Mop House, Kuwait

Mop House is one of the single-family housing designed by AGi architects. Located in a residential area in Kuwait City, the site consists of a rectangular plot, which can be accessed from either side of the surrounding streets to allow for both a private and a public entrance. After moving along a curved wall that guides the visitor from the exterior of the plot into the center, one reaches the main entrance into the house. Upon entering through the main door frame, the space opens up to reveal the swimming pool and the public living areas of the house.

The client wanted a public area that opened to the garden. For these reasons, the geometric shapes used by AGi architects respond not only to the integration of the adjacent garden to the house but also to the idea of creating a unique image within the area. Furthermore, the residence can accommodate for a potential division in the future, as planned by the owners. The structure of the house and the distribution of the circulation, as well as the positioning of the entrances and lift allows for assured privacy between the parents and children in the prospective future. The garden next to the house is the vertical axis and generator of the movement of the volumes.

The form of the residence is reminiscent of the movement patterns of a mop, from which flexible volumes are organized diagonally around a central axis. This axis twists upwards to generate spaces that that channel views into different directions: including the front side of the house, the side gardens, and angles of the back street. The integration of the curve in the project responds to the movement of volumes and circulation. The circulation surrounding the patio on the first floor contrives of a succession of living spaces, which not only communicate to one another, but also relate visually the interior section of the patio to the exterior. The`first floor overhangs to shade the rooms on the ground floor, and the patio is designed to define a break in between the multiple volumes of the house, which subtly reveals a side garden. The Stairs are cladded in bamboo, marking a special space in the house. The stairs ascend leaving a hollow space in the center, from which several suspended lights are placed at different heights conveying a particular originality to the space.