Design concept · Majlis & Gulf residences
Mashrabiya Light Majlis
A guest majlis where a deep timber mashrabiya filters the desert sun, drawing a slow pattern of light across the floor through the day.
The concept brief
Design narrative
A concept for a 90 m² guest majlis in a Riyadh villa.
The mashrabiya began as a climate device: a timber lattice that shades a window, lets air through and allows those inside to see out without being seen. This concept gives the whole south wall of the majlis to a deep screen of walnut-stained timber set in front of the glazing, so the hard Riyadh light arrives as a soft, moving pattern on the travertine floor and the upholstered seating.
The geometry is drawn from traditional Hijazi latticework but simplified into a single repeating module, dense at eye level for privacy and more open above to admit the sky. The rest of the room is kept deliberately plain — lime-plaster walls, a low perimeter majlis in sand-coloured wool and a timber ceiling — so that the screen and its shadows remain the only ornament.
At night the effect reverses, and the screen becomes a source of light rather than a filter. Concealed lights between the screen and the glass turn the lattice into a glowing wall when seen from the garden, while inside a few low bronze lamps and a cove along the ceiling edge keep the majlis warm and intimate for evening guests and the long conversations that follow the coffee.
- Nature
- Studio concept study — not a client project
- Typology
- Majlis & Gulf residences
- Setting
- Saudi Arabia
Design concept · Visualisation
Concept visualisations
Studio reference visualisation — dedicated render in production 
Studio reference visualisation — dedicated render in production 
Studio reference visualisation — dedicated render in production
Materials
Material palette
- Walnut-stained timberThe mashrabiya screen and ceiling
- Honed travertineFloor, where the light pattern falls
- Lime plasterPlain walls around the screen
- Sand woolPerimeter seating and cushions
- Brushed bronzeLamps and coffee trays
Key design moves
- 01One wall of latticeA deep timber mashrabiya across the south wall shades the glass and patterns the light.
- 02Dense below, open abovePrivacy at eye level; sky and daylight above it.
- 03Plain around the screenPlaster, wool and timber leave the lattice as the only ornament.
- 04A lantern at nightConcealed light behind the screen makes it glow when seen from the garden.
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