Winner of an International Design Competition that called for new residential designs for a new settlement in Al’Ula, an ancient city some 1,000 km north-west of Riyahd, in Saudi Arabia. The government of KSA had begun investing in the area to create a world-class cultural destination with new cultural institutions to develop tourism.
The design was for a courtyard house with accommodation on three-sides, and one side open to the views along the palm filled oasis – the enclosing wall was formed in thick stabilized rammed earth, and two wind catchers rise up to feed air below the house in earth tubes for cooling. A pool within the courtyard also uses passive cooling for the house.
Alula House
The ancient city was founded in the 6th century around an oasis in the fertile desert valley and was located on the incense road that ran the trade in spices, silk and luxury items. The area is known for its rugged landscape of rocks, canyons and wadis which contrast with the palm-filled oasis near the city centre – it was here that we designed a new house typology that could be used for new residential areas.
Our ambition was to design a prototype for a courtyard house for the 21st century that captures the ancient traditions of Al’Ula yet exploits the latest sustainable principles to make the house comfortable without recourse to fossil fuels. At the same time, we sought an entirely contemporary design, informed by the past but looking to the future.
Our design concept is founded on a fascination with one of the oldest forms of dwelling in human history – the courtyard house. These can be found in China, north Africa, the Mediterranean and of course extensively in the Middle East and Islamic cultures. Described as,
‘the most important, the sacred cell of society was the family. Living within the protection of its own four walls which comprehended a microcosm of courtyards, trees, water, cool vaults and sleeping terraces on the roof and all possible comforts, it was necessary to present an extravagant exterior,’ Djamshid Farassat
With a specific site given as part of the competition brief, our design utilised the sloping site so that a bridge from a carport arrived onto the roof of a single-storey courtyard house. Two sides of the house had a mono-pitched roof covered in glass PV roofing to generate power from the sun.
| Client | KSA |
| Status | Competition |
| Project Team | Chris Gray, John Pardey |
| Photography | © OfLightStudio |
