Driss Kettani Architecte orchestrates an intimate yet mysterious townhouse

An interplay of planes make up the boxy massing of Villa Polo, a townhouse for a couple with two children in Casablanca, Morocco. Located on a roughly 2,690-square-foot plot, the home rises from the street with an intriguing sliver of light and perforated facade. Due to the constraints of the neighborhood and its north orientation on the street, Driss Kettani Architecte orchestrated the home to read as an intriguing series of boxes that open up to and protect a private world within.

Villa Polo is composed of two adjoining houses on the lateral sides that open up to the north-facing entry and south-facing garden and pool. As opposed to the interlocking planes of impenetrable concrete that shield the residence from outside view, the interior of the ground floor is wide open. The home begins within a living room and dining room that flow together and continue outside via the glass doors that provide access to the pool and garden. A fireplace in the heart of the living room, characterized by a stone backsplash and shelf overlapped by a white plane. It’s subtle nod to the design of the facade.

front entrance to a home in Casablanca — The home reads as an interplay of planes within concrete boxes (doublespace photography)

The layout maximizes the amount of sunlight and views gathered by the garden. In contrast, the stairs and kitchen, located at the north-facing side of the ground floor, are more compact.

driss kettani designs fireplace — The fireplace with an overlaid design ties back to the facade design (doublespace photography)

Upstairs, the three bedrooms take up the rear-half of the floorplan. This organization allows the architects to use the concrete protective wall and perforated screen to their advantage; it acts as pretext for a linear garden and a planted patio around which the common areas of the floor are articulated. Surrounded by glass walls, the small garden brings warmth to the concrete box and continues the design’s sensitivity to articulating light. The effect is enhanced by a terrace upstairs, enhancing the volumes and theatricality of the architecture.

wood clad stairs — Wood-clad stairs connect the three floors together (doublespace photography)

A pool and garden provide views into the living room (doublespace photography)

an inner garden next to a staircase — The concrete wall and perforated panels hide a linear garden inside (doublespace photography)

The intimacy and moments of surprise continue at the basement level. Here a yoga room, storage space, and additional kitchen make up a more discrete floorplan, but Driss Kettani still finds room for theatrical lighting and moments of warmth. A triangular crevice, formed by terminating the top of the pool at a diagonal, makes room for a small garden. Light reaches the garden-within-the-garden, illuminating plantings within a niche of shadows.

pool at villa polo — The top of the pool is capped at a diagonal which makes space for the basement’s plantings (doublespace photography)

niche of plants in a triangular space — The basement features a courtyard for plantings, lit dramatically by the top-down light (doublespace photography)

Like a box begging to be opened, Villa Polo reveals itself in slices of private and quiet moments. The deeper inside, the more there is to uncover.

In Morocco, Driss Kettani Architecte orchestrates an intimate yet mysterious interior for Villa Polo

Unboxing

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