Architecture News Plus (ANP) – Architecture and Design Magazine

Private Retreat

This is a project by Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture and it is located at Yaafur, Syria. There are ten images for Private Retreat.

: © Geraldine Bruneel

Project images

Designer's statement

The challenge of this residence was to create a gathering space capable of hosting up to 300 people in a unique environment catered to the harsh desert climate of excessively hot days and cool nights.

Emanating from two majestic limestone walls, a totally self-contained, tailor-made facility was conceived, one capable of hosting numerous events and functions, in the most efficient and comfortable way possible. All services and facilities required, such as a full bar, industrial kitchen, bathrooms, showers, and changing rooms, were all discretely embedded within the walls, while a striking 6m x 40m long cantilever provides shade and shelter with uninterrupted vistas of the new pool and gardens.

To further combat this harsh environment, shade screens and air conditioning with cooling and heating capabilities were invisibly incorporated within the structure and delivered via discrete linear grooves. Music and lighting were also incorporated and concealed to top off the mood, and assure unforgettable gatherings in this fully loaded, tailor-made outdoor environment.

In the axe of the main residence, framing all the living spaces, the swimming pool was conceived as the heartbeat of the project. An elegant travertine stone basin, brimming with water, becomes the backdrop and the mesmerizing element of all the gatherings and events. In this pure elliptical form, massive travertine slabs were laid side by side, then hand-carved to produce this seamless and elegant form that gently slopes to produce a natural beach descent, an aqua lounge, and then warps to become a suspended bench and Jacuzzi that wraps around the pool.