Asking to design a villa in a small villa town in the heart of pristine nature was the beginning of a fascinating adventure for our team. The project site is located in the north of Iran that has a temperate and humid climate.

East-west construction orientation is one of the legal restrictions of the town. Among the climatic characteristics of the site, the low-temperature difference between day and night, high humidity, and low amount of inclined-angle rainfall were the most crucial factors to consider. The presence of two old trees on the site, one of which is located at the construction site, and steep slope (38%) were other important issues to deal with on the site.

In the meantime, the concerns of the design team are categorized as follows:

– Reenvisioning the concept of the villa

– Blurring the inside and outside borders

– Imposing minimal damage to the existing nature.

– Creating new experiences for users

– Addressing climate issues and client’s needs

The concept of the Pause villa was developed by considering it as a tranquil platform for watching the natural landscape and moved forth with the creation of separate space envelopes connected by semi-open and open communication spaces at different levels.

In this way, the shared boundaries between outside and inside expanded, and the outside space, penetrated the building.

The tree is preserved on the site, and we developed the architecture design around it. Pause villa, resultantly, enjoys natural ventilation and offers a sense of continuity of nature within its body.

Examining the issues at first step, all factors affecting the design were classified into five groups, first and most important of which shaping this project was needs of the employer included spending the minimum cost in execution, maintaining a minimalist view, creating a cottage setting, having a separate suite and 4 master bedrooms, in short. Another effective aspect was climate with high humidity, angle of inclination and the rain, as the villa is located in a temperate and humid climate. It was also found the coefficient of rain inclination in this area is negligible. The town is located in the middle of a pristine nature, in the east one face an uninhabited forest with endless perspective and in the west with a downward slope of the town and in both north and south directions, we face the neighbors. The site is extended from east to west to enjoy the north and south views. Existence of two old trees, one located at the construction site and also a steep slope (11.5 meters high along 30 meters of the site) are among other limitations of the site adding to its benefits i.e. the proximity of pristine forest and eyes. The natural size of 360^ᵒ adds to its uniqueness. Meanwhile, concerns of the design team, analyzing the concept of villa, blurring the inside and outside boundaries and taking this concept out of the accepted situations, creating a new experience for users while responding to climate issues and client needs and causing minimal damage to nature were defined. The villa design began as a platform for watching nature and continued with the creation of separate space packets connected by semi-open and open communication spaces at different levels. The semi-open ones were connected with several terraces, and the movement between these space packets and different frames of the surrounding nature and the experience of being in a villa and nature inevitably led to the richness of the sensory experience of space. Also, the preservation of trees and the formation of architecture around it, while creating natural ventilation, added to the sense of continuity of nature in the villa.