Villa Nangkan

This is an international architectural project for a villa complex on the spectacular Al Marjan Island in the United Arab Emirates. The architectural design included 14 villas and an entertainment complex.

Villa Nangkan carries Balinese architecture to Al Marjan Island in the United Arab Emirates. The design is a five-bedroom villa type for a larger complex, drawn in white render over three floors with shallow hipped roofs and timber edges at the eaves. The roof terrace is sheltered by a timber pavilion with a traditional Balinese roof form.

The Middle Eastern half of the style shows in the screens. Geometric lattice panels sit between the windows and run along the frieze of the poolside gazebo, and patterned cement tiles cover the gazebo floor against a wall of stacked stone. The Balinese half is in the timber: exposed rafters under the pavilion roofs, a hanging rattan chair by the pool, and a vaulted bedroom ceiling of dark timber trusses.

At ground level, a narrow pool runs along a side courtyard between the house and a planted wall, ending at a covered lounge. The street front has a parking court behind low walls. In the renders, the main bedroom opens through full-height curtains toward the beach. Inside, the living and dining rooms sit under coffered ceilings with concealed lighting, with timber screens dividing the spaces.

• Three-storey white villa with shallow hipped roofs
• Roof terrace under a Balinese timber pavilion
• Geometric lattice screens between the windows
• Patterned cement tiles and stacked stone in the gazebo
• Narrow courtyard pool ending at a covered lounge
• Vaulted timber-truss ceiling in the main bedroom