Grech and Vinci Architecture and Design – Helena’s villa, 2012

#HOUSE #LIGHTNESS #PRIVACY

Grech and Vinci Architecture and Design – www.grechandvinci.com

The house is bounded by other dwellings and for that reason necessitated a concept designed with privacy in mind.
The building has an angular, modernist geometry and interprets a sense of protection: monumental from the outside, but opening up into private internal courtyards.
Helena’s villa combines a series of materials and spaces; polished concrete floors throughout, generously sized bathrooms, and double height ceilings, interspersed with more playful, contemporary inclusions such as textured plywood panelling, exposed concrete finishes and perforated steel structures.
The main living area features an exposed concrete ceiling that allow light to flood through the space via skylight windows. A recessed plywood panelled wall provides focus, texture and houses a fireplace, and beyond lies a custom open kitchen, an area demarcated under a lower ceiling level to encourage a warmer feel to this more intimate social space.
The master bedroom is located on the ground floor, affording the client a view of the pool area and internal courtyard. A concrete boundary wall retains complete privacy and reflects the texture of concrete used for the bedroom ceiling and its corresponding ensuite bathroom.
On the first floor above the living area, a walkway with a perforated steel railing links two further bedrooms creating a change in textures whilst continuing the strong lines of the central volume – a motif reflected in a staircase of the same material elsewhere in the house. Here too, plywood panels partially cover white walls and each bedroom is a mirror of the other, with minimal, contemporary en suite bathrooms and private courtyards available to each.

 

CREDITS

Architects: Grech and Vinci Architecture and Design

Location: Triq L-IbraA?, Safi, Malta

Surface: 400 m²

Year/Status: 2012/built

Structure: Concrete

Materials: Concrete, steel, plywood

Project Team: Simon Grech, Andrew Vinci, Alan Galea

Photography: Grech and Vinci Architecture and Design

 

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