Afra House

The Afra House project commenced with the renovation of a separate two-story residential unit in Lavasan. The building's elevated and sloped location, with a 9.5-meter difference in elevation from the street level, posed challenges and prolonged access to the main entrance. Given the project's circumstances, the primary design approach revolved around three main axes:

1. Facilitating communication.
2. Facilitating access to the building and redefining functions.
3. Providing and updating user interfaces.

To improve access to the complex, the adopted strategy involves placing an elevator near the ground entrance to reach the first-floor level of the villa and then creating a small bridge to access from the elevator platform to the terrace of the first-floor house. The new circulation system provides primary access to the building via the elevator and bridge, with secondary access through courtyard stairs and a garden path.

As a result, the main entrance of the house has been relocated to the first floor, which includes primary communal spaces such as the living and reception areas, kitchen, and guest bedroom.

The existing topography and level differences on the project site, along with the overall elevation variance, provided an opportunity to define an additional volume extension on three levels near the entrance to accommodate other necessary villa spaces.

This extension structure at the ground level includes a caretaker suite, a multipurpose space on the first floor (capable of functioning as a gym, guest suite, office, or home theater), and on the second floor, a jacuzzi, shower, and restroom adjacent to the swimming pool.

The geometry and placement of the connecting bridge between the new structure and the existing building are based on the starting and ending points on both sides of the complex, as well as the positions of the trees on the site. Additionally, rotations of the three-story building were implemented to ensure privacy, optimize views, and align with existing site lines.