The house consists of two rectilinear concrete volumes, one housing the living quarters, the other the garage, and a courtyard in-between. The three zones come together under an L-shaped flat roof whose board-form concrete texture and rounded corners imbues the building with a sculptural sensibility. Mirroring the roof’s shape, a concrete podium further amplifies the building’s streamlined profile. The house’s clearly delineated layout encapsulates the architects’ brand of contemporary minimalism, as well as give the project its name – “chouso” meaning a fenced or closed area that shepherds once used as holding area for their flocks.

Conceived as a transitional area, the courtyard between the two volumes takes its cue from the property’s agricultural past – the whole area was once used for grazing pastures – and in particular the discovery of a threshing floor, a flattened area traditionally used by farmers to thresh the grain harvest, often with oxen. Featuring a central planted section with a circular roof opening as a nod to the threshing floor’s traditional shape, the courtyard also houses an outdoor dining and barbeque area which echoes the additional use of the threshing floor as a meeting point for local farmers.