- Project: Villa Lyla
- Architect: SAOTA
- Location: Bahamas, Nassau
- Year: 2024
- Area: 1248 m2
- Photography: Adam Letch
Nestled on a quiet canal in Nassau, Bahamas, Villa Lyla by SAOTA balances architectural precision with relaxed island living. Layered forms, lush courtyards, and private dock connections foreground both waterfront continuity and intimate enclosure, composing a calm refuge grounded in place.
Design Intent & Spatial Strategy
Organized as a journey of thresholds and transitions, Villa Lyla unfolds from street to canal through a sequence of courts, terraces, and framed views. Social zones—living, dining, kitchen—open to the water; private and service areas tuck into side wings, mediating outlook and privacy. Courtyards and water elements punctuate the plan to bring light, air, and calm between volumes.
Materiality, Light & Environmental Response
- Coral stone & textured masonry anchor the home in the local palette while adding thermal mass.
- Timber detailing—louvers and ceilings—adds warmth and seasonal nuance.
- Glass walls & operable panels enable cross-ventilation and generous daylight.
- Deep overhangs & brise-soleil temper direct Bahamian sun.
- Reflecting water & planted courts cool microclimates and soften spatial edges.
Light is treated sculpturally—facades cast soft shade, interiors shift tone through the day, and water reflections animate surfaces.
Landscape & Context
With landscape by Raymond Jungles, native planting, green buffers, and water terraces stitch the architecture to its canal frontage. From the water, horizontal planes and recesses choreograph light and view; from the street, more reserved facades return a sense of calm to the neighborhood.
Interior Experience & Flow
Interiors move from enclosed arrival to broad, water-facing volumes. Secondary rooms wrap garden courts; neutral finishes and natural textures foreground proportion and connection over ornament. Skylights, clerestories, and operable glazing keep every space in dialogue with light, air, and water.
Sustainability & Climate Strategy
- Orientation and massing minimize solar gain.
- Planned cross-breezes reduce reliance on mechanical cooling.
- Stone thermal mass stabilizes indoor temperature swings.
- Overhangs, fins, and screens elevate passive shading.
- Landscape acts as a living microclimatic buffer.
A Canal-Side Modern Icon
Villa Lyla is both residence and gesture—an assured interplay of form, light, and water. Its layered geometry, lush landscape, and climate responsiveness deliver a coastal retreat of clarity and calm.
