Villa Amonita, designed and owned by the Czech studio OOOOX, is a renovated rental villa located on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, blending traditional island aesthetics with modern functionality. Respecting the island’s strict architectural regulations, the villa’s white exterior contrasts beautifully with the volcanic black landscape and palm trees. Locally sourced materials, furniture, and contractors were incorporated throughout the renovation, creating a connection to the place and resulting in an incredible series of adventures, documented by the studio.
From the Architects | The assignment (or our wish) was to find and renovate one of the Lanzarote houses while respecting the “national” colors of Lanzarote – i.e. white and green. On this Canary Island, there are very strict regulations regarding building height, building density and, above all, its color. Thanks to this, the whole island seems very harmonious – only white architecture set in a lava-black landscape and greenery in the form of palm trees. This combination became the central motif of the entire interior.
We conceived the renovation of the villa in 2000 as a partial modification of the layout with the aim of creating more bedrooms. Originally, the villa served the couple alone and all the spaces were incredibly spacious. At the same time, we limited ourselves to simple interventions for reasons of caution. We added airiness to the bathroom with large-format glazing and a view into the garden. We reduced the living space and combined the living room with the kitchen and dining room. Upstairs there is a yoga studio and a rooftop sun deck with an outdoor shower. We connected the interior living space with the outdoor terrace, where we concreted a long dining table and seating with a pergola by the lava wall. An outdoor barbecue kitchen was also created in this part. The living terrace adjoins the garden with the swimming pool.
We decided to change all the original surfaces of the floors and walls. We removed inappropriate surfaces such as wooden floors, which are completely unsuitable for the local environment as the wood gets wet. We replaced the tile with white concrete floors and white paint. We used local lava stones for accents, as a counter support in the bathroom, or as a visual wall on the terrace. We have newly built partitions made of concrete blocks against the wind on both terraces, which also serve as an optical barrier for the bathrooms.
The villa is very advantageous in terms of energy, as it has no special requirements for heating or cooling. The climate of the island is almost constant throughout the year. For the occasional chilly night, a fireplace in the living room adds heat and ambiance.
Photography by Romana Ella Plaček.
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