Words by Allegra Salvadori | Photography by Cécile Treal
On the edge of Casablanca, where rows of semi-detached villas line a residential development, architect Youssef Benhamou was faced with a familiar challenge: how to turn a standardized structure into a home with soul. His answer was to strip away the feeling of repetition and imagine a house that feels private, personal, and unmistakably contemporary.
“The first goal,” he recalls, “was to give the villa a unique identity — to make it stand out, and to rework the outdoor areas so it would feel like a true independent home.” Landscaping and architectural screens now cocoon the property, drawing the eye inward and framing the garden as the quiet heart of the project.
Inside, the atmosphere shifts between openness and intimacy. An expansive reception unfolds in a series of interconnected moments — the living area, the dining space, the fireplace nook — each one distinctive, yet all flowing together. Metal partitions, slender light screens, and even the placement of wallpaper are orchestrated to create rhythm rather than barriers.
Materials anchor the experience with contrasts: chevron parquet in semi-solid wood, concrete-effect walls, and rounded black cladding introduce a tactile play between warmth and restraint. The result is both minimal and expressive, stripped back yet full of character.
This refusal to lean on Moroccan motifs, Benhamou explains, was deliberate. “I wanted a truly contemporary language — clean, international, but still layered with personality.”
What emerges is a house that feels eclectic and harmonious all at once. A place where boldness never outweighs comfort, where intimacy coexists with openness. In Benhamou’s hands, a semi-detached villa has become something rare: a home that belongs to its setting yet rises above it, quietly rewriting the possibilities of contemporary living in Casablanca.
