LA FAMILLE TEFERA & ASSEGEDECH RESIDENCE

As the architect and the daughter
of the owners, there is no project
closer to my heart than the design
and construction of my parents
house. The design of this house,
while I being the lead architect
is also the vision of my father. I
worked closely with my father to
decide every factor of this house.
After two and a half years of design
process, where both achievements
and frustrations were begotten
between my father and I, there has
never been a client more challenging
and more teaching than him.
Designing this house was both a
test of skills, communication and
patience as a professional and as a
daughter. I am incredibly privileged
to have been the main participant
on the construction of my parents
residence. It is a gift I treasure.
It is developed in the suburban
division of Ayat in the outskirts of
Addis Abeba, on a corner lot of
Zone 3. The form of the structure is
to benefit from the mountain view
of the southwest direction, and
produce as much outdoor space as
possible.
My parents are an anchor to the
extended family living both in
Ethiopia and abroad, therefore, it is
designed to have as many private
en-suit rooms as possible and two
separate living rooms if a duplex
use condition is required.
The interior theme has a
combination of my mothers interior
decoration taste. On the ground
floor there is the warm living room
furnished with my mothers antique
furniture, and on the second floor
is the other living room inspired by
my visual memory of living in Tunisia;
the beautiful contrast of blues
and reds.
After the floor plan was designed,
there has been at least 10 variations
of the facade that were
finalized before arriving to the final.
Between 2021-2023 during the
construction phase, the market experienced
nearly 30 -50% inflation
in all materials, therefore modification
to the design was taking place
as we were building in order to stay
as close as possible to a feasible
spending amount. I learned to design
with price fluctuation, limited
budget, and the active and creative
mind of my father who is all about
maximum efficiency.
I learned to decide quick and not
get attached to “an idea”. I designed
and survived without totally
knowing the end vision, and I mastered
the BIM capacity of Archicad
for every aspect of the design