Cantilever House
uc21 architects
8. November 2021
Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
Cantilever House is located in Mosha, Damavand, sixty kilometers from Tehran at an elevation of 2,400 meters, where we have very strong winters. The 600 m2 (30x20 m) site has a slope of 20% — we confronted such a difficult circumstance and did our best to meet the client's demands.
Location: Mosha, Damavand, Iran
Architect: uc21 architects
- Lead Architect: Amin Haghighat Gou
Electrical: Mehdi Safe
Mechanical: Amir Hossein Borji
Graphics: Amin Haghighat Gou
Gross Built Area: 458 m2
Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
Due to this situation, we decided to divide the land into three parts: the biggest is on the north by the road, where we located the building; the second is used for the outdoor entertainment activities; and the third part is the green space.
From this base we designed the basement for entertainment (consisting of jacuzzi and bar) and directly connected it to the outdoor entertainment area, where there is a heated swimming pool, a fireplace, and a multipurpose area.
Drawing: uc21 architects
The ground floor is used for the private area (bedrooms) and we designed two different volumes: a little one for the master bedroom and a big one used for the villa entry and guest bedrooms. To gain more spaces and add more functions on this floor, we extended both volumes and rotate the southern part by 30 degrees, adding one more bedroom in the western part and creating a bigger master bedroom. These ground floor extensions further allowed us to partially cover the swimming pool (useful for winter use on snowy days) and completely cover the fireplace area. Lastly, we pushed a northern portion of the biggest volume for the building entry and to create a third little volume used for parking.
Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
The first floor is used for the living area and is also divided in two volumes, one for the living room and one for kitchen and dining. These volumes are placed perpendicular to the lower floors for additional functions of the ground floor extensions: two large terraces. The living area is located on the top floor for the spectacular view we have of the surrounding landscape. This concept helped us to have more area on the villa and have more garden area, too, satisfying all of the client's needs.
Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
The best decision was to make the villa in harmony with the surrounding mountains by giving it a shape that resembles them, and by extending some of the floors by one meter and alternating them. As such, pitches were formed that facilitated rainwater drainage and made the building in harmony with the environment in which it is located.
Furthermore, it was decided to give a completely white color to the building to camouflage it with the snow in winter and to make a bold statement in the summer. Finally, large glass surfaces were used to admire the beautiful views of the mountains.
Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
Ground floor (Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh)
Stair looking to basement (Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh)
Basement bar and jacuzzi (Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh)
Basement and outdoor pool (Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh)
Ground floor bedroom (Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh)
First floor dining area (Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh)
First floor kitchen (Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh)
First floor living area (Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh)
Photo: Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh
Drawing: uc21 architects
Drawing: uc21 architects
Drawing: uc21 architects
Drawing: uc21 architects
Related articles
-
‘A Vertical Landscape for Its Residents’
1 month ago
-
Watching the Shortlist
1 month ago
-
TH House
1 month ago
-
Reimagining London in Fortnite
1 month ago
-
Introducing Elias
2 months ago