in a small lebanese village called chnaniir, DAZARCHITECTS has built ?CH730 villa? to step into the surrounding topography. designed as an ?architectural experience from beginning to end,? the new residence takes advantage of the 500m-high site, providing the client with an affordable house that interacts with the landscape.

all images courtesy of DAZARCHITECTS
 
 
positioned on the edge of a cliff, the site of CH730 villa totals an area of 8719 ft2 (810 m2). with its privileged position, the new house boasts impressive views over the valley of chnaniir. taking advantage of the 25m slope towards the river, the sloped terrain played a pivotal role for the architect when developing the massing and shape of the new intervention.

   
the sloped site posed many challenges to the architect, and in response the design team created a house full of clever solutions and creative ideas. the conceptual idea behind the project was to build a home that met three main objectives: achieving a good adaptation within the overall streetscape, inserting the building into the topography of the existing terrain and implanting the client?s program.

 
 
the design of the house began with the idea of placing a monolithic concrete structure on top of a black glass platform. the end result maintains this simple geometry, but the upper volume is instead rotated downwards, in an effort to better blend into the topography of the site. by slightly pivoting the initial rectangular mass, the bui...