AGi Architects have designed the 6000.0 m2 Nirvana Home in 2017. This project started from the concept of Nirvana, a mental state that exudes effects in the spiritual and physical planes. It is kind of difficult to be explained and only people who practice meditation are able to understand how far they are from reaching it.
Particularly these thoughts have led the architects to name this project Nirvana.
The team at AGi Architects prefer to call their project a “home” rather than a “house” or “villa” simply because they say that the features of a home are emotional and affective and that Nirvana was built to satisfy these particular needs of its inhabitants.
This project also reflects the culture within which it is created. Therefore, the point of contact with the place at ground level is a public floor intended for socialization. To complete this idea, the spaces are interconnected through various courtyards.
The existing geometric voids covered in grey polished marble were built to contrast the exterior’s white rough ceramic finish.
The rooms on difference façades look towards the sea, while three-dimensional courtyards hold gardens and act as shared spaces for parents and children.
The private spaces of Nirvana home are found on the last floor and are intended for the exclusive use of parents who are able to watch over the indoor activities without neglecting the sight of the sea and the horizon.
From the architect:
There are no words to define the concept of Nirvana, a mental state with effects in the physical and spiritual planes. This makes it difficult to explain and only those who practice meditation can understand how far they are from reaching it.
These thoughts led us to name this project Nirvana. Words like “house”, “villa”, or “palace” fail to represent the scale of the building, its materialisation, or its spatial order. We prefer the term “home”. The features of a home are not physical, but rather emotional and affective, and Nirvana Home has been designed and built to satisfy the needs of the inhabitants in these terms.
This home is also a reflection of the culture within which it is developed. In this sense, its point of contact with the location at ground level is a public floor dedicated to socialisation, for the gathering of family and friends. With this purpose in mind, the spaces were designed to look at one another, detached from the surroundings and interconnected through a series of courtyards.
The series of geometric voids in grey polished marble contrasts with the exterior’s white rough ceramic finish. The duality of textures is similar to that found in a marble quarry, where the polished geometric voids contrast with the natural mountain terrain.
Inside Nirvana Home, little by little, step by step, the horizon and the sea begin to dominate and the building is marked by a formidable diagonal that displaces matter so as to reach maximum transparency, allowing rooms on different façades to look towards the sea. This strategy generates a string of empty spaces that become three-dimensional courtyards holding gardens at different heights and acting as shared spaces for parents and children. The last floor of Nirvana Home is where the private spaces are found, for the exclusive use of the parents who, from this privileged position, are able to preside over the indoor activities of the home without losing sight of the sea and the horizon.
· Architects: AGi Architects
· Location: Kuwait
· Main Architects: Nasser B. Abulhasan, Joaquín Pérez – Goicoechea
· Area: 6000.0 m2
· Project Year: 2017
· Photographs: Fernando Guerra – FG+SG
· Manufacturers: Panoramah!, Faveton, Gunni&Trentino
· Design Project Leader: Daniel Muñoz
· Onsite Project Leaders: Sara Barranco , Samer Mohammad
· Project Team: Margaux Van Houtte , Abdul Hafiz Bahi El Din Mohamed , Javier Alonso , Nima Haghighatpour , Ana López , Marisa Ollero
· Engineers: Arturo Macusi , Joseph Thomas
· Lighting: Lara Elbaz , Rafael Gallego
· Interior Design: AGi architects
· Interior Consultant: María Fink
