VILLA FOR A DENTIST
POINTE-NOIRE, CONGO

2016

A dentist doctor and his family wanted to make the most of this beachside plot facing the Atlantic Ocean, in the outskirt of the city of Pointe-Noire, a historic trade hub of the French Colonial Empire, in the Republic of Congo.

Besides site adaptation and ocean sights fruition, the clients ask for a house that has to make the most of sustainable modern architecture tools and assures a significant level of autonomy from the not-so-reliable local energy grid.

The site presents a 35 percent slope towards the beach within a 30 meters span. Therefore, the entry-level is an orientation level that split the house in an upward nightly story, hosting two independent suites, with the most elevated ocean views and a low level where family rooms, the kitchen, and the main living rooms are situated. These rooms also accompany the gradual descent of the house organization towards Lowers outdoors spaces, the garden, and the beach.

The entry-level protrudes into a suspended infinity pool that’s connected to the underneath living room and family rooms while offering the most of a breathtaking seaside sight. This level also hosts two guest rooms. Below grade, underneath the entry-level, there are the utility rooms, including water tanks for harvesting rainwater, battery for a solar roof, conceived as a photovoltaic shingles cladding roof.

The objective of the project was for a net-zero villa that would have sought HQE certification – an international HQE standard set up on four-level (environment management, Energy management, Health management, and comfort) – Equivalent to the US LEED gold.

Overall, sustainability features include recycling rainwater for specific usage, the solar roof for complete energy autonomy, even aiming to give back to the inefficient local grid.

The house poses itself in accordance to the slope, descending all along toward the beach with split volumes, although unified under an organic roof that drains and collects rainwater and deploys solar roofing. Adaptation to terrain minimized excavation and further soil erosion while replanting strategically to provide shade and using on-site materials such as laterite stones for retaining walls.