Kand-Kaav Villa

The Kand-Kaav Villa is a private weekend residence built on a steeply sloped plot of 1,306 square meters in Shandiz, a mountain town situated approximately fifteen kilometers northwest of Mashhad in Iran's Razavi Khorasan Province. Shandiz lies at the foot of the Binalood Mountains, a terrain shaped by seasonal rivers, dense vegetation, and dramatic elevation changes. The project was completed in 2024 after a six-year design and construction process, built adjacent to a seasonal watercourse whose protected boundary became one of the primary constraints shaping the design.

ABAR Office's response to the site operates through two interlocking strategies. Rather than sitting visibly on the hillside, the building is largely embedded within the slope. Ground planes are layered, cut, and lifted to minimize the project's visual footprint, and the roof, ceiling surfaces, and surrounding landscape are unified into a single design system the architects call the "RoofScape." The only element clearly legible above grade is a transparent glass cube marking the entry — an element that generates a sense of ambiguity and invitation while concealing the full extent of the dwelling below. Movement through the villa is organized like a sequence of alleys and passages threading between enclosed rooms and open or semi-open courtyards. Materials are restricted to stone, microcement, and wood, their combination producing a palette rooted in the geology and vegetation of the Binalood foothills.

The Kand-Kaav Villa was awarded First Place in the Single Residential category at the 24th Memar Award (2024). The jury recognized the project as embodying creative and bold thinking in residential villa design, distinguishing it from conventional approaches through its intelligent handling of topography and its delivery of unique and lasting experiences for inhabitants.