The central vertical void that runs through this Kuwait home, Faye House, is architect Abdulaziz AlHumaidhi’s favourite architectural element. ‘It is both the architectural and emotional core of the project,’ he explains.
‘Beginning as a focused skylight at roof level, the void descends through the building, gradually opening and expanding in section until it resolves at the ground floor ceiling as a wide, organic form. What might otherwise have been an unbroken horizontal plane of white ceiling becomes, instead, a sculptural moment of vertical depth, drawing light downward and anchoring the ground floor around a single, quietly powerful gesture.’
Step inside this modern Kuwait home
The new-build, contemporary home is located in Kuwait City’s Shamiyah neighbourhood and its form is a response to its corner-plot setting. AlHumaidhi, founder of his namesake firm, was inspired by the idea of creating a smooth and symbiotic relationship between inside and outside, as he tells Wallpaper*, ‘The corner plot offered a generous setback condition that allowed us to place a lush private garden at the heart of the composition, and from there, the entire design logic followed.’
The ground floor is an open-plan space, housing the kitchen, dining and living areas. However, it is the transition to the upper level that brings in that considered approach to the outdoors that AlHumaidhi values – achieved through recessed openings and layered façades. The roof terrace overlooks the garden and the vertical void below. Says the architect, ‘Nature is never absent from the experience of the home.’
However, the project did pose its challenges, some of which influenced its development. 'Two challenges defined the project, and both influenced the design equally,’ shares AlHumaidhi. ‘The first was reconciling transparency with privacy. Exposed on two street edges, we wanted the interiors to feel bright, open, and deeply connected to the landscape – while still offering the residents genuine shelter from the surrounding city.’
The answer, he discovered, emerged in the form of a curved travertine wall. Rather than approaching privacy as a problem to be solved by concealment, the architecture team instead approached it as a design opportunity. ‘The wall became both sculptural and functional – filtering views, casting moving shadows across the interiors, and creating a protective edge that never makes the house feel closed. From within, the vein-matched stone curves around the pool and becomes a luminous backdrop, its surface animated throughout the day by light reflected off the water.’
The second challenge was more programmatic. In Kuwait, multigenerational living is common. AlHumaidhi didn’t want to design a home for a specific moment in time, but rather to create a space that would evolve with its inhabitants’ lives.
This was addressed with the building’s upper floor, which was designed as a family space, accommodating guest suites and play areas. The architect designed this level to be flexible, and, he says, when the time comes, the floor can allow for two fully independent living units. He says: ‘The challenge was making that latent future invisible – so that the house feels entirely complete today, with no trace of what it is quietly waiting to become.’
Faye House is a residence that rewards slowness. Its balance of natural light, soft materials and greenery generates an immediate sense of calm. ‘And beyond all of this, there is meant to be a subtle sense of discovery,’ notes AlHumaidhi. ‘The feeling that the home reveals itself gradually, as the eye begins to move through layers of light and shadow and registers the quiet spatial dialogues between levels.’