Located within one of Amman’s most prominent residential districts, Mrs. Hania & Ramzi Zabanih house provides the family with a perfect home experience close to the rest of the Zabaneh family that inhabits the area.

From day one, the value of creating a gallery house was imprinted in the concept of such contemporary yet local house. Its exterior massing state a dialogue between its edges and facades, while its interiors marvel with sculptural elements and natural lighting.

Its minimalistic yet complicated hierarchical design started in a basic concept, rotating two main masses to create an overture towards the view, proceeding from the rather closed entrance façade to the opposite extroverted façade facing a magnificent view of Amman’s skyline. A harmonious succession of spaces create a dialogue in the multi‐leveled spaces reinterpreting the strong family bonds. While the indoor/outdoor relation were manipulated showing the owners’ futuristic ambitions and positive characters.

The design of such a house on a hilly residential context created a challenge of translating rather simple forces of view and topography into an intricate formation taking advantage of these forces through hierarchy of platforms, masses, and even function.
The House is contemporary in its composition; yet; rooted in local identity through its solid/void proportions and the usage of natural stone and wood.

The House gradually fragments on the hill top into leveled platforms, creating spaces from within and introducing the view of Amman skyline. Using the contextual locality, and merging such value with a sense of modern edges and con‐ temporary language, the house introduces a harmonious integrated setting.

Following the family’s vision for a lifetime dwelling, this house harbors its residents in a bonded family unit and a relax‐ ing hub that strengthen the sense of belonging to their roots. Also respecting the family’s privacy from the surroundings using soft and hard landscape and natural existing foliage.

The House is blessed with different spaces and experiences of contemplation ranging from public, to semi‐public, to private such as the cracked entrance podium, the guests’ reception split leveled platform, and the family quarter at the upper level.

It was strictly followed by the designer that the existing trees remain unharmed, therefore one notices the old cypress trees on the periphery of the land. The rest of the surrounding landscape was carefully selected; using young native cypress and olive trees for the soft landscape, and light colored stone, wood, and gravel in the platform areas.

The clubhouse sits at the far edge of the land contemplating on the general theme of harmony and contemporary massing, and hardly disrupting the overlooking view from the house through a human scaled height and a simplistic massing. The lower level of the clubhouse and the pool are specifically used for all services that need not be shown in the major massing of the dwelling.