On Higher Ground

FOR BUSINESSWOMAN FLORENCE Lim, finding a designer for her vacation home in Marbella's La Mairena region was a nobrainer. With 20 years of friendship between them, and seven homes already built for her, she naturally turned to Voon Wong, architect and designer at Viewport Studio.

La Mairena is a residential development in the hills to the northwest of Marbella, in southern Spain. The little community offers its residents spectacular views of mountains and the Alboran Sea. Actor Antonio Banderas is said to have been a former resident.

Ms Lim had acquired a sloping piece of land, and the task at hand was to design a holiday villa for her family of four with large entertaining areas and a dramatic swimming pool to make the most of the views. She also didn't want it to be a typical flat-roofed Spanish home.