Slit House

Kuwait City, Kuwait

Single Houses

Interior Designers: De-spec

Location: Kuwait City, Kuwait
Year: 2008

Slit house is designed for one family and their children’s family. The ritual in Kuwait is that the sons and their family live with their parents while the daughters move to the in-laws house. At the same time, the elder member of the family live with the family. Men have a space known as ‘Majlis’ and their office where women are not permitted.

This house has 3 entries, one is reserved for the majlis, another for the apartments on the 3rd floor for the boys and their family and the main entrance. The guest entry is combined with the Majlis entry.

On the property line, a 3 meter wall is used to interiorize otherwise an urban house. The gap and space between the wall and the house has a slit, allowing light to the lower level, on the West side, the wall is used as one side of the pool and on the North wall, it is used as a garden and for the family dining room.

The house hovers over a slit created by the void where the pool is set and the views are created by cantilevering the upper levels and extending the terrace. This strategy to make these slits and create views where otherwise there is none in an urban sprawl, allows for to disconnect from the street and privatize its landscape.