Stepping Into Architect Eman Hussein’s Seashell Summerhouse
Topped by a sandy-peachy ceiling, the kitchen inside Else Lab’s founder is the star and everything is sculptural to maintain an effortless flow within.
When it came to choosing a colour palette for her summerhouse, Else Lab founder Eman Hussein went with a calm shade of grey on the walls and a refreshing sandy-peachy hue on the ceiling that complemented the pastel mint green in the kitchen which is the heart and soul of the abode. Locally sourced furniture pieces, meanwhile, added fresh accents ranging from orange to pink, having been handpicked for their sculptural form that went with the flow of the interior.
“Seashell’s architecture is airy with lots of courts in different parts of the house letting in plenty of natural light, with greenery in every corner,” Hussein, one of Alchemy’s art directors who designed Seashell’s through Alchemy Architecture, tells #SceneHome. “Its flow is special and dictated the interior design. When it came to designing my house, I wanted the interior to emphasise that flow effortlessly.”
“I wanted to enter my house and get into a relaxed yet present state of mind,” she adds. The entrance is marked with an archway and repetitive botanical wallpaper that offered meditative serenity to the hallway. “Materials are key, they have an energetic effect on how we live.”
Openness is the main attraction of the interior. Overlapping carpets add texture onto the matte grey porcelain flooring and the ceiling is soothingly hued to immerse the space in a colour-induced sense of tranquillity.
“The heart of our home is a long, open kitchen,” Hussein says of her spatial melody’s centrepiece. “It’s where we spend most of our time indoors, cooking and enjoying gatherings.” Linear and long in form, the kitchen’s island is made of terrazzo from Stickum, local handcrafters which Hussein relied on to add a traditional air to the surface.
Sharpness has no place here; if it’s not the layered curvature on the kitchen island that gives it away, then it’s the furnishings. “All of the furniture is curved and sculptural because I didn’t want any sharpness disrupting the flow.” From the clay accessories to the sculptural coffee tables from C-Reality, every aesthetic is well settled in the space because there are no edges.
“I went for a minimal approach as I was designing my own house for a change,” Hussein adds. “The patterns are meditative, the textures are grounding and the palette is subtle but full of character.” The sandy hue on the ceiling makes its way to take a portion of the bedroom walls, while the washrooms have matte white subway tiles covering theirs.
Outside, well, aside from the cactus next to the kitchen, there’s a built-in terrazzo sofa paired with a bamboo outdoor furniture set and round tables featuring pink. A calm setup that’s positioned to take in the lushness of the garden.
“I was keen on having elements that felt grounding, raw and rough.” There’s ingenuity in nuances, as it takes time to pinpoint what exactly makes Hussein’s space feel ethereal and look as easy as it does. It could be the roundness of the furniture or the smoothness of the kitchen island and the sleek cabinets in its backdrop, or maybe, and most probably it’s the sandy-peachy ceiling that caps everything off.
Photography Credit: Nour El Refai
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