Overlooking a valley in the Chouf, The Terraces House is located in the small village of Brih, which was destroyed during the Lebanese war and has been abandoned ever since.
The building, designed by Accent Design Group, is composed of two staggered volumes, connected by an entrance hall: the first one, at the front, is reserved for the visitors and perceives the common spaces; at the back, the family areas, rather private, are distributed on two floors. The U-shape of the building highlights a large outdoor square with a swimming pool overlooking the garden terraces, a poetic and aesthetic landscape. Access to the house is via a meandering road at the bottom of the hill, dotted with olive trees that follow the artistic and natural topography of the site and accentuate the horizontality of the building. The design approach synthesizes a modern and minimalist architecture, through a traditional typology. And in this way, it seems to define its space while communicating with its context. The purified forms of the design translate into a facade and interior spaces reminiscent of a vernacular way of life. The whole gives a strong identity to the place and represents a humble and simple work that derails from the commercial image of the monumental house. The use of two simple materials (stone and painted walls) added to the natural vegetation of the region becomes not only an original style but also a kind of integration. The visitor then becomes familiar with the village of Brih, through his walk through the intimate passages, the spectacular patio of this emblematic house, recalling the return to Lebanese customs and especially to its traditional architecture.
