The house in Mei Ami In the locality of Mei Ami, which is located on a high ridge with a beautiful mountain view, a 240 sqm house was designed on a 700 sqm triangular plot situated on a slope. Due to the unique topography of the area, the house has been built on one level, not including a separate lower-level unit that has been dug into the sloping landscape and that can be accessed through an external steel staircase.
The street-side entrance to the house spans a long facade, and creates a separation between the two sleeping wings of the house, the parental wing on the right and the children’s wing on the left. Entering from the common space, a hanging cube hovers above the landscape. A steel pergola spans from east to west, creating a series of balconies that face the breathtaking landscape. Each balcony is designed to maximize comfortable lounging at each season of the year. The structure of the hanging cube protects the edifice from heavy gusts of West-winds in the winter.
A window filled corridor leads from the main balcony to the children's rooms, culminating in a communal space that serves as the family room. The balconies are covered with smoothed concrete ingrained with basalt volcanic rock. The same volcanic rock was also used to cover the wall of the fireplace in the living room. Next to the fireplace is the library, a delicate and complex structure of steel and oak blocks. Thin steel frames outline the windows on the street-facing facade, while the stone-cut fence that faces it creates a contrast to the clean, slick lines of the house.
The separate living unit is located in the lower-rear part of the house. It is covered with the same stone-cut element as the fence, creating a visual connection to the terraces in the courtyard. The terraces are filled with vegetation and a flagstone footpath connects the upper and lower courtyards. The kitchen was planned in three parallel lines. The cabinets are covered birch and the working surfaces are made of white marble with grey veins. A black island covered black marble stands in the center of the room, with elegant lighting fixtures hanging above it at different heights.
