The Desert Retreat single-family residence project, nestled within the Al Madamdesert just a few kilometers from the city of Sharjah, takes its inspiration from the surrounding landscape, making it the cornerstone of its architectural design. The building itself gently blends with the desert, fostering a continuous integration into this extraordinary natural environment.
Indeed,the structure harmoniously merges with the undulating sand dunes, mirroring the hues of nature in its choice of materials and color palette. The building, with its clean and regular lines, almost appears to vanish into the landscape. This vanishing act is achieved through the deliberate placement of artificial sand dunes on three sides. These dunes not only define the building's elevation butalso act as a barrier against the air flows, underscoring the connection between the indoors and the outdoors.
Comprising three interconnected structures, all on a single level, a spacious pergola connects these volumes, providing much-needed shade during the sweltering desert hours. The boundary between the built and the natural world becomes fluid, thanks to the clever use of glass which not only offers a clear view of the arid garden but also gently filters the sunlight through the surrounding vegetation and the expansive pergola.
This strategic use of glass results in an innovative distribution of interior spaces that transcends the conventional notion of closed and open. A geometric interplay of solids and voids is created, allowing the desert's presence to infiltrate the house through the vegetation-filled apertures.