Villa AM – The Contemporary Saudi Arabian Home
Light and wind become active climatic agents shaping the use and mood of Villa AM and Giallo Dorato (Vicenza stone) contributes to the poetry of colours and textures characterizing its atmosphere.
Giallo Dorato, supplied by Grassi Pietre, was selected for all the exterior and interior claddings, flooring, and stairs of the Villa:
“This material was chosen because it’s evocative of the context in which the house is built. It blends in perfectly with Jeddah’s colour palette but, most importantly, it is a great material to face the area’s sandstorms. It has a unique texture when in contact with light, giving the house a very interesting materiality.” Laura Beneyto, Art Director at MESURA.
The house always looks for shades, which in Jeddah comes from the North-West wind swaying about 10m above the ground. The shape and passageways are built to capture the breeze and to ensure natural cooling across the building.
Throughout the day, the place displays multiple colour palettes, with sunrise and dusk being the most memorable moments. Villa AM has been designed in a way that these moments can be experienced through climate, site-specific architectural decisions.
The house is a continuous game of stone-cladded walls setting shade on the right space at the right time. Windows face all four directions, allowing the interiors to receive multiple types of lighting during the day, while exterior passageways are determined by high walls that create shadowed paths, enabling convenient use of these spaces even in the heat.
Design: MESURA
Photography: Marina Denisova, Guillem Cruells, MESURA