Zellige Horizon: How We Designed the Winning Architectural Concept
- Ondrej Chudy
- Jun 16
- 9 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
In February 2025, TMD’s project Zellige Horizon was awarded First Prize in the Morocco Oasis Retreat international architecture competition, organised by Buildner. The proposal stood out among numerous international entries for its spatial clarity, off-grid autonomy and culturally grounded design logic. What began as a conceptual response to a brief became a fully resolved architectural framework — shaped by site, climate and craft.
Set on a ridge overlooking Barrage Idriss Ier, northeast of Fez, the location offers sweeping views across water, cultivated plains and eroded hills. It is a landscape defined by dualities: exposed and sheltered, cultivated and raw, timeless and in flux. This topography called for a design language that could anchor architecture to terrain, interpret vernacular spatial hierarchies, and integrate environmental systems as form-generating elements.
This case study outlines the thinking and structure behind the project — from circular planning logic and passive cooling strategies to local material systems, cultural typologies and infrastructural autonomy. It offers a deeper insight into how architecture can perform not only technically, but contextually — and how a competition entry can serve as a prototype for real-world applications.
The Site’s Best Spot – Anchoring Architecture in Topography and Views
Zellige Horizon is anchored on a high ridge overlooking Barrage Idriss Ier, in northeastern Morocco. This elevated promontory offers long panoramic views across cultivated plains and water arms, with orientation to the north, east and west. The landscape is open, wind-swept, and seasonally shifting — a setting that demanded architectural clarity and topographic empathy.
Rather than impose a rigid grid, the proposal follows the land’s existing slope and curvature. The radial plan adapts to the ridge’s crest, placing public and communal spaces at the top, while terraced clusters descend gradually toward olive groves. This sequence supports both spatial hierarchy and climatic responsiveness — protecting from western heat while catching prevailing summer breezes.
Access to the site occurs along a controlled incline. Vehicular arrival is cut short before the summit, enabling a pedestrian ascent to the plaza: the central node from which all programmes unfold concentrically. The main axis aligns with the highest contour, making this point both a spatial and symbolic anchor.
The result is a masterplan not superimposed, but embedded. Every line responds to a topographic cue. In this exposed landscape, the architecture becomes a fixed datum — a cultural and spatial reference drawn from the terrain itself.
This layered spatial sequence is one of the defining traits of the Zellige Horizon architectural concept — connecting form, climate and community.
The Circular Logic of the Zellige Horizon Architectural Concept
At the heart of Zellige Horizon lies a circular urban strategy — a diagram that is both formal and functional. It organises space through a legible structure of concentric rings, transitioning from public gathering to semi-private and finally private zones. This clarity of hierarchy supports intuitive wayfinding, social cohesion, and climatic resilience.
The central plaza is not simply symbolic. It is the gravitational core of the project — framed by wellness, hospitality and cultural functions — designed as a space of both ceremony and informality. From this nucleus, radial paths extend outward, aligning with topography and view corridors. These axes offer both orientation and ritual sequence, guiding guests across the site while framing moments of spatial pause.
The diagram draws from traditional ksar logic, where communal space is protected by a fabric of clustered structures. Yet unlike a defensive enclosure, Zellige Horizon remains open, porous, and responsive. The circle is not a wall but a field — able to evolve through programmatic layering and phase-based growth, without breaking spatial integrity.
Importantly, the layout accommodates decentralised use. Peripheral clusters maintain autonomy, enabling smaller-scale hospitality, retreats or co-living units to operate independently. This supports adaptive use scenarios while preserving communal identity. In this way, the Zellige Horizon architectural concept turns a symbolic diagram into a working spatial ecology.
“The thoughtful use of pedestrian pathways and circular geometry fosters intuitive navigation and inclusivity… A clear focus on accessibility and communal areas showcases a deep understanding of spatial harmony.”— Francesca Perani, Jury Member
This decentralised logic is not a compromise but a strength — a hallmark of the Zellige Horizon architectural concept, enabling adaptability without fragmentation.
Architecture of Atmosphere – Tectonics, Typologies, and Spatial Rhythm
Architecture at Zellige Horizon emerges from the land, not above it. Its massing, materials and rhythm are shaped by the site’s thermal logic, cultural syntax and daily rituals. The result is a spatial language that feels both grounded and composed — vernacular in material, yet precise in execution.
The tectonic approach draws from Moroccan typologies: deep-set apertures, lime-plastered walls, exposed cedar beams and flat roofs with pronounced overhangs. These elements are not applied as pastiche but reinterpreted structurally — each typology, from hammam to courtyard suites, follows a consistent grid and load-bearing rhythm. Plans are aligned, not decorative; spans are set by timber length and masonry width.
The architecture choreographs a sequence of spaces: open–covered–enclosed–sheltered. Circulation often passes through porticoes and patios before entering rooms — allowing for climatic buffering and layered perception. This spatial porosity allows interior and exterior to breathe as one, supporting both comfort and cultural continuity.
Light and shadow are design tools. As the sun arcs across the sky, porticoes cast moving patterns; niches and reveals frame slow changes in brightness. The buildings are designed not just to shelter but to calibrate experience — each wall becomes a register of time and temperature.
Materiality is tactile and acoustic. Earth-based renders dampen noise and stabilise humidity. Wood ceilings soften light and echo traditional joinery techniques. Where texture appears, it does so sparingly — in latticework, basin stonework or recessed mosaic. Ornament is not additive, but atmospheric.
Furnishings complete the spatial language. Seating is low and collective, encouraging informality. Handwoven textiles echo the palette of walls and ground — creating continuity between what is built and what is lived.
In this way, architecture becomes a vessel — not just of space, but of rhythm, breath and presence.
