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Status

Unbuilt

Date

2011

Location

Jdeidet Marjeyoun, Lebanon

Team

Fouad Samara
Anna Szafranska

A traditional urban texture

Jdeidat Marjeyoun, like many villages and towns in Lebanon’s South, had been neglected during the Israeli occupation which ended in 2000. Unfortunately, much of the building since is unenlightened and unsympathetic to the traditional architecture that once defined these villages.

 

By aiming to produce affordable housing within this traditional urban texture, the design developed into two buildings that respond to the irregularly shaped land and setbacks.

 

Broken volumes

The two buildings crank in plan to fit within the site setbacks, and break down into a finer texture, bringing in light and allowing protected views out. Spread over three floors, the six flats of each building are seen as ‘country flats’ used on weekends and in Summer. To increase flexibility within, and to maximize on limited areas available within the 145 sqm three bedroom flats, the two kids’ bedrooms have sliding folding doors that open onto the corridor, and the kitchen has sliding glass partitions that allow it to spatially open up to the entrance and living rooms. Ground floor flats open onto small private gardens, and the top flats benefit from higher pitched ceilings.

 

Red tiled rooves

Picking up on the red tiles rooves of the traditional houses that make up the majority of the context, the entire façade and pitched rooves are clad in a flat red clay tile with the gable ends in full glass to enjoy the views of the Marj and Jabal El Sheikh in the distance.