The Rada Integrated Development Project is located in a mountainous region at an altitude of 2200 m. in the eastern highlands of Yemen. This area is characterized architecturally as transitional and is located between stone constructions used in the mountains and mud brick constructions used in the lower terrain. The project was developed by the Dutch government as part of a larger program for aid to developing countries. The program's underlying objective aim is to reduce exaggerated migration from rural areas by improving conditions and stimulating local production. In addition it intends to provide training and information on the construction of infrastructure including the improvement of roadway systems.
The completed compound consists of six staff houses and a guest house in one area, and a workshop, stable, store generator shed, caretaker hut and a gas station in an adjacent area. The housing compound consists of six houses and a guest house all intended for use initially by foreign personnel and later by trained local staff members. The six identical houses are spaced evenly along an S-shaped site plan and all face in the same direction. A larger guest house is located across a road and faces a different direction. Each of the six 119 square meter, compact, rectangular houses has two floors and an enclosed stairwell extending above the flat roof for access to the roof terrace. The ground floor has independent entrances, each on a different side of the house. In addition to the main entrance located in the middle of the front facade there is an entrance to the kitchen and one to the living room.
The ground floor consists of a central entrance hall flanked on either side by a study, kitchen, dining room, stairway, and service area and terminates at a living room that runs the full breadth of the rear of the house. The dining room is located behind the front kitchen whereas the stairway and bathrooms are located behind the front study. The winding stairway with a landing runs from the ground floor to the first floor and again to the roof terrace. Adjacent to the kitchen is a walled garden. The houses are stone clad with arched windows and doors. The upper part of the arched windows and doors contain stained glass panels. Interiors have arched, open doorways and beamed ceilings.
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture