Located in the major village of Koghb in the Tavush Province of Armenia, the site is mainly surrounded by rural land and a few scattered buildings, and is bordered by a main vehicular artery hugging the plot’s western periphery and running from its southernmost to its northernmost point.

The proposed scheme seeks to fuse with its context through the creation of a generous urban space reconciling two existing topographic levels. A primary reference level is established by prolonging the pavement of the bordering street, creating an oversized urban plane serving simultaneously as a functional interface as well as a horizontal façade for the project.

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Oversized fissures in this vast accessible surface provide pedestrian access directly from the street to the main interior level of the project located at the second reference level 5 meters below, whereas a series of other jagged openings create visual interactions between the exterior and interior beneath it. However, the most prominent gateway into the project materializes as a gaping mouth deeper along the intervention. This installation’s opening houses the main staircase which feeds the interior below, whereas a vertical tower accommodates the elevator core and culminates in an elevated lightbox.

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Finally, the eastern orientation is articulated through a forest of beams and vertical columns reconciling the edge of the upper urban plane with the lower level. These delineate a succession of exterior gardens while forming the semblance of a vertical façade.