Villa NIKA
Villa Panoramic
Picalla is a village that belongs to the municipality of Tirane since 2015. The geographical coordinates are 41’16’41 “very, 19’48’27” east. 8 km from Tirane 15 min by car. Dominates a subtropical-Mediterranean climate with winter rainfall and average annual temperatures in July +24 ‘Celsius and January +7’ Celsius. It is a hilly terrain and has a very beautiful landscape with fresh air. The plot where the building will be built is 9240 sqm in a sloping terrain oriented from the west, while the building itself is 490 sqm in total and is a villa for a family of 4 members, the villa is divided into 3 volumes with clean forms where each volume has an activity different from each other. Volume 1 is the space where daily life takes place and consists of a garage, kitchen, living room, laundry, living room, a room for friends, and an entrance atrium which serves as the staircase to the second floor enjoying the landscape with green spaces but at the same time serves for natural ventilation of the room. The part from the west is all in the glass which characterizes the concept of the villa and which serves as a screen to enjoy the relaxing landscape. Volume 2 is the working space in which there is a music studio that is treated with carbonized wood paneling both from the outside and inside to have the best acoustics, the space from the outside is a pure rectangular shape and from the inside, due to the acoustics it is an irregular shape so that the sound reflects indirectly. Volume 2 unlike volumes 1 and 3 do not have direct communication with other volumes, to move to volume 2 must be passed from the terrace in order to have a detachment from family life or vice versa when from the studio of music to go home all the stresses and inspirations of work to be left out. Volume 3 is the night space where the bedrooms are located: matrimonial room with wardrobe, and bathroom with bathtub which has a visual communication with the ZEN park located in the northern part. Children’s bedrooms and a shared bathroom. All rooms are oriented southwest with a glass space that at the same time serves as a screen to enjoy the view of the landscape of Picalla which is the most interesting point of the project concept. For the family, this villa is conceived as a “Getaway” from the stress and noise of the city of Tirane. On the north side of the villa, there is a ZEN meditation park which is conceived as another “getaway” inside the property where the villa is built. Also, the key space of the villa is the terrace where you can enjoy the most beautiful part of the day (West), with a chimney that is transparent and from the inside of the living room. In addition to the natural light that characterizes the building, special attention is paid to the colors and materials of the building, wood parquet floors, crude concrete stairs, and all-white walls so that the walls do not absorb light but reflect it. Sustainability in the design of the villa is also of particular importance, both mechanically and in terms of structure and materials. The heating and cooling of the villa are done with a Geothermal system which uses the earth’s temperature to heat or cool the building and the distribution of pipes will be all mural so that the heat or coolness is distributed horizontally to have as much comfort. Considering the 300 sunny days that characterize Tirane, it is thought that the electrical part will be supplied with solar panels (Solar House). The hydraulic part with “water harvesting” is a system that stores the wastewater in the tank, filters it, and then uses it for all sanitary joints. The thermal insulation of the villa is the main key to the design of the villa, it is thought that the external thermal insulation part is made with “rammed earth bricks” which means bricks made with the clay of Picalles with a cement mixture of gluing and strengthening. Each material has its own habitat and the reason it has survived in that place is that it fits the country best. Rammed earth bricks have been used thousands of years ago in Persia but in a primitive way, it is a technology used in very sophisticated objects in Arizona desert and has resulted in much success. In winter, the mud bricks absorb the sun during the day, preserve it, and give it to the room at night, thus heating the room naturally at night. As for the intense summer sun which has a higher altitude, it has been accurately calculated that the glass does not have direct contact with the intense sun in the peak hours, two ways have been used to protect: it has been played with volumes in such a way that to help each other as a shadier or a grille is used which opens and closes according to the orientation of the sun.
under construction
- Year: 2020-2022
- Area:500 sqm
- Location: Picalle-Tirane