This summer house serves as a yearly retreat for a family that lives internationally. The idea of the kitchen fire as the symbolic center of Armenian home and family life was the organizing principle of this structure. Inspiration was drawn from traditional vernacular Armenian architecture, in which a "tonir," a fire pit used for baking bread, is arranged in the center of the home with a "hazarashen," an opening in the roof to admit sunlight and release smoke, placed directly above.
The central feature of the house is a fireplace, which borders an atrium that stretches the length of the structure and culminates in a skylight, providing an updated interpretation of the traditional relationship between the family fire and the sunlight. The house's public spaces fill the ground floor; private spaces are located upstairs.