon concrete walls, the SC house was approached as a dislocation, its outer skin torn from the mountain it seems to resemble.

Only the facade overlooking the drop is entirely open. Inside, the sensation of looking upward is emphasized, only surrounding peaks are framed by the view, erasing all visual connection with the ground. A large central patio concentrates these tensions and amplifies the surroundings. Though inaudible from outside, the sound of a nearby brook can here be heard quite clearly. The house works on the perception that it serves as sounding board, as enlarger. Its apparent proximity to the sky and the clouds render it monolithic, unreal. It seems as though it has been part of the mountain, for aeons.

SC Villa, Akoura, Lebanon
Program: single-family hose
Architects: YTAA Youssef Tohme Architects and Associates
Main Architect: Youssef Tohme
Partner Architect: Anastasia Elrouss
Project Architect: Muhammad Mahdi
Consulting Architect: Christophe Hurgon
Consulting Interior Architect: Rania Sabbagh
Consulting Structural Engineer: Esmat Elhachem
Consulting Mechanical Engineer: Roger Kazopoulo
Consulting Electrical Engineer: Gilbert Tambourgi
General Contractor: LAYOUT Contracting and Consulting
Area: 450 sqm
Completion: 2013