Dar Al Sakinah

Dar Al Sakinah, the house of tranquillity, sits on a steep plot in Khorfakkan, between the mountains and the sea. Rather than levelling the slope, the house steps down it in a series of sandstone volumes, each with a deep overhang and a planted roof, so the building reads as part of the hillside.

Two long, curving stone walls carry the approach up through the garden to the entrance, and stairs continue between grasses and agave to the upper terraces. Fig, pomegranate, mango, banana and date trees fill the walled orchard around it.

At the top, a covered rooftop pavilion frames the view across the bay: a place for coffee in the morning, grilled fish at sunset and the rare winter rain.