Author: Dennis

Surrounded by hills, valleys and greenery, the house opens itself up to its environment through its transparent glass walls and windows, hence capturing breath-taking views. The living area, dining and kitchen all open up to the garden and the infinity pool. The south-facing bedrooms on the first floor all open up to views of the foggy mountains. The kitchen connects to a private vegetable garden on the ground floor. All the bedrooms on the first floor open up to a family area complimented with a central balcony. A floor to ceiling glass window creates a seamless connection between the family area and the balcony where beautiful views can be enjoyed. The choice of materials for the house exhibits earthy tones, hues and wooden elements which compliments the surrounding greenery.

Hill view house sits gracefully within a sloped terrain and acts as a “lens” capturing breath-taking views from the bedrooms on the first floor. The living area overlooks a lap pool which sculpts itself into the interior, creating an indoor-outdoor aquatic experience. This house boasts of a ventilated wooden skin crafted onto its face which cuts off the harsh influence of the western sun.
Meticulously crafted with a series of inverted wooden panels, this shading device acts as an incredible piece of art, hence giving the building a unique character. The minimalistic design of this house echoes a sense of tranquility.

The L-shape configuration of the house around the swimming pool gives a sense of privacy and creates enjoyable views from the interior spaces overlooking the pool. The living area and bedrooms all open up to the pool through open terraces and balconies. The façade of each unit boasts of a wide shell structure covering the main building hence providing shade and protection from the elements of the weather. A generous roof terrace overlooks the streetscape and acts as a break-out area
from the master suite on the second floor. The pool area is complimented with a green belt which creates a lush ambience. The scale of the house gives a sense of presence with transparent glass planes complimenting its dynamic composition.

A grand foyer welcomes visitors into the main core via its curved wall threshold which creates a seamless flow from the outdoor into the indoor. The core splits the two anchor spaces on the eastern and western boundary of the building.  An element of living is crowned on the building with two bedroom and studio apartment spaces. This creates a live-work environment and brings about dynamism into the design of the building. Privacy is created from the open balconies facing the southern boundary through a series of architectural vertical elements. Hues of natural earth complimented with a transparent glass façade characterises the building fabric and hence acts as a subtle edifice within its landscape.

Upon entry into the house, the seamless connection of the swimming pool brings an element of the outdoor into the indoor space through the large floor to ceiling glass windows. The interior of the house is split into two segments through the staircase and a media wall which acts as an axis defining the public functions and private functions of the house.
A sense of elegance and grandeur is experienced through the building’s form and composition as well as the interior space. A crafted brise-soleil shades and filters the daylight in the living area through the large glass windows on the southern façade. A breath-taking view can be enjoyed from the roof terrace to capture the dynamic skyline of Labone and Osu. Blank walls on the western façade of the two houses juxtaposed creates privacy and cuts off the heat of the western sun into the interior spaces.

This has been achieved through the creation of indoor and outdoor spatial qualities; hence an interaction with lush greenery, waterbodies, break-out areas, green walls and indoor gardens. 

The residential enclave consists of 5 executive housing units and 4 terrace housing units. Each housing typology showcases a unique indoor-outdoor spatial quality with connectivity to nature and the outdoors being a pivotal design principle. Bedrooms spill over towards the pool, living areas open up to private gardens and a community green break-out area brings the various residents together. 

The clean and minimalist forms of the buildings and warm material palettes of wood and stone creates a subtle and natural atmosphere for the residents of the community. The lush green pockets compliments and improves the environmental quality of the neighbourhood.

Bold curvilinear forms have been articulated on the west to represent the feminine aspect of the brief whilst strong linear forms echoes on the east to represent the masculinity of the house. This 4-bedroom vacation home has been designed to enjoy stunning views of its immediate surroundings through transparent planes that open up to the outdoor. The Z-shape of the house was intentionally orchestrated to split the site into various private, public and semi-private zones. Again, the plan of the building is designed to harness the south-western cool breeze blowing over the swimming pool into the interior spaces.
The boundary line between the outdoor and indoor has been blurred by the transparent foldable glass doors and large windows which welcomes cool breeze and optimum daylight into the various spaces. The choice of curved glass windows expresses the notion of continuity through the eyes of the observer.

Villa Z respects nature by expressing meticulously crafted vertical timber panels on its “skin”. This creates a contrasting design barrier between the activities on the lower and upper levels of the building. A graceful indigenously inspired garment is crafted onto the façade of the building on the south. The play of horizontal and vertical timber latticework was inspired by the interlocking strands of Ghanaian textile weaving. Architecturally, the composition puts a traditional garment on the building, hence giving it a unique modern but indigenous character.