Sarv-e-Miyan

Sarv-e-Miyan | Dwelling Around an Enduring Presence

Before the house took shape, the cypress already stood on the site. Unable to be relocated, its preservation became the starting point for the design. At Sarv Miyan Villa, this existing presence became a defining factor in the spatial arrangement and architectural form; the house had to find its place alongside the tree.

The 316-square-metre site occupied the corner of a street and a lane. While this position offered opportunities to open the house towards its surroundings, it also exposed it to passing views and activity. The client requested a villa with three en-suite bedrooms and a range of communal and recreational spaces. These conditions prompted the central design question: how could a compact site accommodate a home that embraces the landscape while preserving both its occupants’ privacy and the existing cypress?

The response emerged through a gradual layering of privacy. The ground floor accommodates the more communal areas of the house, including the living room, kitchen, and swimming pool. Upstairs, three en-suite bedrooms are accompanied by a smaller lounge, a bar, and a separate kitchenette, allowing everyday domestic life to unfold on a more intimate scale, with greater independence from the guest-oriented spaces below.

Within this arrangement, the terrace becomes an intermediary space. Positioned between the sleeping quarters and the upper-floor living area, it establishes a buffer between rest and social activity. At the same time, its depth and enclosing walls moderate the exposure of the interiors to the outside. The connection to the landscape is thus mediated by an inhabitable threshold that helps maintain privacy.

This approach is also expressed in the building’s massing. Light-toned volumes, projections, and recesses lend depth to the windows and terraces, creating thresholds of varying character between the interiors and their surroundings. The façade articulates this carefully balanced relationship between openness and retreat.

At roof level, the experience of dwelling extends towards the sky and the landscape. A green roof, bar, and supporting amenities provide opportunities for gathering outdoors. Alongside them, an enclosed belvedere offers a sheltered setting from which to enjoy the same views on rainy days, extending the use of this level across changing weather conditions. A skylight brings natural light into the bar, introducing a distinct quality of illumination.

Sarv Miyan brings together these interwoven priorities: preserving an established tree, creating privacy on an exposed site, and accommodating different ways of being together. The cypress becomes a reference point for the architecture, while privacy takes shape through the spaces between rooms, terraces, and enclosing walls.