A new architectural project came to our attention this morning which we suspect will be providing daydream fodder for rather a long time to come.

The project in question is Bequia House, a recently completed luxurious residence by emerging London practice Edgley Design.

The five bedroom house is positioned on a steep hillside in dense jungle on the Caribbean island of Bequia. Inspired by traditional Moroccan courtyard houses, the house consists of series of intimate spaces surrounding water. The house also re-interprets the classic modern house with dramatic vertical spaces that equal the drama of the setting.

The house is designed a series of experiences that open out as the house is explored. From the pool courtyard, 5m high doors open out to a large hall providing eating and dining areas, create one living space with no definition between the inside and outside. The house works with its environment, (a necessity in a location with no mains water or gas and intermittent and expensive electricity) and is entirely naturally ventilated - cool and calm on even the hottest Carribean day.

The large overhanding eaves and a series of recesses spaces provide shelter from the sun, while the pool provides cooling humidity. The high, thick walls also provide important solar massing. A simple colour palette of rendered surfaces, concrete floors and untreated wooden balconies and windows combines to form a natural aesthetic that will weather and mellow into its surroundings with time.

The exterior of the building is a series of slender towers rising above the dense jungle foliage of the hillside, giving the sense of the building emerging from the forest. Each tower, arranged around the pool, contains a bedroom with a living space below and a private staircase. This gives privacy to the bedrooms while emphasising the role of the pool courtyard as the heart of the house.

Elsewhere, a terrace provides further sheltered space to gather and eat in the evenings with wide views across the hillsides below. The design makes the most of the dramatic setting, with delicate balconies poised over steep drops with extensive views across the ocean to neighbouring islands.

The one dark cloud (literally) on the horizon that might spoil the paradise is its location; positioned as it is in the Caribbean hurricane belt. However the house has been designed with an extremely robust concrete frame that can withstand the full force of a hurricane.

So with that taken care of too, the lucky owners have nothing left to do but sit back and relax...

Images Edgley Design