• • 07 June 2016
  • 
  •  Edwin Seda
• Conservation Architecture , Aga Khan Awards For Architecture , Architecture , Residential , Contemporary , Contemporary African Directory ,

Located on the coast, the 25-year-old main house is within a gated community that faces the ocean waters of Egypt's Al ‘Alamayn. It is alaboured effort towards rejuvenating an existing house and giving it permanence and relevance in contemporary architecture, something that has been at the forefront of guiding the styles of the day. While architecture cannot be solely spoken of as emphasis on style, it is important to note that the entire point of Moataz Al Alfy engaging in this endeavour was to rejuvenate the space and recultivate a modern spirit as he saw fit.

The brief required a new building to serve as an extension to this main house on its eastern side, sharing the garden and pool. Rectangular shaped rooms can function independently of each other and are defined by transparency and solidity, proximity and distance to each other. Nominated as an entry into the aga khan awards, it is perhaps with this background in mind that Fahmy's emphasis in the effectiveness and articulate knowledge of spaces and contemporary modern architecture is merged with the conventional traditional feel of the old house to achieve a new hybrid that not only explores the transcultural effect of architecture but also expresses a somewhat unity that permeates the entire process of spatial perception within this project.

Facing windows allow cross ventilation and light throughout the building towards thermal comfort. This was especially important considering the location of the project in a hot and humid environment The project ultimately uses all the tenets of passive cooling and thermal comfort towards regulating the internal temperatures of the rooms within the house. The structural system of column and slab is governed by the existing grid, walls are of white stone, and the roof is terracotta.

The hollow- block concrete ceiling allows repetition of openings to the sky.

• • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 3

  • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 2

  • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 6

• • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 5

  • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 8

  • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 7

• • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 9

  • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 01

  • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 11

• • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 10

  • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 13

  • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects4

• • • 

    © Al Alfy House Shahira Fahmy Architects 15