Villa – Fay’ – The Veil of Shade
Typology: Prototype for a contemporary family house in the Emirates
Location: Adaptable to various residential sites in the UAE (desert / urban / peri-urban context)
Area: ~325 m² expandable (280–420)
Status: International competition – Buildner “House of the Future” 2024–2025
Team: SAAP Architecture – Aodren Antien, Géraud Pizon
Context & Intent
“Fay’ – The Veil of Shade” is a prototype for contemporary Emirati family housing. The project responds to a national initiative from the UAE government to design sustainable, adaptable single-family homes that align with modern lifestyles while honoring Islamic architectural heritage.
It is not a social housing project in the Western sense, but a replicable model designed to support a citizen-focused national housing program.
Il ne s’agit pas d’un projet de logements sociaux au sens occidental du terme, mais d’un modèle réplicable au service d’un programme national de logement citoyen.
Inspired by three key architectural elements — the Riwaq (arcade), Sahn (inner courtyard), and Mashrabiya (filtering screen) — the project reinterprets them through a contemporary lens: natural ventilation, light management, modularity, and a fluid dialogue between interior and exterior.
Concept & Layout
The floor plan is based on a modular 6 x 6 meter grid, offering great flexibility for layout and long-term adaptation.
Each house can evolve to suit family size, professional activities, or multigenerational needs.
-The ground floor accommodates open and reception areas, service functions (kitchen, staff quarters), and is organized around the central sahn (courtyard).
les services (cuisine, chambre du personnel) et s’articule autour du patio central (sahn).
-The upper floor is more private, grouping bedrooms and personal spaces.
-The rooftop becomes a seasonal living space — shaded and naturally ventilated.
Construction & Environmental Systems:
The project is built on a prefabricated, standardized system combining:
-Low-carbon concrete (post-and-beam structure)
-Prefabricated modules made of sandcrete, stabilized earth, and bio-based components
-Natural finishes: lime, clay, perforated aluminum or timber cladding
Integrated passive and active systems include:
-Natural ventilation via barjeel towers, sahn courtyards, and shared earth tubes
-Shade sails, porous façades, and ventilated roofs
-Collective water networks (technical wadi, retention basins, natural filtration)
-Solar and bioelectric energy production
-Reflective materials, permeable surfaces, and strategic vegetation
Urban Design & Landscape:
The project proposes a neighborhood framework inspired by traditional villages: organic layouts, porous enclosures, varied rooflines, and interconnected alleyways.
Behind the houses, a landscaped wadi forms a technical and social corridor — housing water and air networks, vegetation, playgrounds, and shared spaces — creating a pleasant microclimate and a vibrant community fabric.
LONGITUDINAL / SECTION
Objectives:
-Offer a model of contemporary Emirati housing that is sustainable and culturally rooted
-Propose a modular, flexible, and replicable system
-Reduce environmental impact through simple, intelligent design choices
-Elevate the individual home as part of a collective urban ecosystem
Anchored in the land, shaped by culture, and looking toward tomorrow.
COMPETITION PANELS
Project submitted to the international competition “House of the Future” – Buildner / UAE 2024–2025
– Featured in the Research section of SAAP Architecture
– To be shared on LinkedIn / Instagram / Archilovers upon official publication
