The Dolunay Villa is situated along the coast of the Aegean Sea in Turkey’s southwestern province of Muğla. It has been carefully sited amid the natural rugged setting, prioritising the spectacular sea views. The site is accessed from the north, with a curving road that leads
to the drop-off for the villa. The design uses the natural contours of the site to create a low-rise building that appears as a single storey structure on approach. The house is embedded within a beautiful Mediterranean garden that offers a multisensory experience with fragrant plants such as thyme and lavender alongside rich seasonal planting and mature olive trees. The main entrance takes you directly to the heart of the villa with the private family quarters to the eastern side, orientated to respond to the contours of the site, and the public living and dining areas to the west, with exceptional views of the setting sun over the Aegean. The journey through the villa is from “opaque to open”, reflecting the differing levels of privacy throughout and the
design seeks to blur the boundaries between inside and outside living, with the large glass doors along the façade that slide back completely providing an unobstructed flow of space between the interior and exterior spaces. The house features a handcrafted undulating structural timber roof. The prefabricated and precision-engineered structure contains substantially less carbon than a typical concrete roof. The solid structural oak beams rest on steel columns, supporting a large 7,5 m cantilever, providing generous outdoor shaded spaces and cool shaded courtyards to the rear. The central feature stair that connects the two levels is made from solid limestone and is supported through post-tensioned cables running through the stone with no other visible supports. Reflecting the high levels of craftsmanship in the design, each element has been designed to respond to the specific requirements of the client – from hand- carved solid timber doors to bespoke ceramic tiles and basin in the bathrooms.
CREDITS
Architectural Design:
Foster + Partners
Design Team: David Summerfield, Kirsten Scott, Niall
Dempsey, Ignacio Diaz, Sunil Rajaratnam, Ana Reis, Daniel Rodrigues, Guy
Stewart, Rob Seymour, Luca Caroti
Client: Kaplankaya and Dolunay Villa
Main Contractor: Matte Construction & Development
Local Architects: Design Group Istanbul, Artiko Architects
Structural Engineer: Design Group Istanbul
Mechanical Engineer: Okutan Mühendislik
Landscape Consultant: Exterior Architecture, Jan Muse
Landscape Designers
Lighting Engineers: Design Group Istanbul
Project Location: Milas, Muğla
Completion Date: 2019
Site Area: 17.568 sqm
Project Area: 1.668 sqm
Photographs: Nigel
Young
