From the concept
Re-wrapping a house.
From the concept presentation: how the existing villa was kept and given a new envelope, step by step.
Architecture
305 | Echoes of Stone — Architecture
Location
Dubai, UAE
Type
Private Residence
Scope
Architecture & Interior Design
Site Area
8,700 m² (incl. landscape)
Status
Under Construction
Lead Architect
Elias Soueidi
Recognition
The idea
An existing villa, re-wrapped in stone.
Echoes of Stone began with an existing villa. Rather than replace it, the design wraps the house in a new envelope. Added volumes extend it towards the garden, and the first floor is set apart from the ground floor as a distinct, floating layer beneath a deep roof plane.
The new skin is travertine over a base of hand-laid brick, with perforated screens across parts of the upper floor that filter the sun and give the facades depth and shadow. On the roof, a curved, glazed pavilion holds a living area, an office and an art studio within a planted terrace.
The plan opens along one axis, from the entrance through the house to a long pool and timber terraces under mature trees. A colonnaded walkway links the main house to a separate majlis and guest pavilion, across 8,700 m² of site and landscape.
01
The existing villa, as found.
02
Added volumes extend it and a new envelope wraps around it.
03
The first floor is set apart from the ground floor as a distinct, floating layer.
04
The final massing, with screens, a deep roof plane and a planted roof terrace.
Material palette
Travertine
Cladding and columns
Brick
The base of the house
Perforated screen
Upper-floor shading
About the project
Keep the house, change its skin.
Echoes of Stone is a private residence in Dubai, under construction, on a site of 8,700 m² including landscape, with Elias Soueidi as lead architect. Rather than demolish an existing villa, the design keeps it and builds a new envelope around it. Added volumes reach towards the garden, and the first floor is set apart as a floating layer beneath a deep roof plane. The project received an Honorable Mention in Architecture – Housing at the 2026 DNA Paris Design Awards.
The facades are layered by weight. Hand-laid brick forms the base, travertine clads the volumes and columns above, and perforated screens shade parts of the upper floor, turning direct sun into shadow and depth. On the roof, a curved glazed pavilion sits within a planted terrace. At ground level, one axis carries the plan from the entrance to a long pool and timber terraces beneath mature trees, while a colonnaded walkway reaches a separate majlis and guest pavilion.