“Modern sustainable technologies are seamlessly integrated with traditional materials and forms, creating a sophisticated and harmonious design.”— Tom Schroeder, Jury Member
Off-Grid Engineering – Water, Energy, and Resource Autonomy
Zellige Horizon is conceived not just as a spatial composition, but as a fully autonomous ecology. The off-grid logic is embedded from the outset, making infrastructure an architectural layer—visible in section cuts, technical axonometries, and integrated environmental systems throughout the project.
Water management begins with an integrated dual-source strategy. Rainwater is harvested from all roof surfaces via recessed scuppers and terracotta channels, directed into vegetated bioswales and filtered through natural gravel beds. From there, water is stored in subterranean cisterns distributed below courtyards and service cores. Greywater from bathing and sinks is captured and reused for irrigation across agricultural zones, orchards and planted roof gardens.
However, the resilience of the system goes further: due to seasonal drought and irregular precipitation, a secondary source is activated. Low-energy water pumping infrastructure, integrated into the technical perimeter of the site, draws from the nearby Barrage Idriss 1er reservoir—visible from the site and situated approximately 40km from Fez. This hybrid model ensures year-round water security for hospitality, wellness and agriculture, while remaining visually discrete and energy-efficient.
Energy production relies on a decentralised photovoltaic network, distributed across rooftops. Battery storage is embedded in naturally ventilated, thermally buffered service rooms located along the logistics ring. No single structure is overburdened; energy is shared across the entire compound through low-voltage smart grids, designed to avoid visual clutter or environmental disruption.
Thermal comfort is primarily passive. The architecture draws upon centuries of vernacular climate adaptation: thick earthen walls for thermal mass, deep loggias and shaded walkways to avoid solar gain, and night-flushing cross-ventilation strategies. In extreme conditions, solar-powered ceiling fans and radiant slab systems supplement cooling with minimal environmental load.
The village’s infrastructure ring — a discreet service route wrapped around the compound — ensures functional independence. It allows for deliveries, waste collection, fire access, and maintenance without disturbing the inward social and architectural life of the retreat.
Importantly, these strategies are not technocratic. Every visible element of water or energy infrastructure is expressed with craft: terracotta spouts, open-air runnels, carved lattice vents. Technology is made tactile. Architecture here doesn’t hide its systems—it choreographs them.
“Modern sustainable technologies are seamlessly integrated with traditional materials and forms, creating a sophisticated and harmonious design.”— Tom Schroeder, Jury Member
Sustainability as a Cultural Practice
In Zellige Horizon, sustainability is approached not as an external metric — but as an embedded cultural logic. Rather than importing foreign standards, we drew from regional patterns of climate adaptation, vernacular construction, and ethical coexistence with the land.
The design rejects cosmetic greening in favour of true ecological literacy. From the masterplan to material joints, sustainability is understood as a lived practice — shaped by local intelligence, not just global checklists.
Our planting strategy exemplifies this. Instead of decorative landscaping, we developed a productive xeriscapeinformed by fieldwork and community exchange. Indigenous palms, wild olives, medicinal herbs, and drought-resilient crops form a living infrastructure that nourishes people, pollinators, and the soil. This is not landscape as aesthetic background — but as edible and therapeutic ecology.
Construction methods reflect a similar ethic. We favoured manual, low-tech techniques using locally available earth and stone, celebrating both material integrity and artisanal continuity. Timber was sourced regionally and treated with natural oils, while the walls were finished in breathable lime-based renders. These decisions reduce embodied energy while supporting local economies and building traditions.
Interior elements also continue this logic. Handmade zellige tiles from Fez, crafted using traditional glazing techniques, are used not as exotic décor but as functional finishes — bringing heritage into everyday acts of bathing, walking, and resting.
Even infrastructure becomes expressive. Ventilation chimneys, carved terracotta spouts, and lattice shading are all crafted to be seen and touched — a tactile counterpoint to the invisibility of most modern systems. Here, sustainability is not hidden in back-of-house machinery. It is visible, architectural, and culturally resonant.
This ethos extends into programme and movement. Communal spaces — such as the tea garden, orchard amphitheatre, and market patio — are intentionally shared between visitors and locals, creating opportunities for exchange, storytelling, and coexistence. Hospitality becomes a medium of connection, not isolation.
The architecture is designed to age gracefully, allowing patina, weathering, and time to enrich its surfaces. Walls will deepen in tone. Gardens will shift with the seasons. And in doing so, the retreat becomes less of an object — and more of a landscape in dialogue with its place.
“A clear focus on accessibility and communal areas showcases a deep understanding of spatial harmony and user experience.”— Francesca Perani, Jury Member
Sustainability here is not a checklist. It is a worldview.
Reflecting on Process and Place
Zellige Horizon is more than a winning competition entry. It is a manifesto for how architecture can emerge from listening — carefully, precisely, and with deep respect for context.
Rather than imposing form, we worked with the grain of the land, with the rhythms of vernacular life, and with the material memory of the place. Every courtyard, passage, and threshold was shaped to serve not just function or aesthetics, but continuity — of culture, of climate, and of communal meaning.
This project challenged us to go beyond representation. It required rigorous interdisciplinarity — bringing architecture, infrastructure, ecology and anthropology into one cohesive proposition. It required negotiating beauty and resilience, comfort and autonomy, luxury and humility.
In return, it gave us one of the most profound design experiences in our studio’s journey. An opportunity to test how much can be achieved when architecture is not only drawn, but felt — through visits, conversations, and intuition on site.
“This is a design that draws strength from place, while offering a new vision for hospitality in the desert landscape.”— Competition Jury
We share this case study not to present a finished object, but to open a conversation — about architecture that is generous, grounded, and future-ready.
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