Three Gardens House in Kuwait by AGi Architects

Constructing environments that are comfortable for humans in the Middle East must always be a challenge, even more so if the project aims to produce a natural cooling strategy. This is precisely the brief that was presented to AGi Architects by clients looking to build a new home in the wealthy, insanely arid climate of Kuwait. The Designers were faced with the requirement that the dwelling should be a series of spaces that can be used all year round, and the solution they found is wonderfully ingenious.

In order to tackle this design problem, the Architects asked if it was possible to live in external spaces on different floors of a building and if activities could be categorised by season. The result was essentially three levels of garden to be utilised at different times of year. Positioning a basement four metres below the street allows for a courtyard area that is functional on the most insanely hot days. Making use of the grounds thermal mass here also helps to keep a cooler general temperature to the harsh outdoors, along with shadows from the main structure of the building that strategically shade. In the interest of cooling from within, a large sheet of water also forms part of the overall approach and makes use of evapotranspiration to freshen the living spaces above.

Materials selected both inside and out have been considered as an extension of the design concept whilst pushing a super contemporary agenda. Choosing a uniform stone cladding for the envelope and crisp, white tiles to the majority of the interior, both offering surfaces that are conventionally associated to be cool surfaces that don’t retain the heat. The additional benefit of the white tiles being light, but not heat, can be encouraged to bounce and reflect down into all rooms to naturally illuminate.

A dominant, but also intelligent, feature of the design is the anodised aluminium cladding that forms both a canopy to the roof level and a screening to external circulation spaces. Not only there to look very cool, it also conceals for privacy and filters out some of the suns harsh rays meaning even greenery can survive and flourish.

It would be forgivable to look at this project and not recognise it as a house at all, with its overall focus and celebration of circulation spaces being undeniably the focus, this could be easily mistaken for a six star hotel. What we do actually have though is a fascinating exploration of how to create environments in extreme climates that not only offer year round comfort but also redefine how we live our daily lives.

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