Role: Lead Architect (HSS)
Location: Aamchit, Lebanon
Status: Complete 2016
Developer: Private family
Type: Residences
Size: 14,000 sf / 1,390 m2
Sustainability: Uses gravity walls for passive heating/cooling
Nestled dramatically on Lebanon’s Mediterranean coastline in Aamchit, The Courtowers is a cluster of four single-family houses. Each residence is thoughtfully embedded into the westward slope, opening toward sea views and breeze while being thermally protected on three sides by earth. A pioneering double-wall system both anchors the homes and serves as built-in insulation—creating a service passage and harnessing passive cooling from the soil’s moisture.
At the heart of each house lies a rear courtyard, fostering cross-ventilation and tempering seasonal extremes. Adjacent to the courtyard, a tower containing the bedrooms doubles as a chimney—venting heat and providing shaded vertical relief. Strategic placement of stairs and bathrooms further boosts thermal mass against summer heat, while open-room corners frame breezes and views, turning bedrooms into balconies when desired. Complementing this architecture, the landscape transitions from beach to mountain through a xeriscape palette of olives, ferns, and native shrubs; an old eucalyptus-lined pathway is revived as a pedestrian spine, enriching the journey toward the sea.