The client wanted an all-seasons holiday home that stood out from current new-build houses in Algeria. The locality combines urban and seaside resort qualities. With adjoining buildings on three sides, the main facade is set back behind a garden, for privacy. Local, environmentally friendly materials are favoured. The section housing the bedroom, bathroom, hammam and garage is of cyclopean concrete - stones gathered from local fields, embedded in cement. The living room and kitchen part, subdivided by a stone chimney, is wood-framed with a corrugated galvanised steel covering. The form of the hammam, with pendentive dome, is inspired by the work of Hassan Fathy.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture