Urban Garden Residential Villa by Nour Saccal Wins the Bronze A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design

Nour Saccal acknowledged for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 20, 2023 /DesignNewswire/ Urban Garden Residential Villa by Nour Saccal, designed for Saccal Design House, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The recognition forms part of the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

What the Bronze A' Design Award Means

The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.

Regarding Urban Garden Residential Villa

Urban Garden is a residential villa designed for a narrow rectangular plot in a dense neighbourhood. The plot measures 460 square metres and the built area is 1420 square metres. The villa rises as a vertical volume and uses its facades as screens to create privacy. Skylights, openings, shallow water pools, a green wall and a small basement garden bring light, air and greenery inside. The main volume is made of concrete clad in grey stone. Black marble marks the front and back entrances. The interior is arranged as an open plan with views between the floors.

Award Record

With this recognition, Nour Saccal is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award

The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Entries typically include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. Awarded architectural projects are published at https://designers.org/design-category/architecture

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://designers.org/144747
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/144747
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!144747
Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/337447
Further Information from the Laureate: https://bit.ly/3Ej16Sf

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project: Urban Garden Residential Villa
Function: Residential Villa
Category: Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Discipline: Spatial Design
Industry: Architecture
Colors: Steel Blue, Dim Gray, Dark Slate Gray and Cornflower Blue
Images: 5
Client: Saccal Design House

The Recognition

Laureate: Nour Saccal
Country: Lebanon
Recognition: Bronze A' Design Award
Edition: 2022 - 2023
Design ID: #144747

Credits

Team: Hima Francis and Maysa Saccal
Image Credits: Renderer Tony Antoun, 2021 video credits: saccal design house Music: Dreamin' by slow sense Music: porcelain by Moby

Design Details

Unique Properties: The site provided a unique challenge that directly influenced & inspired the design. The house sits on a narrow rectangular plot of 460m2 with a depth twice as long as its façade and is exposed to streets solely at its front and back. The villa was designed as an urban vertical volume that uses its façades as screens to create a sense of privacy within a dense neighbourhood. Embracing the site conditions, the section of the house was a main design tool with multiple punctures designed to let in light.
Inspiration: We were inspired by the client’s love for Japanese gardens and nature to create a house that is not only connected to nature but incorporates within elements from the natural environment. Green, water, air and light; Within the realm of biophilic design we took inspiration from these four elements from which moments and spaces were conceived aiming to design a home that promotes well-being. Intrigue and a sense of invitation (that is often denied) are dual concepts we also played with in the design of the volume in an aim to create privacy within while still engaging the viewer on the outside.
Research: The type of research we conducted was focused on biophilic design and how incorporating elements from biophilia can enhance a person’s well-being. Biophilic design maintains that human beings seek a connection with natural living things and thus incorporating nature, green walls, and providing abundant light conditions have been found to support better cognitive function, physical and psychological well-being. Thus, we incorporated elements of biophilic design in the form of skylights, punctures, shallow water pools, a large green wall around a patio that can be viewed from all the floors and a mini garden in the basement that receives natural sunlight.
Challenge: The challenges we faced were in particular to space layout design while respecting cultural nuances for residential requirements in Kuwait. Particularities such as multiple entrances, separate staff stairs for both male and female, a separate 'diwaniya' for men's' gatherings all had to be reconciled while creating an inviting spatial experience for the end users.
Realization and Technology: The main materials used in the design are concrete that is clad in a grey stone for the main volume with a unique black marble that is used both in the front and back entrance both to highlight them and to give the house a sense of luxurious austerity.
Operation and Interaction: The volume was designed as an urban vertical house that uses its façade as a screen to create privacy against an increasingly dense neighbourhood. Its jagged façade acts as an invitation for passers-by to look in while simultaneously denying the viewer the whole story. The back façade carries on in its austerity and mystique from the main front of the house; a tall black marble façade hides the back entrance door within it from viewers yet announces it simultaneously with dim lighting and a subtle protrusion. Upon entering, an alternate experience awaits, inviting users to discover the space in an open plan and multiple views toward the upper and lower floors.
Project Duration and Location: The project is located in Siddiq area, Kuwait. Construction to begin October 2022
Specifications: Plot size 460 m2, built up area: 1420m2 location: Siddiq, Kuwait phase: construction to start in October 2022
Keywords: urban, garden, biophilia, biophilicdesign