Private Villa In Bahrain

Location: Durrat Al Bahrain, the third-largest artificial island in Bahrain after Northern City and Diyar Al Muharraq Islands. It lies 40.5 km south of the capital, Manama, on Bahrain Island.

- Imran Ashiq

Project: A weekend retreat for a local Bahraini family and their friends to rejuvenate after a long week at work. Client Brief: Create a modern landscape with a connection to Arabic culture and art. The client enjoyed entertaining and having guests over regularly, the brief was to also provide areas of relaxation and function whilst maintaining the views to the waterfront.

Design Focus: The design required a strong connection with the interior design linking the two with architectural forms and pattern, I think you can still enjoy a landscape even if you have a vista through your window looking out.

I wanted to create a space that had clean lines and was linear in form and was complemented with architectural planting with various textures and shades of green. Having a range of experience through the space was very important as choice is something that caters to your mood.

Mashrabiya walls and pool- The Mashrabiya walls were the highlight of the space and gave a dramatic yet calming effect to space, cascading sounds of water can be heard inside the villa even when the doors are closed so the interior lounge space had a pleasant feel to it. At night, the walls would become more sculptural pieces of art with gradient lighting which would emphasize further the strong pattern and stand out amongst the green climbers and backdrop of lush planting.