The rural area around El-Jadida is the setting of this contemporary take on a Moroccan Riad. The clients are a couple in their 50's with kids living abroad. The desire is to create a little oasis where their adult kids can come home to, enjoy their vacation far away from their busy lives. When their offspring is not home the available space is to be used to run a Bed & Breakfast.

The landscape is rough and provides very little shelter from the often strong winds. As a first act a piece of land measuring 14 x 14 m is enclosed. The area is now protected and provides ideal conditions for trees, shrubs, and perennials to flourish. In the middle, a small pond is provided, collecting rainwater and irrigating the greenery. A piece of bare land becomes an oasis. Around the garden the villa unfolds. The main rooms are organised as a linear sequence of spaces, minimising spacial connections indoor and maximising connection with the garden. The rooms are dimensioned individually and extruded outward to not compromise the clear shape of the garden. Two circular openings are punched out of the garden walls, connecting the oasis with the surrounding landscape.

Location: El-Jadida, BE | Program: Rural Bed & Breakfast | Year: 2017-... | Client: Private | Status: under construction | Task: concept-building permit | Budget: not disclosed | Size: 250m² | Local Architect: Omar Hlimi | People: Matthias Salaets