Location: Çeşme, Turkey
Architect: Erdil Architecture and Construction
Material: Concrete, Steel, Natural Stone, Wood and Glass
Completion date: 2016
Site area: 520m2
Architect in Charge: Selim Erdil
Team: Izgi Yazıcı, Gözde Özder
Type of Project: Single Family Dwelling
Photographer: Tunç Suerdaş
Story:
Text provided by the architects:
Ma Vie La is a minimalist house in Pasalimani, Çeşme, Turkey. The developers are Edip Sincere and Selim Erdil. Selim Erdil is also the designer of the house. The house was to be built with the intention to sell. The land is situated on a steep slope of a hill, overlooking the bay of Ilica on The Aegean Sea.
Some of the design requirements were the following:
1. Take advantage of the view as much as possible,
2. Provide a calm exterior living area by protecting the dwellers from the strong and steady prevailing Meltem winds.
3. Maximize the dwellers’ privacy from the potential encroachment of the neighboring houses, maximize interior and exterior living areas by overcoming the challenging shape and size limitations of the land.
4. Eliminate unusable areas that would be caused by odd shape and steep grade of the land.
5. Must be unique
The cantilever has four specific purposes: a) Maximising the interior and exterior areas by minimizing the footprint. b) The neighboring lot and house are very close to the house. The cantilever pushes the building mass out toward the sea view, clearing adjacent houses and minimizing any potential encroachment, without moving the footprint that would otherwise take up the valuable garden area. c) Çeşme is known for the strong prevailing Meltem winds. The shifted mass creates a precious outdoor living area where the building shields the roadside front terrace, opposite of the sea view. d) The poolside living area is below the overhang, which provides plenty of natural shade. Building codes in Çeşme require all exterior areas between columns as supporting structures to be considered usable building area. So to be able to shift the mass as such, it was cantilevered, creating an 8-meter overhang.
The lot is narrow and long. The narrow side faces the view and the long sides face the neighboring lots. This with the very steep grade meant high retaining walls and unusable side gardens creating dead-ends. The design team decided to use the building façade and the retaining walls bordering the property like a pool basin, connecting ends with an L shaped wall, giving space to a 22-meter long pool and a sizable garden. To further maximize living areas folding/sliding systems were used to make convertible living spaces to switch between indoor and outdoor. For example, when opened the sea view terrace doors convert the living room into a 110m2 terrace.
Most of the materials used in the house are recycled, recyclable, and/or natural. Five main materials are used: Concrete, Steel, Natural Stone, Wood, and Glass. Bathrooms are Arabescato marble from the Muğla region of Turkey. The bedroom floors are rustic oak. Shutters are thermally treated pine wood. The exterior paving is a three-color slate from the Kula region of Turkey. The landscaping was done with local plants such as olive, mastic, and cypress trees in Cor-ten steel-clad concrete planters. The site irrigation is done with an 80 metric ton cistern that collects rainwater year-round. Solar power meets the hot water needs of the house. No mass-produced materials were used with the exception of plumbing and electrical infrastructure. Thus almost all manufacturing was hand made, including the custom-designed furniture.
Infrastructure
Year-round irrigation with rainwater cistern
Air Conditioning and Heating: Daikin VRV IV central system heat pump
Electrical Switchgear: Legrand, Automation and Switch / Socket groups: Bticino
Irrigation: RainBird automatic irrigation, Wilo booster
Plumbing: Grohe, Wilo, Barazza
Cuisine: Scavolini
Counter: Samsung
Fireplace: Meda
Roof: Braas
Aluminum Windows: Schüco
Shutter systems: Baier
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