A renovation and extension of an existing stone structure in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon — transforming it into a guest house that responds to the rugged terrain and harsh winter climate of the region. The project explores the tension between preservation and intervention: excavating, adding, and subtracting from the existing fabric while honouring the material logic of the original building.
The renovation is structured around three operations: excavation of existing spaces to open them up, exterior additions to extend the programme, and interior wall removals to improve connectivity and spatial flow. These three systems — already excavated vs newly excavated, common vs private spaces, exterior vs interior additions — were colour-coded in the drawings to clarify the logic of each intervention.
The sections reveal the relationship between the building and the steep topography of the Beqaa valley: the structure steps with the land, and the new insertions acknowledge the ground conditions through their materiality and section profile.
Four sections — AA through DD — cut through the building and terrain at different angles, exposing the relationship between the existing stone walls, the new concrete insertions, and the sloping ground. The interior render captures the raw quality of the material encounter: stone meets concrete, old light meets new openings.
