House 1 at Floreal
Mauritius
1988-1991

Built on a sloping site with panoramic views, the house is designed to act as a shield from the winds coming from the back of the property. It is planned around two internal courtyards which flank the entrance lobby permitting controlled natural ventilation to all rooms and thus eliminates the problem of windows opening directly into the wind. The courtyard behaves as lungs to the living and dining rooms to the west and the bedrooms to the east allowing windows to remain open under shelter.

The sloping roofs are expressed internally giving volume to the spaces which gain in strength from the expressed timber trusses and the thick walls punctuated with arched openings and louvered timber doors.