HOUSE IN AN OASIS
AlUla, Saudi Arabia

In the spirit of the mud walls scattered around the oasis, where narrow paths lead to plots full of vegetation, a series of rammed earth walls invite the landscape within and create a porous building protected from the elements yet open to the palm grove. The house is an inhabited landscape where organic forms emerge from the ground like rocks in the landscape, a place of refuge and wonder, where the distinction between interior and exterior is ambiguous and nuanced. A cavernous underground space allows flood and rain water to collect without draining the ground, reinterpreting the role of irrigation in the oasis today, historically crucial for life in the oasis. The precious water, protected and exhibited, in turn becomes its main regulating thermal device, tying together ground, walls and roof into one indivisible house for AlUla.

Year
2022 winning competition entry
Program
Private residence
Floor area
247 m²
Budget
Confidential
Client
Confidential
Partners
Transsolar (sustainability and environmental engineering)
Project