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Project location: Hamamet, Tunisia

Completion Year: 2014

Photo credits: Sophia Baraket

Renovation and extension of a traditional courtyard house in the historic heart of the city Hammamet, on the Tunisian coast.

The intention was to maintain the alternating solids and voids that is distinctive for the patio house typology and to preserve the unique elements of the existing house such as the entrance court, the central patio and the vaults.

This house was originally part of a larger traditional courtyard house. A central courtyard was the common space for an extended family, functioning like a shared living area. Each side of the courtyard was a private suite for each family.

Additionally, a small patio served as a buffer zone between the entrance to the house and the street. This courtyard house was later divided through inheritance proceeding, and all parts except for one were demolished and replaced by dense collective housing buildings.

The only preserved part was the central one containing the original courtyard, a small patio aside the street, and two housing volumes on each side of the courtyard.

These remaining parts of the old courtyard house were transformed several times but retained an alternation of solids and voids that provides light and natural ventilation.

The aim of our proposal was to maintain the two courtyards and organize the main living functions around them, and also to create a multitude of horizontal and vertical connections - spatial and visual.

In order to give more room for the client without making obstruction of the patio, we proposed a vertical extension. A two-level extension, aligned in height with the adjacent buildings, overlooking the street. This added volume hosts the guests living area and reveals the presence of a house hither­to invisible from the street.

It has its own independent terrace that is accessible from an exterior stair. The core of the house is apprehensive from the studio terrace, and a visual connection is established.

The inhabitants can interact between the different spaces and levels of the house, layers of verticality and new visuals connections are created.

We aimed to use only local materials and know-how. All woodwork and metalwork are custom made by local artisans. All exterior surfaces are treated in the same way in order to unify the exterior spaces, all in white. The use of plaster and lime paint on all exterior walls using traditional techniques relates to history and climate, highlighting the relation between light and shadow. The floors are in concrete that is left raw in the living room, waxed in the bedrooms and white-washed in the two courtyards.