The spatiality of a pavilion as a kind of in-between architecture that threads traditionally opposing paradigms in space—open and closed, inside and outside, covered and shaded—potentially introduces several exciting avenues when brought into the realm of residential design. The question of habitability when it comes to pavilions, through strongly dictated by their locations and anchor (the Serpentine Pavilion in Hyde Park, for instance, and the pavilions inside the Giardini at Venice Architecture Biennale come to mind), lies precisely at the thresholds and intersections of these dualities. When transposed against residential design, with due consideration to site as anchor, the same dualities may turn complementary in slightly freeing the space of fixity and definition, thereby elevating habitability that the same freedom may offer. The Terracotta Pavilion House, set against the mountainous backdrop of Georgia in Tbilisian outskirts is a fine example of that kind of spatiality, cast in a striking earth red hue from terracotta.

Designed by Tbilisi based architecture studio Laboratory of Architecture #3, the structure’s architectural outlook, at once subdued and strong, seems a product of spatial fluidity across these thresholds meeting distinct volumetric arrangements. The expansive, near flushed elevation of the house is visually a product of stacked volumes with alternations in the facia that tend to recede and blur spatial thresholds. In that, an interesting outcome of its strong and well-defined horizontality is how both the upper and lower reaches of the house — the latter set upon a purpose-built, straight stage to navigate undulating terrain — seem to cast visual planes that merge, in expanse, with the horizon and the ground respectively. In its formal language, the house finds harmony with its surroundings in this way, the architects state. “A deliberate choice of placing a single-story house on a platform creates a stacked aesthetic, departing from a conventional boxy structure upon initial observation”, the team at Laboratory of Architecture #3 further elucidate in an official release.

The harmony extends further to the house’s materiality that reflects didactically in its nomenclature. The amber, earthen hue from the terracotta seems to osmotically pass over to the rest of the house, as furniture, fixtures, the interior design, and even doors catch on to a deeper tint for a rather unifying material and visual palette. This relationship of oneness is especially magnified in the cladding and structural members — including light columns, and exposed beams and slabs in the facade — that while standing out from the brighter hues are united and demarcated through the rough tactile feel of terracotta surfaces. The elevation thus comes together as an iterative, near tetris-like composition of cuboidal volumes fronted by the terracotta members, full-height glazing offering a peek into the variably heighted spaces of the home, and the brighter frames and panels.

Within, apart from framing expansive views of the landscaped gardens and the Caucasus range, skylights, glazing, and designed openings maintain optimum daylight throughout the house, aiding in the “fusion of sky and daylight”, and “erasing boundaries between interior and exterior realms”. The private spaces of the house are all similarly rife with the play between dichotomies, induced by the pavilion-like spatial distribution and form of the house. The lower room, including the bathroom, all extend into individual, semi-enclosed patios, which lend a hint of tropicality to the otherwise slightly arid environ. The landscaped gardens in the front double up with the botanical conservatory on one end of the house, serving as an “oasis curtain” — another ploy on the ‘complementary’ dichotomies introduced by the pavilion like architecture.