The overall rehabilitation of Asilah has encouraged private individuals to build new houses, immeshed in the medina'a fabric, to replace older dilapidated structures which had to be pulled down. The Ben Kaddour house is built on a small irregular plot and displays only one street façade; party walls are shared with adjoining houses on all other sides. A courtyard covered by a pyramidal skylight forms the core of the building. It is surrounded by a sitting room, a kitchen and a seating/reception room (maqa'ad) on the ground floor, by three bedrooms on the first floor and by a studio and terrace on the second floor. A conspicuous use of horseshoe arches, indented at their base and built in the traditional fashion (i.e. without a frame), conveys an internal unity to the structure. It was constructed using reiforced concrete columns and beams, load bearing brick walls and partitions, and hollow-tile floors. The walls are surfaced cement covered with lime wash rendering. All woodwork is executed in local cedar and traditional tile work is used in the interiors.
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture
