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Northern Villas
– Best Development in the Karpaz region |
Read the article by
Nicholas Wilkinson, member of Royal Institute of British
Architects
The Price and Pace of Development
I wrote in the first Architects’ Place in January this year
that space and time were limited. The purpose of Architects’
Place is to look at the good buildings and developments with
a critical eye. The approach is a broadly speaking a
positive one and where good design and practice prevails it
will be praised. Where wrong decisions and wrong solutions
are found these will be criticized but in a manner which is
polite and helpful towards better practice in future
projects.
NorthernLAND Real Estate, Architectural Design Construction
have come up with something pleasant. Pleasant to look at
and nice to live in at their site near Kumyali in the Karpaz
peninsula. Situated some forty kilometers north east of
Famagusta the development lies on a gently sloping site
looking towards the sea. I chose this development quite
independently from any deal or request from them. I chose it
because there was a degree of lightness and architectural
expression, for once, in villa design.
I say ‘for once’ because so many times in all the projects
from Famagusta to Bogaz and from Bogaz eastwards there is
not a lot to praise. Environmental degradation is so
prevalent that even the lay person is full of awareness of
what can only be called as negative development. Perhaps
when the people have moved in and the trees have grown
things may be a little better. In development planning terms
(what apparently does not exist here) is an authority
controlling aesthetic aspects both of buildings and groups
of buildings, in short planning controls to conserve and
regulate what can or cannot be done.
It is disturbing to see two very tall cranes obviously for
multi a storey building east of Bogaz which can only signify
at least a twenty storey building or buildings. This size of
crane I only see in the cities of Europe. This puts Baffra,
further up the coast to shame ! So ‘skyscrapers’ will be
coming soon to this cool and calm place, to transform it
into the ‘Agia Napa’ of North Cyprus. This is the price of
development.
So back to NorthernLAND in Kumyali, a haven from the Bogaz
eccentricities where the villas are low and where the
‘bulldogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay soft boiled
eggs’ (from an early Burl Ives song). Each villa is of the
same design but the topography and levels helps to create
variety. Set against the backdrop of a slight slope of
‘maki’ bushes and the main road to Dipkarpaz (no mountain
views here) the villas look out to the sea with spectacular
views. Pergolas run round two sides of the villa providing
excellent shading against the hot summer sun.
Once inside the impression is palatial. A large living room
merges with a large dining area which gives way to an
adjacent well sized kitchen. Further out beyond the dining
room large sliding doors give access to the terrace. On the
first floor both a terrace and en suite bathroom are
provided for the master bedroom and the remaining two
bedrooms are of adequate size to provide accommodation for
guests or up to three children.
My only criticism is that the villa layout does not offer as
much in the way of alternative layouts as it could. In other
words instead of offering a choice of twenty colours for the
luxury fitted kitchen and twenty colours for ceramic floors
(not really a big deal) what about if the family wanted four
smaller bedrooms or if downstairs we wanted straight access
to the kitchen from the front door or a small computer
alcove or a small office. It has been shown not to be a
costly strategy for developers to offer this in their villa
plans. If you asked the owners do they consider this the
ideal plan ? I doubt it. Ask the architects and they will
most likely say yes !
Placed with the permission of Nicholas Wilkinson (RIBA)
Nicholas Wilkinson is a British Architect (RIBA). Since 1980
he has been editor-in-chief of “Open House International”, a
journal on Housing and Built Environment. He has traveled
widely to North and South America, Middle East, Africa and
China. Currently he is teaching architectural design at the
Eastern Mediterranean University, Northern Cyprus.
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Arif Tahir Erisen
Advocate
PropertyNC Magazine Issue : 9 |
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