Salt & Linen Summer House

A concept for a 380 m² summer villa on Egypt's North Coast.

A summer house on the Mediterranean coast is lived in for a few intense months, mostly outdoors. The concept plans it that way: a long, low volume faces the sea, with a covered loggia running its full length as the main living room. Sliding teak screens and full-height glazing fold back, so the loggia, the lounge and the kitchen become one shaded space open to the northern breeze.

Materials are chosen for salt, sand and sun. Walls are finished in soft white lime plaster, floors in pale sand-coloured limestone that stays cool underfoot, and the joinery is oiled teak rather than lacquer, so it can weather gently. Linen curtains, rattan and woven textiles keep the rooms light, while bronze is used sparingly, for handles and lanterns that take on a patina by the sea.

Bedrooms sit in a quieter wing behind a planted courtyard, each with its own shaded terrace and an outdoor shower screened by timber slats. The pool is set between the house and the dunes, edged in limestone and lined in a soft sand tone, so the water reads as part of the landscape rather than a bright blue rectangle.